Recycling

To start today's post, I'd like to welcome Phil C. He has just found his way into Inso's World and will hopefully find something to inspire or borrow for his own purposes. Welcome aboard Phil C, I hope you enjoy your stay.

Recycling is a great way to build armies without buying in lots of new stuff. As you all know, I am a bit partial to buying cheap bits and bobs from E-Bay and I have bought a wide range of 'stuff that might come in useful'. The two vehicles below fall into this category:

Click the Pic!

On the left, we have an IFV from Fenris Games. On the right we have a small van from Ground Zero Games. Two things immediately spring to mind. First, the van has been out of production from Ground Zero Games for a very long time...but fear not! You can now purchase it from Daemonscape on E-Bay. Secondly, the Fenris IFV originally came with a turret but I decided to add a skirt to it and turn it into a small hover vehicle for my Grymn desert army...here is what happened (a LONG time ago):

Click the Pic!

Anyway...I digress...My Tunnel Fighter army is in need of four transport vehicles; one each for the specialist units. Last night I had a sudden brainwave and remembered that I had some resin vehicles hidden away that hadn't been allocated to any projects. I had a quick root around and now have the perfect vehicles for my K9 and Drone squads.

The K9 vehicle will be the GZG van. It has plenty of room to house 6 K9s and 3 Grymn so I won't be converting it at all. When I bought this vehicle, I was warned that the moulds were a bit old so there is quite a bit of clean up to do...and I may end up having to use some Lego wheels...but it isn't un-salvageable.

The Drone vehicle needed to be quite large and as a result, the Fenris vehicle is perfect. I will need to convert a few bits and bobs for it to achieve it's purpose but not too much. I will be adding some roof hatches for the aerial drones to fly out of and will also be adding a large rear ramp for the wheeled drones to gain entry and leave from the back. I am also going to armour-up the front a little. As you can see, I have added spacers to the wheels to add a bit of width to the vehicle so conversion is under way.

As you can see, I now only need two transport vehicles...one for the medics and one for the OGrymn squad. I am thinking about having a flier for the OGrymn (and I already have a kit in mind that, again, I have in my collection) and another vehicle that is large enough to house an operating theatre for the medics...and that one is going to take a bit of thought.

One thing that has happened as a result of my digging is that I have decided to add a second trooper to the drone squad to act as a driver.

...AND...I find I have been distracted again...

At least it is a distraction that has led back to a constructive project.

See you from the deep, dark caverns!

Recommendations

After a quiet day, doing little more than painting, I have a few WIP pix to show off. First, I have the last four of the Grymn Tunnel Fighter APCs:

Click the Pic!

I have finished the grey and started to base-coat all of the other bits. They are more or less at a point where, once the metals are washed and the windows filled in, it will be a case of adding the squad colours. The thing with these is that they have been sat on my shelf for a while and it was today that I decided to crack on with them.

Next was the second squad for the Void project:

Click the Pic!

As you can see, they are barely started but they are on their way.

So...I mentioned earlier that I was going to make a few suggestions for various sci-fi bits and bobs. I haven't included Games Workshop or Forge World because they always get the press...so here are a few stores that I like to visit:

For 28mm sci-fi miniatures, I would heartily recommend having a look through these links:

Hasslefree Miniatures (they have a December Bonus promotion on from tomorrow)

Heresy Miniatures

Studio McVey

Micropanzer (for vehicles too...when they get there)

Pig Iron Productions (for vehicles too)

Em4

Scotia Grendel (for vehicles too)

Copplestone Castings

Antenociti's Workshop (for vehicles too)

Other sci-fi miniature sizes:

Ground Zero Games (These are 25mm and 15mm and are certainly NOT 28mm)

Critical Mass Games (these are 15mm)

Rebel Miniatures (these are 15mm)

Khurasan Miniatures (these are 15mm and a small amount of 28mm)

Sci-fi vehicles: In addition to Antenociti's Workshop, Scotia Grendel, Pig Iron Productions and Micropanzer:

Daemonscape (these are the old Ground Zero Games vehicles for 25mm)

Old Crow Models (these are a mix of 25mm, 15mm and 6mm vehicles)

Other bits and bobs:

Hobby Link Japan (for everything Japanese from Mecha to vehicles)

Wayland Games (discount shop for all sorts of miniature related things)

Comet Miniatures (all sorts of kits...it's where all my VOTOMs kits came from)

Evil Mushroom Games (all sorts of stuff)

Fenris Games Ebay / Normal store (some awesome miniatures, vehicles and bases)

World of Twilight (a lovely range for an alternative fantasy world)

Ramshackle Games (cheap resin miniatures, vehicles, bases and other bits)

This list isn't exhaustive but there are some gems in there that are well worth a browse. I am also a fan of E-bay but I could never point you in specific directions there...there is too much variety.

Well...that is that. I hope you find something in amongst that lot that opens your eyes to a wider miniature wargaming world.

See you from the foot-plate.

Shameless Advertising.

Christmas is coming and in a bit to divert your attention from big, shiny things from big, shiny manufacturers, I thought I'd plug a few things I've seen lately that would help out some of those smaller sellers who put the effort in and deserve a bit more custom.

I'll start with my favourite one; Hasslefree Miniatures. They have to come top of my list because they are the creators and sellers of Grymn (my favourite miniatures of all time). In the run up to Christmas, they have some cool new releases, including THIS, THIS and THIS. They have also started to release Grymn squad packs like THIS, THIS and THIS and also some Alien/adventurer packs like THIS and THIS. They are also the sellers of Twilight, a fantastic little range of miniatures by Mike Thorp. With new releases every month and the highly anticipated Grymn Walker, Hasslefree keeps the interest going.

Heresy Miniatures is another small miniatures manufacturer who has a constant flow of miniatures releases. Recently things have been chaotic with the Heresy Dragon but as that eventually levels out, there will hopefully be a plethora of new releases such as the recent ones like THIS, THIS and THIS as well as the already available Gang Pack. Heresy is where I buy all of my putty too...they also sell sculpting tools and clay shapers. It is a veritable one stop shop.

Old Crow Production make a wide range of resin vehicles and accessories. They sell them in various scales and include a range especially created for the Hammer's Slammers rule set. My favourite vehicles include the Glaive, Gladius and Slingshot. The quality is second to none, especially when compared to other resin producers.

Another company that I buy from fairly regularly is Scotia Grendel. They sell a wide range of products for various games that have been around forever (it seems). Void1.1, Kryomek, Leviathan are just a few of the games covered. I am a fan of THESE for my Grymn vehicles and quite often buy from the Void1.1 range.

If you want a wide range of products at knock down prices, you can do worse than trying Wayland Games. I could link to a huge number of products but I would run out of space. Pop along and have a look...they are also the only reliable UK seller of Heavy Gear stuff so if that floats your boat then this is the place to go.

Do you need plasticard? Evil Mushroom Games sells all sorts of model making accessories and is a very handy place for everything from putty to plasticard. Always quick to deliver, they are definitely one place I visit a lot for my scratch-building needs. They also have a range of scenery and accessories including a wide range of resin bases.

I know this is a fairly short list but I usually frequent these for everything I don't buy on E-bay or at the shops. Every time I have ordered, I have received top service and with Hasslefree and Heresy, you get sweets in with your order too!

In the current economic climate, small producers are suffering so it is worth throwing a few of your hard earned sheckles in their direction to keep the miniatures world vibrant.

Just my opinion.

See you from the mall!