Getting there.

Hello again... and welcome to Inso's World.

It is a stunning Sunday afternoon in sunny Cornwall and I have just got back from the pub, after watching the England football team win a match (Yay! Go team!). Friday, we went out and watched a band  and Saturday we just pottered around; not doing very much... which is roughly how the rest of the week went too.

From a hobby perspective, I have also pottered along. First of all, I have finished sculpting the Plasma-Tank's commander and she has gone from this:

Click the Pic!

... to this (after a full base-coat and wash of Agrax Earthshade):

Click the Pic!

Unfortunately, I went off the boil a bit and she is still in the same condition. I find the stippling phase to be a fairly boring process so I have to gear myself up to get it done. Luckily, the remaining four tanks arrived from Ebay and they have all been checked and their sprues washed now:

Click the Pic!

All the sprues are now dry and in a big box awaiting assembly/painting. In the meantime, I have been looking at my army lists and noticed that there are quite a few 'awaiting assembly' entries and, in a bid to get rid of a few, I washed a bunch of Halfling Snipers and have cleaned them up, filled them where necessary and based them... so if you ever wanted to know what 30 Halfling Snipers looked like, here's what:

Click the Pic!

The assembly of these has meant that I can tick off three boxes on my organisation chart because 1, 2, and 3 platoon, now have a squad of ten Halfling Snipers each. 

With the army lists in mind, I noticed that I was short 3 Sentinels for the third platoon. With the expense of the Tank Company weighing heavy on my mind, I couldn't justify spending another £45.00 on three more Vulkans from Prodos so I got my thinking cap on and remembered that I had three of the old style 'Warzone Resurrection' Vulkans. They are not as beefy as the newer ones but are of a similar style so I have dug them out of the loft and will be adding them to the army as three Scout Sentinels. They look like the ones in this image that I made from pictures found on-line:

Click the Pic!

If you compare them to my existing Armoured Sentinels, you will see what I mean:

Click the Pic!

The Scout Sentinels will be getting a Fist and a Heavy-Flamer each, along with a one-shot missile. I will be using the Heavy-Flamers that were left over from the Armoured Sentinels and the Fists that were part of the add-ons from the Kickstarter that I got the lighter Vulkans from. I will also be beefing up their shoulders and may well change the 'cockpit' but at the moment, I don't plan on starting them... but I have them to hand, if I need a change of pace. My main focus has to be my Tank Company at the moment... but no plan survives contact with the enemy.

In other news, my ideas head has been working overtime and I have been thinking about Battle-Cannons for the last of the tanks. Luckily, I remembered that I had some weapons from my old VOTOMs Mechs that were not used so I dug them out and have sorted out some Battle-Cannons (and a Vanquisher-Cannon) for the last four Tanks. As well as this, I have been thinking about arming the Mecha that I am planning and have come up with an idea for how to build a big Chainsword... but I am not touching that for now. As for the Mecha... the more I think about it, the more involved the conversion is going to be. It is looking like it may end up more a scratch-build than a conversion... 

Well... that's it for today.

See you from the submarine!

More tanks?

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

I've had a great week this week because my lad has been staying with us. He had some leave so I have had company for the week.

Non-hobby wise has been lots of going out, chatting, and just pottering around enjoying the daily company.

Sadly, he had to return to his unit today but not before he'd wished me a happy father's day... speaking of which, my lass has had dinner with us today as well so it has been a proper family day (in one way or another) and I was well gifted for Father's Day.

Hobby wise, things have been a little slow but I have managed to finish the second Plasma-Tank... currently, this is where the tank company is at:

Click the Pic!

Tank number six (also a Plasma-Tank) is ticking along. I have sprayed the sprues but am waiting until I have finished sculpting the tank commander before I spray the hull and turret. Speaking of the tank commander, I have been struggling with my sculpting mojo and haven't got particularly far with her. I am hoping that I will be able to have her finished this week so that I can get the last Plasma-Tank finished.

Once the last Plasma-Tank is finished, I had no more tanks to paint... so I have jumped the gun and ordered the last four tanks for the company. The new tanks will be arriving this week but in the meantime, I have been struggling to find appropriate tank barrels for them. Yesterday, I remembered that I had some VOTOMs weapons, on their sprues, in the loft so a quick trip up a ladder later, I had what I needed and have assembled three new barrels, ready for when the tanks arrive. They will represent Battle-Cannons for three of the new tanks. The fourth tank (the company commander) will get a variation on the barrels because he (or she) will be getting a Vanquisher-Cannon.

