Aoshima 1:35th Scale Plastic Samurai

Here's a small group of 1:35th scale plastic models that I worked on many years ago - before I got into gaming and was more into modelling. The box art showed one mounted samurai so I thought it would be a large single-figure kit. As everything was printed in Japanese, I was surprised to find a bunch small multi-part figures. I went ahead and put them together and went a little wild with a hot knife and putty modifying their poses and also adding details like mail and plates on their sleeve armor. I had forgotten about them and discovered them recently while rifling through boxes of junk. I glued back some broken off pieces and mounted them on bases from Warmachine (30mm for the foot and 50mm for the mounted figure).

The banners are made from tissue paper soaked in white glue. The tall eboshi helmet as well as the arquebusier's hat were made from heated plastic and a putty. Thread was used for the helmet cords - as my wife is a trained seamstress, we always have stuff like that around.

The mounted guy was actually supposed to sit on a field chair, but put him on the horse instead. I think the guy with eboshi helmet was the one for the horse. The horse tail is a lock of hair donated by my wife.

The arquebuse is actually a Brown Bess musket from a 54mm Airfix kit with its stock modified a bit.

The cloth horse reins and also the cloth belts holding the short swords are also made from tissue paper soaked in white glue. The tassels on the horse are from some long forgotten ornament. The figures are a bit crude looking (especially the horse!), but I learned a lot about Sengoku period armor from the research which has helped me with my more recent projects.

Gripping Beast Beserkers

Here is the final unit for my 6 point SAGA Viking Warband - they're a unit of Beserkers which will be interesting to see in combat. My buddy Scott A. gave them to me awhile ago as he had spares - I finally had the motivation to paint them today. Actually I had painted their flesh and given them a wash about a week ago and just had the hardest time picking up a brush.

The wolf skins were fairly easy to paint - mostly dry-brushed; two in grey and two in brown. An old copy of WAB's Shield Wall was a great reference for the coloring.

The shield patterns were also shamelessly lifted from Shield Wall pictures.

Interesting enough, I passed up a chance for some SAGA games today which were hosted by my buddy Dan P. at Drumbeat - the annual game day up in Seattle. I had some family commitments (my youngest son's dental check up, etc.), so used my spare time to finish these guys. Oh well, at least my Viking Warband will be ready for the next opportunity.

1,000 Point Bolt Action Armies - German & US

Just messing around with the free army list calculator kindly available from Bolt Action.Net I pointed up both a German and US 1,000 point army. I just ordered the rule book and have yet to receive it but wanted to see how my existing WW2 models pointed up. I've used them in the past with Disposable Heroes and except for the King Tiger have been able to use all of them at one time or another. According to the list builder it appears a 1,000 point army is limited to one tank - although it could be a King Tiger! :)

In the photo above all the vehicles except for one Panzer IV are excluded from this 1,000 point German army. The figures for the army, which are in the foreground, include an officer, three squads of Fallshirmjager (Veterans), two smaller squads of Inexperienced Heer, one each HMG and Panzerschreck teams, and finally a lone Panzer IV.

The next photo shows all of US forces I have available, but again only the units in the foreground are part of the 1,000 point army.

The US force is made up of an officer riding the jeep, two squads of Veteran Infantry (4th Armored Division) riding in M3 Halftracks with MMGs, two Veteran Airborne (101st) squads, a Medic (mainly because I have a figure for it and available on the list), two .30 Cal. MMG teams, one of which has a 3/4 ton transport, one each Sniper, Flamethrower and Bazooka teams, and finally one M10 tank destroyer rated as Veteran.

Of course, these are only preliminary lists and will likely need a lot of adjustments after reviewing the rule book proper, but at least it gave me a rough idea of the limitations of troop types and armament. I'm pleasantly surprised that a lot of the local crew have really picked up on these rules - just like SAGA. I can get my WW2 stuff on the table again.

Perry Life Guards - The Cheese Mongers

Well, here is the first completed project for 2013. A unit of Perry British Household Cavalry painted up as Life Guards. Alternatively, they could be painted as Blues, but red coats were chosen as they are unmistakably British.

Over a brown base coat, the horses were given a wash of black and then a healthy stain of Minwax Tudor Satin. It really gave them the look of "blacks" - as the Household Cavalry are known to have ridden, and indeed still do to this day.

I used a bit of Green Stuff to secure the riders more securely to their mounts. You may be able to see some of this in the photos. I'll paint those areas black after the super glue dries.

