Fairly random update.

Before I start the post proper, I'd like to welcome Exiztenzial to Inso's World. Welcome to the blog and I hope that you gain some enjoyment as you walk around the paths and look at the inhabitants here.

Well...what can I say? I've had a bit of a slow week when it comes to hobby stuff and only started painting last night.

I know why... my painting table has too much sitting on it... and I've got nowhere left to put the stuff I am not in the mood to paint. This is my interim cupboard...the place all my stuff goes before it finds a permanent home in a case:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, I have run out of space. The entire top shelf needs varnishing and everything except the urban troops and large mushroom on the bottom shelves need varnish too... (and a few need painting of course).

In order to try to alleviate the problem I have ordered a new case from Kaiser Rushforth that has been selected to house the Urban Grymn (the first two platoons) and as soon as it arrives, one of the platoons are ready to be packed away... but the main issue is the huge amount of varnishing I need to do. I am really not motivated towards getting it done but I am sure I'll bite the bullet at some point.

On a completely different note, I now have a Strikedog, Rabidlydog and Redshoulder all in 1/60 scale. That means I have a lovely selection of arms, legs, weapons and other bits and bobs to really customise a future project with. My plan (as I have already mentioned) is to make the various components cast-able so that I can build an army of them. I will be simplifying things with the minimum amount of components for each robot... but it will take a huge amount of time so they are packed away for now.

Continuing with the robot theme, I have also managed to get hold of another Megaro Zamac kit. Here is the range:

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I have just picked up 'Jhau-Zamac' and only need to find 'Run-Valam' and 'Va-Gal' to complete my goal. I have been trawling E-bay on regular occasions and at the moment, there is a 'Va-Gal' for sale in Germany...but I refuse to pay £40-00 for it! I am sure that I will get lucky at some point.

It is Salute next week! That means I have to decide what to buy and also sort out getting there. I think that there may be a few pre Salute posts here in the run up to the event so keep an eye out.

Finally...I have finished 'The Duplicate Adventures' and have started a new story 'Rebirth'. Click the links to have a bit of a read, although I can see Rebirth getting a slow start (because of Salute). Feel free to comment... every day is a learning day, after all.

Well... I think that about finishes things for today. I will be ticking along with the Grymn for the little Pod squad today but I doubt I'll get to a photograph-able position so i doubt there will be any more post today.

See you from the sunny side! 

Oooer!

Hello. I should be at work today but my stomach has had other plans so it is a home day today...and a clear path to the toilet facilities! I also feel a tiny bit shaky so hobby stuff is out...but it isn't all doom and gloom. Especially seeing as I can now welcome my latest follower steeldragon. Welcome aboard and enjoy your stay, steeldragon...you never know what you will find here.

Pods. I have all my pods ready for paint; now that the putty has dried but have yet to start them. The troops on the other hand are all roughly base-coated and are ready for tidying up before the washes start. Here is a montage of some of them showing their hats and water-bottles...plus a comms set:

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The pods will get a similar scheme with the main body being the same as the armour on the troops and details being in the darker green of the rifles. The additional markings will be yellow.

It is all coming together nicely :).

See you from the infirmary.

Happy Easter...and more pods.

First of all, to all of you who celebrate it, Happy Easter!

Next, I'd like to welcome the latest follower of Inso's World; Jonathan Clements. Welcome Jonathan and I hope that you find something to inspire, encourage or entertain you during your stay. Feel free to comment on posts and share your experience.

Finally...I have been busy with pods and have finished converting all eight of them now. Here they are with some Grymn troops to look after:

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The Grymn have been stolen from a desert raiding party I was working on a long time ago but I thought that they could be pressed into service...seeing as they have been stuck in a box for a good few years. Once I have base-coated everything you'll get a better idea of what the troops look like but until then...they have had some pouches, water-bottles and hats added.

See you from the top of the world!

Pods 2.

Well, after a couple of hours chopping and gluing, I am happy with the height of the first four pods:

Click the Pic!

As you can see in the pic, it just took four cuts per leg and a little bit of a re-glue and they have been brought down to a less gangly height. Once I have done the same to the other four, I will sort out the little details and base them ready for paint. I am thinking about making the white ones a bit more dynamic and maybe in the process of flying/landing.

I have a small selection of Grymn that have been in storage for ages. They were converted to be desert Grymn but they could work equally well as jungle troops. I reckon that if I painted the pods in a mid green with yellow markings and white decals, they would suit a jungle theme quite nicely and would provide me with a good place to put my stagnating Grymn.

It really is amazing what being bored can help you to achieve...

See you from the butcher's block!

Pods

I am at my worst when I am bored. I have so much stuff to do but I am just the wrong side of tired to do anything.