The mech hasn't been touched and won't be until the tanks are finished. That said, I have been thinking about how things will be converted so will be fairly prepared, once work starts on the mech project (Knight Titan).

This coming week will be a bit all over the place with lots of admin, DIY and chores... on top of the hobby stuff so I should be kept nice and busy.

That's about it for today.

See you from the touch line!

Plasma-Tank!

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been one of household chores, a few social gatherings and a bit of hobby stuff.

Chores wise, I have had to get the gardens sorted for my missus' peace of mind so now the grass is all mowed, the weeds are all gone and this morning, the clippings were dropped off at the recycling centre. I also managed to get rid of the existing, mains, smoke detector (broken and hanging from the ceiling on it's wire), safely capping the wire, fillig in all the mess on the ceiling (where it had fallen from, been glued to and then fallen from again), repainting the ceiling area and then fitting a nice little battery operated one that works a treat. As well as that, it was a case of sorting a leaking toilet and doing household chores.

From a social perspective, we popped over to the Harbour Inn, Porthleven to meet up with an old friend and his new partner for an evening of chat. It was lovely to see them both together for the first time and get to know his new lady. On another night, we went to see a local ska band at the Rodney Inn, Helston and that was cool. On Wednesday, my missus completed a Race for Life with her work-mates and I got to meet them for the first time... they're a good bunch. I'd go as far to say that I have had quite a sociable week.

Hobby wise, I have been ticking along with my tank company and have got the first platoon of punisher-tanks finished (apart from decals):

Click the Pic!

I have also mocked up a marking scheme to show off how I want the tanks to look when finished (using Windows Paint): 

Click the Pic!

With the first platoon out of the way, I continued with the rest and managed to get the first of the plasma-tanks finished (except for decals):

Click the Pix!

It's the fourth complete tank and I have now made space on my table for the fifth one; also a plasma-tank. I also have the turret from the sixth tank on my table, waiting to get a tank commander sculpted into it... unfortunately, this may be a stumbling block. That said... my sculpting muse may turn up to help at some point... I hope so. 

Being keen to get the tanks finished, I have deliberately stored the Dougram kit away from sight so that I don't start getting it assembled. That doesn't mean I am not thinking about how I plan to convert it. In fact, I have more or less decided that it will have the same proportions as this one:

Click the Pic!

I found it on Pinterest and it has called out to be recruited by my Squat army as a titan. My version will not look the same but it will lean heavily on the proportions and some of the design elements of this particular mech... but not until the tank company is complete!

That's it for today.

See you from the workshop!

Let's roll!

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has more or less revolved around chores, shaking off this bloody virus and continuing the tank company.

This is a short, sharp blog post revolving around the assembling and painting of tanks.

To start with, I got hold of some hair ties and some highlighter pens and made some plasma-cannons by cutting a segment from the side of the pen lids and gluing segments of hair ties in to them:

Click the Pix!

After gluing them to the turret mantels, filling the gap with some green-stuff and a spray with primer and base-coat, this is what they looked like:

Click the Pic!

Then it was a case of getting the three tanks assembled as far as they could be, before spray painting:

Click the Pic!

Then it was a case of waiting for the weather to brighten up so that I could get some paint on the tanks and their sprues... however, there was a limited window and my spray paint decided to run out on me... so I only managed to get one base-coated. While that was going on, I was busily painting the tank commander's tank for the punisher platoon (the third tank) and have managed to get it completed (except for decals) so here is where I am at the moment:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, the tank commander still needs to be painted but his tank is done. The plasma-cannon tank has been fully base-coated and will be ready for a wash when the paint is fully dry. I have chosen not to paint the plasma coils glowing and have gone for copper coils instead. I think the duller look will suit the style of my tanks and seems more practical than having a big light emanating from a tank.

So far, I have got the first three tanks to a point where they are ready to have decals applied and once the commander is painted and the decals are on, they will be finished. The second three tanks are at different stages, with one base-coated and the other two assembled, ready for paint. You will notice that one of the plasma-cannon tanks has the turret hatch open so I will be sculpting the second commander to go in there. I plan to paint them one at a time so that means (hopefully - assuming I can summon the motivation) I will have time to sculpt a commander by the time I start painting his/her tank.

Now let's talk about decals. I ordered some about a month and a half ago and have tried to contact the seller, to no avail, so I have written them off and taken the EBay approach to get some more. They have arrived and that means that I now have all the decals that I need for my tank company. I am disappointed about the decals but at least I have what I need to continue the project so it isn't all bad.

The plan this week, will be to paint the commander and get the first of the Plasma tanks ready for decals... but I am not going to set that goal in stone because my hobby motivation hasn't been up to its usual level recently... and I have some chores on the house to get sorted.

Before I finish, just a quick note about the mech. I will not be working on the kit until I have finished the tank company but I am feverishly pawing through pages of Pinterest images to get an idea of what I hope to achieve, when I eventually get started on the mech. It will very much be a case of 'watch this space'.

Right. That's it for today.

See you from the tank-factory!

Oops, I did it again.

Hello and welcome to a rather tardy Inso's World.

Not to put too fine a point on it, I have had a nagging virus that has kicked the arse out of any motivation that I may have had... so I have been doing rather a lot of not very much at all.

That said... I have done a few things over the last couple of weeks.

The house painting (external) is now finished apart from a nasty mark where the boiler vented down my newly painted wall. I have since added a hose to take the draining, dirty water away from my nice white walls and will dab a bit of paint on at a later date to cover the mess. The tree stumps are more or less gone from the garden, thanks to a friend who turned up with a trusty chainsaw. I also managed to empty the shed a bit, by sorting out some recycling of old electronics/metals and wood and getting it to the recycling center.

Since the last blog update, I have also been out and about with my wife to see numerous local bands and we also went up to Chard in Somerset to attend an '80s/'90s School Disco/Reunion this weekend just gone and stayed at a lovely little hotel overnight before returning home. The disco was a charity event, arranged by a friend of mine and was brilliant. We both had an immense time... I even met up with a couple of people I hadn't seen for over 25 years!

On a hobby note, I have ordered some alternative decals from EBay because I have lost hope in getting the ones I previously ordered. I have sculpted the tank commander in the third tank:

Click the Pic!

The tank has now been fully base-coated and washed, ready for the stippling process to begin. I haven't painted the commander yet because I need to get the tank sorted first. Here's where it is at so far:

Click the Pic!

With tanks in mind, I have been collecting various pens in order to build the primary weapons for the remaining members of the tank company. There will be three battle cannons, three plasma cannons and an executioner battle cannon (for the overall company command tank). I think that I have covered all the bases and have the option of buying more, should I mess things up... which could be handy because as well as arming tanks, I may need to find some alternative weapons for this:

Click the Pic!

It is a 1/48 scale kit that assembles to be around 8" tall (if assembled in accordance with the instructions). It was an opportunity I couldn't miss because it was only £19 including postage... so a complete bargain! Obviously, it will be joining my Squat army as a proxy Knight Titan so will be getting a little bit of work done on it to give it a bit more of a Squat feel. No... I will not be giving it a beard and axe... it will be getting a more earthy look than a giant Dwarf. That said, I won't be doing very much with it for the time being because the tanks are my priority.

So... commissions. Well... I have tried to get some sculpting done on the commissions and have managed to bulk out a Goblin and tinker with a second one... but that is about it. I am desperately hoping that my sculpting muse comes home soon because I hate not being able to progress other people's sculpts. My tank commander is not up to my usual standard and I certainly wouldn't want to fob off a client with work that wasn't the best I could do... so it's just a waiting game at the moment.

On the plus side, my teetotalism has greatly improved my mood and I feel much more positive than I did before. Hopefully, once I shift this bloody virus, that positive mood will turn into motivation and I'll be able to get more stuff done. 

Hopefully.

It's funny that I don't miss the drink at all... although I did feel a bit self conscious at the disco 'making shapes'...

Well... that's about it for this update. I don't know when the next one will be but it should be soon.

See you from the conga line!

What a week!

Hello and welcome to Inso's world, after what has been a very eventful week.