All in all a nice unit to paint up, but I wonder how the same unit produced by Renegade would look compared to them. I think they might be larger and possibly give the proper effect of these Heavies. I understand they had a fairly tall height requirement to enter the Guards. Something like 6 feet plus - and riding large horses must've made these guys pretty imposing on the battlefield. EDIT: this height requirement is not substantiated. :) Incidentally, the famous actor Ray Miland (The Man with the X-Ray Eyes) served in the Royal Horse Guards The Blues.

I also think their broadswords could've been sculpted a little larger or thicker - kind of the way Front Rank does theirs; pretty sturdy for gaming.

Anyway, please don't take these comments as complaints - I am very happy with the overall look of these figures. After a few other projects and commitments, I plan to host a Black Powder game with these along with the rest of the Napoleonics collecting dust on the shelf. I may also pick up a copy of Albion Triumphant - for the eye-candy if nothing else. Again, best wishes to all of you this year and hope you all have great days ahead painting and gaming - Dean.

Perry Household Cavalry - WIP +1

The cavalrymen are finished - painted as Life Guards. Although the Royal Horse Guards ("Blues") look just as nice, I wanted them to look as British as possible - so red coated Life Guards they are.

I'm sure the Perrys research their subjects thoroughly, but I've yet to find a source showing the musician having winged epaulettes (or "birds nests") as depicted here.

The only thing I have a little problem with are their broadswords. They have a sort of falcata-look to them - not as heavy looking as I'd think they should look. Everything I've read has the British heavy cavalry sword being fearsome looking and heavier than their French counterparts' swords. Still a very nice set of sculpts as would be expected from the Perrys.

The horses are up next; a black undercoat has been followed by a brown one. Hopefully the Minwax stain will darken them a bit more as they are supposed to be blacks.

Painting Area Organized

For some time now, I had been looking for an inexpensive painting rack or carousel. Yesterday, my wife picked up this kitchen thingee from TJ-Maxx for about $13.00. In turn, it's sitting in a carry tray so it can easily be moved into hiding if we have guests. A multi-tiered carousel was my first choice, or possibly a suitable spice rack - but this one with two side-by-side carousels seems a decent alternative.

Previously my paints were in a small plastic bin. It was a little frustrating looking for paints as they were all thrown in a single drawer that had them rolling around in all directions and in no order. Now, I will try to keep them in some type of order by color range. I've also been painting on the kitchen table so I can watch TV - at least intermittently. Anyway, it at least seems more efficiently organized now.

UPDATE: My wife suggested I place the coffee mugs with brushes inside the center of the carousels. With the mugs siting in the center, the paint bottles now have a sort of back stop - keeping them from tipping over. As my wife always says, "You need to listen to me." She is usually right 10 out of 10 times.

Perry Household Cavalry - WIP

Just a quick post to show what I'm working on. This is a WIP shot of a unit of Perry Household Cavalry which will join the British in the Peninsula and later on at Waterloo.

Using a technique I picked up from veteran painter Doug H., I painted the details over a black undercoat before painting the clothing proper. Next will be the red coats for the Life Guards. NOTE: I now see I missed the top of a cross belt on one of the figures - not the first time I've found errors when reviewing pics on the blog - not a bad thing.

I picked this unit up from a generous TMP sale recently. Being a great price I couldn't pass it up as I felt my British force needed more cavalry, especially a heavy unit.

Now I'm heading out the door to meet my buddy Pat L. at The Game Matrix for another WAB refresher game. My Trojan War Chariot Army versus his Seleucids - this time he is bringing an elephant or two.

Changun's Choson Korean Army - Farewell 2012

"The host thus forming a single united body, it is impossible either for the brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone. This is the art of handling large masses of men." - Sun Tzu.

And so 2012 comes to a close, not with a bang but a whimper. Here is the Choson Korean army built in honor of my beloved canine companion, Changun - who through a series of unfortunate events is no longer by my side here on this earth. The stand for the Army General includes a figure of him in miniature.

All of the figures are Perrys, with the exception of the Changun miniature and the allied "Ming" Chinese cavalry. The dog mini is a modified Black Cat Bases figure, and the Chinese are from The Assault Group - actually Song Chinese, but close enough.

I wish all of you well in the coming New Year and hope you all have a great time painting and gaming. Warmest Regards to you all.