...so I went into the attic and had a bit of a rummage and descended the ladder with these:

Click the Pic!

They are 1/200 scale, Nichimo, Macross kits and there are six Regult soldier pods and two Regult scout pods. I have always meant to use these for my Grymn (surprise, surprise) and have left off the most spindly of aerials and guns but now that I look at them, I have decided that they are just too tall...

...so for a little light relief, they will be losing their legs later. I have already decided where to cut so it should be fairly straight forward.

All I have to say now is...

Pod squad...GO!

See you from the surgery!

Easter musing.

It is Easter Friday. That means I am at home again...YAY!

For many of you Christians it is a time of re-birth and huge religious significance...he died, then he came back to life! Nowadays, that would be called a classic Zombie tale but back then, it was spiritual.

For many other people it is a time of eating chocolate eggs and painting chicken eggs before rolling them down a hill.

For still more people it is about dancing naked in the wilds at sites of particular spiritual significance... the Spring Equinox.

For me, it just means that I get a couple of extra days added to my weekend. It also means that I have extra time for THINGS!

Well...I have been thinking... and seeing as I have been writing a long tale about a mixed crew of space adventurers (namely Grymn...but others as well) HERE it got me thinking about the possible hobby aspects of creating the characters from the story. As a result, I have plonked a miniature in the Dettol and have decided to start putting together some miniatures to represent the characters at certain points along the story trail. The first one will be Joo'an and the version I have chosen is after she has lost her psychic powers and after Tully and Jela have got their hands on her and taken her shopping for clothes. She will be carrying Grymn weapons (because she never had any of her own that weren't attached to her bio-suit) and wearing 'interesting' clothing. If you want to take some interest in this project, here is a LINK to where it will be ticking along. If you haven't a clue about what I am talking about...read the story.

I won't be going very quickly on this project because I have bigger fish to fry but I expect to tick along when the muse grabs me.

You could say it is the birth of something new for the Spring Solstice.

Or you could say..."here he goes again with another project that will get half finished and forgotten" which is probably nearer the mark but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

See you from The Obituary (the one from THE STORY).

A change is as good as a rest.

Before I start today's post I'd like to welcome David Cooke to Inso's World. He is our newest follower and I hope that he finds the time to join in, share ideas and generally take something away from here that encourages his hobby projects.

This week has been a very slow one. It has taken me all of my reserves to even LOOK at a paint brush, let alone use one. The weather has been so nice that I have been quite lazy and have just enjoyed the sunshine. I guess that this is the pay-back for the week of finished projects from my leave.

But all that aside...I have managed to finish something and that is a unit of Black Legionnaires from the VASA faction of Void 1.1 and to show what I mean...here they are:

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The unit is as table-top standard as you can get but it keeps me from getting too far behind on the Void 1.1 project. With this unit finished, I need to finish two further units in April and I will be back on track. With that in mind, I will be painting Commander-X as the first unit and probably a second unit of Black Legionnaires; very similar to the ones above. I have a selection of Void miniatures in the Dettol bath as we speak so I will be kicking those off this week.

So... I have received the last three Glaive transports from Old Crow this week and on inspection, they are as excellently cast as the other ones I have (as I have come to expect from Old Crow) but I also noticed that there are a couple of subtle changes to them.

1. there is a different rear hatch that is more detailed.

2. some of the smaller parts have swapped from metal to resin (hatches)

3. some of the upper hull has been hollowed out to save on resin.

This sums Old Crow up... they keep trying new things to improve cost effectiveness and model design. They never rest on their laurels.

On another note, I recently won bids on two further VOTOMS kits from Australia and they are currently winging their way here. They will join the Scopedog that I already have to be packed away for the future army project. I have a Strikedog and Rabidlydog coming and that gives me flexibility with two extra different sorts of weapon, different head designs, slightly different torsos and different lower legs. They also have rather fetching heavy-claws on one arm (two slightly different ones) so there will be more options for special units. Once they arrive, I'll put some pix up.

April is here! That means that Salute won't be far away and it also means that my usual list making will have to happen soon.

BUT...there is a problem this year. I know what I want and it is the Grymn Walker. I also know that is debatable as to whether they will be available by Salute. That means that I have to keep my money in my pocket until they are ready. It shouldn't matter too much because I will be working for most of the day at the Hasslefree Miniatures stand so if they are available, I won't have to go far to find them. There are a few other things that I would like to look at...decals and a couple of individual miniatures here and there so I will find a short while to wander about and see what I can find.

Well... that is about it for this post. I'm sure I'll find something to plod along with before the next post...and it is a long weekend next weekend so I'll have no excuses!

See you from the back of a golden steed!