Inso's World

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's been a fairly interesting couple of weeks, since I last posted, but mostly unrelated to hobby things.

I have donated blood, worked a lot, got poorly, had a week off (holiday at home), travelled around Cornwall on my motorbike, got depressed and was very glad to be out of my own company and back at work again. I also counted charity money, did the annual accounts (for our committee) and even had a time where I sat and watched TV.

My wife and I managed to see Captain Marvel at the local cinema and enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit 'impersonal' and I felt that I couldn't connect with the main character very well. Hopefully, that will change in the upcoming Avengers 'Endgame' film.

Hobby wise, I have started things but not got very far with them. I managed to finish the two Big Squats though...

Hello again.

It's a beautiful sunny day in Inso's World today... even if it is quite chilly.

The last fortnight has pretty much been all about work, lack of sleep and a little bit of hobby here and there... but as of yesterday, I am not only on a week off work but have also acquired a head-cold so this post is going to be a bit random.

Work. As I have mentioned before, I now work as a health care assistant (HCA) in a relatively high dependency, Dementia care home. As much as I love working there, there are times when it can be challenging because some of the residents have quite complex issues/needs. There is also the constant threat of residents passing away... another part of the job that can be challenging to deal with. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a death, a fall (resulting in a leg injury), some very challenging behaviour and a couple of new residents who are going through a settling in period. There has also been a decline in some of the resident's health. As a result, I have had a lot of different things to cope with... but have remained up-beat and cheerful throughout (at work) but have also been quite drained (at home)...

... but I wouldn't change things. My job is extremely rewarding and I wouldn't want to be without it now...

Hobby. I've done some... namely a bit of press-moulding... but before I got on with that, I finished off two units of Hearthguard Assault Frames (count-as Space Marine Centurions):

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:



... 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!

This week, I have been doing something different again. It seems like the worst thing I can do is look in my miniatures cabinet because I can't help myself from re-visiting old projects. This particular project revolves around a conversation that I had about my urban camouflage schemes. Someone said that they looked a bit Mondrian so after a spot of investigation... I found a new project.

The Mondrians

The Mondrians are an unusual race because they are completely secular and refuse to learn other people's language or customs. They communicate with each other using a series of clicks and whistles that don't seem to show any pattern or reason. There are some scientists who believe that they are a psychic race that only uses clicks and whistles to confuse people but this has not been proven.

One thing that can be said is that they are prolific traders who love to use items from anywhere they can find them. Their favourite trading partners are the Grymn because they are exactly the same size and build and that makes it perfect because they don't have to modify the traded equipment to fit. When trading, the Mondrians do it face to face and simply point at what they want and then point at what they can offer. The traders usually arrive with their goods and will set them out on an elaborate and finely embroidered sheet so that they can be easily viewed. They have a small slate that is used to mark out quantities... usually a series of dots made with chalk. They usually bring a motley selection of items from all around the universe with few items that they have produced themselves. Generally speaking, they are excellent at getting what they want but will often trade over the odds for weapons... even going as far to insist that the over generous trade is received. it is the view of the scientists that this is linked to the value the Mondrians place on life and that they insist on paying over the top for anything that can take a life... but again, this cannot be proven.

The Mondrian face resembles a Grymn's but has three distinct differences. First of all, they don't have a visible nose. Instead there is a broad upper lip area that meets where a Grymn would have the bridge of their nose. Secondly, their skin is a vibrant red and finally, their eye colour is also different; being completely yellow with no visible pupil.

It is difficult to say why they do it but the Mondrians like to paint their war-machines and equipment in bold geometric patterns with bright, distinctive colours within strong boundaries of black. They also like to turn up on any battlefield at any time to fight alongside one of the combatants. Usually, this is tolerated but there are occasions where stealth is required and having a brightly coloured selection of troops and vehicles alongside you can prove difficult. When problems like this arise, the Mondrians won't leave but will follow behind at a safe distance until battle is joined and will then come to help. It is assumed that the small number of Mondrian troops that arrive are young and are trying to prove their mettle in battle but that cannot be taken as fact, as they won't attempt to explain. It can be noted that the Mondrians will normally fight on the weakest side so that adds further weight to the argument.

