A Monday morning update?

I'm on night-shift tonight...so why on earth am I up at this time of the morning? Well, my baby girl has just turned 13 and I wanted to be around when she opened her birthday presents...13...13!!! GOOD GOD where has the time gone!??

Well, seeing as I'm here I'd like to welcome the latest follower to Inso's World; digitarii. Welcome! I hope you enjoy your travels through my world of...stuff!

What else? Well I worked feverishly on Blue yesterday but didn't get it based in time to get photographs taken last night...so I've got them for you this morning instead. Here is Blue with his friends Red and Green:

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...and here's the all-round view:

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For the more observant amongst you, you will have noticed that the WIP picture of this one didn't have the channel around the helmet filled in with Green Stuff...this one (like the others) has had the channel filled in.

Have a nice day!

See you through the reed-beds!

Sunday's update and...where there was one...

...now there are two...

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Here is an all round view of my first HALO Grymn:

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On to an all round view of the second one:

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This picture has been taken, to show where the additional bits of armour are placed. This one was a little more tricky to build because I ended up having to sculpt fingers on to the stock hand:

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I don't see myself making many more of these because they seem to be super-soldiers so you don't need many of them...that said...I have been known to change my mind sometimes...

So...where do the HALO Grymn fit in to the big scheme of things? Well, I thought they would be a nice addition to my Grymn urban army. I think the urban army is the one that is most representative of the ground forces in the video game so that makes them perfect for the HALO Grymn to join.

Speaking of the Grymn urban army, I have been thinking about how to paint the ground forces so that they aren't covered in little squares. With that in mind, I have come up with a couple of similar schemes; with one being slightly darker than the other. Have a look at this pic:

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If you are feeling VERY helpful, please leave a comment to say which one you like the best... either the light armour on the left of the screen or the dark armour on the right. At the moment, I am erring on the dark armour side but I am open to suggestions...please leave a comment to help me decide.

If you don't want to leave a comment that's fine but could you please vote in the poll over on the right hand side...I'd really appreciate the input :).

What else has been going on in Inso's World? Well, I guess I buckled. I wasn't going to just yet...but I ended up ordering six A10 tank-buster (Warthogs) from an on-line model shop. They have since arrived and they are very cool. They have a LOT of additional missiles/rockets/bombs and are perfect for my idea to convert them to Grymn ground-attack aircraft. I have gone for 1/144 scale for the kits because I wanted to keep them small...they won't, however, end up looking too much like an A10...I have bigger plans for them :).

I have been busy wheeling and dealing and have sold a few bits and bobs from my unpainted collection. That means that my Pay-pal account is starting to collect funds for buying more Grymn for the tunnel-fighter army. I have decided to make my collection fund itself...how long that will last, I can't say...but it is a nice thought.

On a final note...the weather is absolutely stunning today. I am off to the supermarket very shortly and I can imagine that the day will follow on with the F1 Grand Prix and football on the television...ah the joys of a sport-mad family...that means I won't get disturbed while I am painting!

See you through the purple patch!

...and to his surprise...

The commander saw a very tiny streak of fire, high in the atmosphere. As he watched the streak of fire got larger and larger as it grew into a fireball and got closer to the citadel where the group of leaders mulled over the fate of their people.

With an ear-shattering sonic boom, the fireball struck the ground outside; showering the earth with debris over a diameter of a hundred metres or more. when the dust settled, all that could be seen was a bright, glowing orb about the size of a standard passenger car. With a deafening blast, the orb shattered outward, cutting through the assembled masses like a knife through butter...

...all that was left was a lone figure, poised and ready to exact terrible vengeance on the opposing forces...

Stay tuned for more on Sunday.

See you through the wasteland!

Something is stirring in the night sky...

On the surface of the planet, the rogue states were warring against the inter-planetary federation. Riots had been occurring with increasing frequency and this led to a larger proliferation of small arms. The masses were revolting against the federation, driven to fervour by dark-clad clergymen; touting the word of god and claiming that the federation was nothing more than the devil!

The problem multiplied as the days grew into weeks. Black marketeers began trading bigger and more powerful weapons with the rogue states. The federation was being beaten back. The rogue states were becoming more and more zealous; burning their captives alive, drinking the blood of the federation's troops and even feasting on their flesh.

Evil was everywhere...

Who could the federation turn to in these evil and wretched times?

Commander Theodore Welt looked down at the desk in front of him. All around him were the gathered commanders from a dozen beleaguered armies. Their faces were careworn and their gazes were far away. They were beaten but they just didn't know it yet.

All was quiet.

There was an air of complete failure in the room and the taint of hopelessness hung around the commanders like a cloud of pollen floating on a spring breeze.

Commander Welt looked up from the screen on his desk and said, to those assembled...

"What can we do to turn the tide on these mad zealots? Is there no one who can come up with a plan?"

Silence was the reply....

...but...