General Huang Zhong - Flying General Workshop

This is that plastic figure from Flying General Workshop that was advertised as 1:56th scale. It is probably closer to 40mm, though. I decided to paint it up anyway - and will give it to one of my wife's friends as a Christmas gift. Her friend always looks at my figures in a cabinet and asks if she can have one. She can't understand why my wife tells her no because I have to use them all. Anyway, I hope she likes this over-sized figure that can't be used with my 28mm stuff. Her husband is a retired SF guy who practices Korean and Chinese martial arts - mainly staff weapons - so I had to make sure this figure will stand up to his scrutiny.

This is taken straight off of the box (the only thing in English, as everything else is written in Chinese): "Huang, Zhong - One of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu Han. Huang Zhong had always been portrayed in popular literature and arts as an elderly general with youthful vigor and constitution. Even now, the spirit to strive for excellence despite old age is often attributed to him."

I painted the figure as one piece - the rider was glued to the horse and everything sprayed black for an undercoat. For some reason, I painted the horse first and then the rider - kind of out of normal sequence.

Bright colors were chosen, as this seems what is depicted in Chinese art.

It may not be apparent in the photos, but the head of the rider (Huang Zhong) is really about 28mm, but the rest of him and the horse are much larger in scale.

Here he is compared to a 28mm T.A.G. Song Chinese cavalryman.

On the gaming front, my buddy Pat Lowinger and I got in a nice WAB refresher game today at The Game Matrix. My Trojan War Chariot army defeating his Successor army. He did leave out his elephant today - so next time it may get a bit more complicated for my Chariot army. On the home front, my oldest son will be home tomorrow on leave for about a week from his Air Force technical training. He's been gone for a total of 6 months - which includes his basic training. We can't wait to spend some quality time with him - especially during the holidays. Happy Holidays to all.

T.A.G. Song Cavalry

Still need to add a banner to the guy with the trident - also looking for an appropriate figure to round the unit to 10.

Addendum - based on a movement tray with a Korean officer added to the rear rank; also a modified Perry Choson flag - a tail was added.

I plan to use these as Ming allies for the Choson Korean WAB army. I did a little internet research for these guys and noticed most illustrations of Chinese metal armor from this period is shown to be iron or steel. I would’ve thought they’d use bronze, but it appears the Chinese moved away from bronze quite early on – at least for the most part.

As this unit is supposed to represent Song Dynasty troops, they are a bit anachronistically armored. By the time of the Song, most armor was brigandine, or coats of plates, types very similar to what the Koreans wore – or vice versa. However, I wanted a contrast for the Chinese, so figured the exposed metal armor would make them look more foreign or exotic, as allies should.

Possibly the more elite Song units may have retained this type of armor, but I’m not sure if any of these types of troops were deployed in the Imjin War. This unit should complete the Choson Korean WAB army. I would like to add a unit of unarmored Choson Korean mounted archers, if the Perrys would ever make them.

The next image is a period painting of Ming cavalry - they are heavily armored and the helmets are similar to the ones worn by the Song cavalry above. The horses lack any armor or barding though. Granted the dynasties typically ran through several centuries, so some overlap in appearance would be plausible.

The T.A.G. figures strongly resemble the cavalry illustrated below in a Song Dynasty manuscript.

T.A.G. Song Cavalry - WIP +1

Started on the riders - just a little tidbit, but I'm trying to get back into painting more.

I can't figure out what kind of weapon the third guy on the right is holding in both hands (like large maracas). It's from the  pack with "exotic" weapons. The Ancient Chinese sure came up with some strange weapons.

Here is  link to some nice images of Ming Chinese. I plan to use these Song guys as Ming allies for a Korean Imjin War army.

T.A.G. Song Cavalry - WIP

Here are the horses for a unit of Song Cavalry from The Assault Group. Although they have a style all their own, they are very nicely sculpted. I picked these up from a very generous TMP sale offered by TMPer Iain - aka "The Hobbybox." He still has a ton of other TAG figures for sale.

I have some TAG Samurai and these are similarly styled/sculpted - somewhat stiff, but not excessively.

Proportion-wise they are pretty good - IMO. These have been given highlighting after a block paint job and Minwax Tudor Satin stain. The stain is pretty old and is getting very thick - I used a lot of thinner and the result isn't as good as if from a new can.

Here they are with a basic block paint job.

Krylon Brown Boots Satin was used as a basecot.

In other news, I had ordered some figures made by a Chinese company called Flying-General Workshop. These were on sale at the Michigan Toy Soldier Company.

They are advertised as 1:56 scale, and the two resin (gray) figures are pretty close to that, but the plastic (tan) figure is a lot larger - possibly 40mm or so. I had planned to use them to increase the size of the TAG unit, but may not as they don't blend in too well