When in battle, the Mondrians use a selection of traded weapons and equipment but prefer to use Grymn made items. If you looked past the odd colours of their uniforms and equipment, you would almost think that they were Grymn , as long as their faces were concealed. Their combat doctrine is similar to many other races and they use tactics and strategies just the same but they have an edge over the Grymn and that is the speed of the troops. They are faster than Grymn and are able to leap twice their height into the air. They have extremely fast reflexes and are able to dodge attacks with little effort. On the flip side, they do not suffer pain well and if they are injured will drop to the floor and remain in a catatonic state until they are rescued; no matter how small their injury is. This bizarre behaviour has been seen on numerous occasions and it is believed that the Mondrians do this because they do it when they train. Enemies are familiar with this and rarely bother with fallen Mondrians because they know that once they are on the ground they will take no further part in the fighting so they can concentrate on fighting those that will. They also know that Mondrians cannot be interrogated so they are worth nothing as prisoners and tend to leave them where they are.

That little bit of text came about after I decided that I wanted to take the project a little further forward than just a tank:

I'd like to welcome stonecoldlead to Inso's World. I hope you find plenty to keep you amused here.

As part of one of my regular changes of direction...I decided to pain one of the mechs for my Tunnel Fighter army:

Welcome to new follower Alexandros! Good to have you aboard. Please feel free to enjoy your stay, take away any ideas that you like and comment on http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwhat you see here!

So...I had a day off today and apart from buying a pair of shoes, some trousers and a bacon sandwich, I have been painting the first five of the Enforcers. It is a slow process because I have been burning the candle at both ends at home and at work...so I am taking everything steady.

I had a choice...dig out some of the mechs to paint up so that I would have finished Tunnel Fighter units or buy more APCs while I am in the mood to assemble and paint them.

...so I have three more APCs are on the way from Scotia Grendel :).

I have been thinking a lot about my hobby lately.

With GW bringing out the 'Finecast' range, I have been thinking about the cost and quality of miniatures.

I quite happily pay £15-00 for five Grymn. That would make a squad of ten £30-00. They are metal and mostly single pose.

...So how much would a squad of ten troops cost me from other manufacturers...whether metal, plastic or resin?

Ramshackle Sci-fi troops are £16-00 for 12 resin troops.
Heresy Sci-fi troops are £36-00 for 12 metal troops.
Ground Zero Games sci-fi troops are £13-20 for 10 metal troops (they are 25mm scale).
Pig Iron Heavy Infantry are £18-00 for 10 metal troops.
Black Scorpion Sci-fi Aliens are £21-50 for 10 metal Aliens.
Games Workshop Space Marines are £23-00 for 10 plastic tactical marines.
Games Workshop Imperial Guard are £18-00 for 10 plastic miniatures.
Forgeworld Space Marines are £50-60 for 10 COMPLETE resin tactical marines.
Forgeworld Imperial Guard are £35-75 for 10 resin miniatures (Death Korps)
East Riding Miniatures Interpol troops are £12-50 for 10 metal miniatures.
Copplestone Castings future wars troops are £17-00 for 10 metal miniatures.
Em4 Sci-fi troopers are £5-10 for 10 plastic miniatures.
Em4 Sci-fi troopers are £12-80 for 10 metal miniatures.
Antenocitis Workshop GOT troopers are £40-00 for 10 metal/resin miniatures (I'm not sure of the material).

So...we have a squad of ten miniatures ranging form a rather amazing £5-10 to a staggering £50-60!

That got me thinking about the huge debate that constantly goes on about the pricing of certain manufacturer's miniatures...and I would say that I quite regularly join the chorus of 'that is expensive'.

When you look at it, the cost of miniatures is nothing compared to the value we place on them. Some people like to buy cheap, easy to paint miniatures so that they can rank up a huge army cheaply and with minimum painting effort. Others would be happy to spend an armies worth of cash on a select few miniatures that would be painted up to the highest of standards over many months.

Let's not forget the amount of value we place on where the miniatures have come from...are they from a huge company with an extraordinary range of products or are they from a struggling 'boutique' manufacturer who has to sell enough miniatures, just to stay afloat?

With metal prices being very high and the cost of plastic rising, we are all going to notice that the miniatures we love so much are increasing in price. There will come a time when we look at our collections and stop seeing the time and effort that went into them and start seeing the cost and value that we have lavished on them.

The big question is...'When will they become too expensive to buy?'

And there is only one person who can answer that...and that would be you.

...and another thing...

The shelf in my cupboard has started to bow under the weight of Tunnel Fighters...I think it is time they moved to the varnish table soon so that they can be varnished and packed away...

See you over the plains of reflection...

I managed to get a few moments to finish the conversion work on the Enforcers today. I didn't manage to finish the Cyber Mastiff but at least I have the troops ready for paint:



I now have to work out how to paint them just how I want them :).

See you through the cell window!

I have decided to post an update today because I may be at work tomorrow for a while and I can't guarantee that I will be able to post...so better early than not at all.