To cut to the chase, Hobby time hasn't really been the main focus of my week because I have had family visiting and have been enjoying having them around.

Hobby wise, the Necromunda Squat arrived:

Click the Pic!

As you can see from my image, he is big... he's even bigger than a Kharadron. Although I am not too bothered about his height, his tiny hands and pin-head bother me... so I will be sorting those problems out. I have started on the head:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, the head has mostly gone but I will be using what's left and blending it in with a larger head (wearing a beret). The hands won't be a problem and I will be able to sort those out with a bit of green stuff. Am I disappointed? No. I knew what to expect and I never had any specific spot to place the miniature but I reckon that after a bit of tinkering, he'll fit in with my 'Big Squats' and they'll all become a bit of a Necromunda gang.

In other hobby news, I have started on tank number three and it is currently at this point:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, basic conversion is finished but I need to sculpt a tank commander on the piece of sprue that is sticking out of the cupola. I will be able to get a certain amount of painting and assembly done in the meantime but it won't be too much until I knuckle down and get the commander finished.

With this tank being firmly WIP now, I have ordered the next section of three tanks and they should be arriving this coming week.

As for other hobby news... I'll be saving that for next week.

Life news now... and this week has been filled with it. I have got a head cold and have had a bit of insomnia but on the whole, life is good. My mother and father in-law have been visiting this week and my wife has had some time off work so we have spent a lot of time together. Meals out, trips to places and the odd cuppa here and there has meant for a very nice, sociable, week. Flora Day was this week and the Furry Dance hit the town. I was mostly solo for the day and spent it doing what any sane man would do... I went to my local pub and stayed there all day... only venturing out to watch the dances. On the day, there are adult dances at 07:00hrs, 12:00hrs and 17:00hrs, with a children's dance at 10:00hrs and the Hal-An-Tow starting at 08:30hrs... so there is plenty of time in between, to enjoy a drink or two. Here's the difference between the 07:00hrs dance and the 17:00hrs dance. First, the 07:00hrs dance:

... and here's the 17:00hrs dance (with the same people in it):

As you can see, the day's merriment has hit home by the evening dance.

With Flora day, a meal out on Friday evening and a live band on Saturday evening at my local, this week has been a properly social affair and I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting many people (including one who I hadn't seen for a good 15 years!) and getting to know some new faces.

Prior to Flora Day I came to the conclusion that I needed to kick-start my life again. I have been getting a bit down in the dumps and have let things slide too much... so the first thing that has to go is booze. As a result, I am teetotal until the evening before Flora Day 2019 (yes, that's a year). In addition to this, I am returning to my usual healthy diet and am beginning to get a bit more exercise in. I am hoping that these three things will invigorate me a little and get me back to my usual jovial and productive self. Only time will tell on that one but if nothing else, I will lose some weight and hopefully feel a bit healthier in body.

It should also mean that once I start increasing my exercise, I will be able to focus on my charity run again... something that has fallen by the wayside a bit and has been playing on my mind.

That's it for now.

See you from the epiphany tree!

Three wheels on my wagon.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World this week.

This week has been quiet. A trip out on the bike... A few chores... another couple of great nights, watching live bands... watching Avengers Infinity War at the cinema... and having a day of grieving because these week would have seen my Dad's 75th birthday, if he wasn't beaten by cancer last year.

This coming week is one of the biggest in my town's annual calendar because on Tuesday it is Flora Day! This year, I am going rogue and striking out on my own for the day... but we have family visiting and I will be spending quite a lot of time with them, over the week so I reckon this coming week will be pretty excellent.

From a hobby perspective, I have achieved very little sculpting because, quite frankly, I have a bogging head cold at the moment so I am not in the mood for very much... apart from this:

Click the Pic!

Yes, I now have twp of the Tiger-Russ tanks painted up and have started the process again on the third one, by giving the sprues a good wash in detergent; ready for work to begin properly. While I am waiting for that to get going, I thought I'd share a picture of my armoury so far:

Click the Pic!

The spray primer that I got from Warlord Games is doing a grand job of making things smooth and green.

Incidentally, the third tank will be getting a tank commander. He won't represent one in the rules, he'll just be there to show that his tank is the lead tank.

Short but sweet.

See you from the streets!