The commanders desk began to beep. He looked down at the screen and upon it was written a very short statement...

WATCH...THE...SKY...

Bemused he looked out of the window...

I'm literally on a roll...

I have had such a fun day at work, I felt the need to share.

I generally enjoy my job and although the work can be frustrating, tiring and inconvenient at times it really is a job that offers plenty of work satisfaction...however, there are days when I have to attend training courses and on the whole they tend to be tedious...

NOT TODAY!!!

I was attending a course today and it wasn't tedious or boring...it was awesome.

I went to an off road training area and learned how to drive a Landrover up and down gradients you wouldn't believe. I have driven around banked turns that seemed impossible, over terrain so rutted you'd think the vehicle would beach...but it didn't....I have had a really great day at work!

The instructor drove around with me as a passenger to start with; showing me how the vehicle behaved and showing me the right and wrong way to do things. We then swapped seats and I drove the way I was shown...then I was allowed to go solo and potter around the course at my leisure; practising what I had learned.

I am now confident that I can handle a Landrover through the toughest of terrain, sort out stalls, get out of ruts and generally use the vehicle to the extent of it's ability.

I must admit that I was approaching today's course with a lot of trepidation...but the calmness of the instructor and his continuous commentary as we drove around the training area, really helped to relax me to a point where I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

That is another tick in the box for going to Kenya...and a fun one it was too :).

See you through the dust cloud!

Another Update?

...yes...but not as we know it.

I have been busy typing and have started a couple of new army building topics over at my other blog:

Grymn Blog

It is definitely worth a look as it gives a couple of methods for collecting Grymn armies; ranging from organised to chaotic.

While you are there, you may wish to read some of the stories and other information related to all things Grymn.

I just thought I'd share that.

See you through the sniper-scope.

Good afternoon...and thanks for all the fish.

Hello again, it is time for another little update but before I start, I'd like to wish all of the dads out there a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (especially my Dad).

It has been a very strange week for me. Odd working patterns, inoculations, expected working weekends that don't happen, work colleagues having unexpected tantrums, not working late on Friday...the list goes on and on...and don't get me started about the football!

...I get home on Friday and am met by two angry souls who are upset about the football match on the TV. Who gets it in the neck? Me. I have now threatened to bin the TV if it happens again...and they wonder why I despise the English national game :(...it seems to turn civilised people into raging animals.

Aaaannnnyyyy way...onto the hobby stuff and unfortunately, I haven't finished the secret project yet but what I will do is update this post a bit later with some pix as I am not far off getting it done.

So...what next?...Oh yes, I almost forgot...I've FINALLY finished my Urban Grymn, assault platoon! I am so happy I could cry...why? Because I don't have to paint any more tiny little squares again! Here are a few pix to show off the support and command sections along with the rest of the platoon:

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And here is what I have finished so far:

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Please bear in mind that these have been on the WIP pile for over a year now so I am completely over the moon that I have finally finished them.

So what now for the Urban Grymn? I am planning to start putting together the ground forces (which I already have in my CUPBOARD OF DOOM!!!) but there are a few issues to sort out before I start painting:

1. There are a lot of little conversions that need to be done
2. I haven't decided on a paint-scheme for them yet...I AIN'T PAINTING ANY MORE SQUARES!
3. I haven't worked out whether to base them first or work out a way to paint them on pins
4. Do I have the enthusiasm to start on 'the next big thing' before I go to Kenya?

I think that I will dig out a couple of spare Grymn and get a few test-schemes painted to help me decide which direction the painting will go...only this time I will be keeping it very simple, with NO camouflage pattern. They will be plain but in a camouflaged colour rather than pattern...a bit like grey coats for a grey environment. I am determined that the ground forces won't be kept in limbo for as long as the assault platoon was.

So look out for a couple of test schemes being shown off here.

I have been assembling a track-unit for one of the tunnel fighter's transports and although it has turned out slightly larger than I thought it would, it will still work okay. It is still very much in the 'turn it around and around whilst staring at it' stage so it may change or may not...hence, I don't think it is worth putting pix up at the moment.

The joys of Honda. I decided to give my bike a try the other day. I charged the battery but did nothing else... I didn't even drain the fuel and put fresh in...two pokes on the start button and it purred into life! 18 months without any attention and it started after two attempts! That is the beauty of Japanese engineering. Continuing on the bike theme, I have now got some new fork seals and a front brake disc so I can start work getting the bike back on the road again. I can't guarantee it will be before going to Kenya but at least I have the bits for when I get the motivation.

I am GUTTED that Rossi isn't in Moto GP at the moment...'The Doctor' has been sidelined by the doctors! There is some irony there but it doesn't impress me :(.

So...another day, another day closer to the grave ;)...I'll pop back later to edit this post with pix of my SECRET PROJECT!

As promised...the secret project:

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I guess our teddy bear friend has been caught by the security robots and is about to be INCARCERATED!!!

See you through the beaded curtains!