I have had a mixed week this week, what with one thing and another but I have had a couple of things ticking along...

First up, I have finished all four of my APCs for the Tunnel Fighters:

It is Sunday again and to say that I have had a flat week would be an understatement.

The down-side is that I have no pictures to show off.

The good-side is that I have managed to achieve a fair amount of 'boring stuff'. We all know what the boring stuff is...trimming stuff off sprues, sanding resin so that it fits, filling gaps in miniatures, under-coating, varnishing...you know...the stuff that has to be done but doesn't add any obvious value to the end product.

Well...this week I have:

1. Received 3 Sand Carriers from Scotia Grendel and have cleaned, sanded, assembled and gap filled. I still need to fill in the odd air bubble hole though.
2. Carried on with my miniature sculpt. Not too far to go...just arms and detailing...then I'll show it off.
3. Sculpted 15 shoulder-pads, 10 helmet badges and 2 shield handles for my Enforcers.
4. Continued building up the cockpit on my mini-flier...and converted the nose cannon.
5. Won an item on E-bay...more to come on that one.

...so it isn't as if I've done nothing...it's just that I've done nothing to show off.

On a completely different note, I learned all about being the perfect husband today. How?...you may ask. Well, I was in Model Zone and saw that the Star Wars, 1/72nd scale, Clone Trooper Gunship was on sale for £9-99...knocked down from £26-99. There were three on the rack. I have wanted to buy them since they were released and finally, I had every excuse...but I realised that my hobby spending has been fairly high recently...so I bought my wife a CD instead.

Sometimes, the hobby has to take a back seat.

My recent E-bay victory! A bit of back story...

...back in the 1980's, mecha model kits were the big thing. Revell brought out a range of Robotech robots that were in various scales...Talos, Gartan, Aqualo...yes...those were the days! Well, amongst all of the Robotech, Macross and Mospeada kits were a range called Megaro Zamac and these were particularly dear to my heart...

I am very glad to say that I have just won Jha-Giga to go with my Da-Web, Ma-Drum and Dha-Gards kits...only three (or if I wanted to go all out, five) kits to go to complete the collection. Here's the poster with the kits on:

There comes a time where I really need to say to myself 'FOCUS!!!'. Alas, it is advice I need to learn to follow because I have been distracted yet again. This time I was looking through posts in a forum and someone asked for advice about whether 1/72 tanks would work with Kindred (Halflings in WWI style uniform). I popped up a scale pic of my previous efforts and was reminded of how cool they were...as a result, I ended up with these:

Salute opened my eyes a bit. I was helping out at the Hasslefree Miniatures stand and was there to answer any questions and find those miniatures that the punters couldn't. It was whilst doing this that I discovered that quite a few people were buying Grymn to use as gangs in Necromunda.

...and that planted an idea that I haven't been able to shift...

...so I downloaded the rules and add ons FREE from Games Workshop...

Now I have a Grymn gang on the go. I am doing a bog standard gang that has all the selections and points values sorted out for me so that I don't get tied up making mistakes with my gang selection.

I have gone for an Enforcer gang and it will consist of:

Patrol Team One:
1xSgt - Power Maul, Bolt Pistol
1xHandler - Power Maul, Bolt Pistol
1xCyber Mastiff - Teeth, Grrrrr
1xEnforcer - Grenade Launcher, Bolt Pistol
2xEnforcer - Power Maul, Suppression Shield

Patrol Team Two:
4xEnforcer - Bolt Gun, Bolt Pistol
1xEnforcer - Heavy Stubber, Bolt Pistol

The idea is that Patrol Team One acts as the lighter part of the gang, patrolling the streets and travelling in the Ronin APC that I have started (Only fluff wise...the vehicle won't be used in game) and Patrol Team Two is the emergency response side of things; flying into the street in an anti-grav vehicle and deploying to support the other team when things get rough.

I need to sort out two more miniatures for the project but so far I have carried out preliminary conversion work on Patrol Team One and just need to crack out the green-stuff to finish things off. I have also assembled the anti-grav vehicle for Patrol Team Two and have begun to chop off heads and start the conversion work on that team. The Ronin is already started (as can be seen from yesterday's post).

I just need to source one more Heavy Infantry Grymn and one Specialist with LMG (which will be the Heavy Stubber Enforcer).

I will be painting them up similar to the ones I converted a while ago but the Patrols will be different in the helmet department...here's a pic of the old Judges that I knocked up:

Thanks to the Royal Wedding and a bank holiday, I have been able to spend a little time putting together a few model kits. As a result, I have now finished converting and assembling all of the mechs for the Tunnel Fighter army. Here are a couple of pics: