The Silver Samurai - Intermezzo

I pretty much knew that eking out quality bench time would prove to be a challenge this year, but I certainly didn't expect the "squeeze" to begin this early. . .

Between work and a nasty Spring flu (courtesy of the TMs at work), my bench time this past week can be counted in minutes, if that! Nonetheless, a bit of progress has been made--mostly today. . .

• Continued sizing, detailing, and reducing the cowl portion of the sōmen. This is progressing slower than I had anticipated, but is coming together very nicely.
• The kabuto is now all-but-assembled: the mabezashi and right fukigayeshi have been permanently attached. 
• The kashiradate has been pegged and tentatively fitted to the tehen. There is a significant amount of work yet to be done on this embellishment to the helmet.

Hopefully, things will start getting back to normal sooner than later. . .

Crystal Brush 2012. . .

entries can be seen here; winners here.

ENJOY!

The Silver Samurai - Men-Yoroi (1)

Before continuing with the assembly and finishing of the helmet, the men-yoroi (face armour) must be addressed.

Men-yoroi, especially menpō (full half-mask), are a characteristic component of a full gusoku (harness); but, in reality, were seldomly worn. The most common functional variant was the hanbō, a half- mask protecting the cheeks, jawline, and chin, which also served as a protective barrier between skin and helmet cords. Our base sculpture is equipped with a hanbō.

If menpō would have been seen on the battlefield but occasionally, then sōmen (full face-mask) would have been a bonafide rarity. And as far as "cowls" (as in what superheroes wear) are concerned, I have seen a few late Edo-period examples, but these were extremely rare. Herein lies the rub: the Silver Samurai wears men-yoroi that looks like a cowl, protecting the upper half of his face; but, the lower half of his face is bare!

My approach to this quandary is to add a "cowl", integrate it with the provided hanbō, and thus create a historically-sound sōmen. To this end, I have already "roughed-in" the cowl portion of the sōmen with MS.

More to follow. . . 

The Silver Samurai - Kabuto (1)

The key to any successful rendition of a bushi is the kabuto (helmet). Admittedly I am biased, as that extraordinary piece of functional art has been an obsession of mine for nigh unto thirty years(!); however, the fact remains that this is where many figures of Japanese armoured subjects fall way short of the mark.

Since period accuracy will be a relative factor in this project, I decided to keep the helmet essentially stock, focusing on the assembly of the same and the peripheral enhancements demanded by the subject. To this end, the first step of this project was the attachment of the shikoro (neckguard)--in this case, a kasa-jikoro--to the hachi (helmet bowl)--in this case a suji-bachi.

I began by "cleaning" the respective pieces: reducing and/or removing pour "sprues"/channels (anyone familiar with Verlinden kits will know what I am referring to), and removing positive evidence of deteriorating mold edges from the contact surfaces. Once done, I embarked on a rather lengthy session of dry-fitting and "eye-balling" symmetry. You'd be surprised at the number of shikoro that are either off-center, or patently asymmetrical: this is frankly inexcusable! Whether the fault lies with the sculptor or with the miniaturist, there is an inherent symmetry that must be observed. Get this wrong, and you might as well not bother with the rest.

First,  I removed the agemaki bow on the back of the kabuto, leaving just the mount for the kasa-jirushi no kan. Kasa jirushi are fine, but I am no big fan of agemaki bows--and this wasn't a particularly noteworthy one.

The major decision to be made in this step was how to best approach the construction of the kabuto. I prefer having the hachi and head as a single subassembly, with the shikoro as a "secondary" piece. Unfortunately, the figure was engineered in such a fashion as to preclude this approach: the koshimaki was beveled so as to accommodate a mounting channel built into the first lame of the shikoro. While there is a certain method to the evinced madness, it is not the most user-friendly--or advisable!--approach. Playing the hand I was dealt, I carefully attached the shikoro by the central mounting lug connecting at the center rear of the koshimaki (due South if you will), and then floated cyanoacrylate down the mounting channel, one side at a time. This provides for a clean, strong, invisible join.

So much for step 1. Next, I will fill the attachment seam of shikoro to hachi, and work out the dynamics of the fukigayeshi and the mabezashi.

The Silver Samurai - Update

By way of follow-up, I have decided to base my creation on Verlinden's oversized (see below) offering, no. 1749. Those of you who have been with me for a while know that I am no stranger to this bust, that, in spite of its numerous shortcomings, IMHO consistently ranks amongst the top samurai busts on the market. Given that period-specific historicity will not be a factor in this project, most of the shortcomings are nullified at the outset.

I have reviewed this bust on numerous occasions, so permit me to present you with the bullet-point highlights:

•  Verlinden markets this kit as a 200mm bust, but this is anything but! I have scaled it out to 1/5th scale. . . in fact, this kit would not look out of place in a collection of its slightly larger 1/4 scale brethren.
• 18 pieces + pedestal.
• Buff-coloured resin - the original releases were cast in the then-typical Verlinden grigio-verde resin, with all that entailed. This new resin is a significant improvement!
• Bust is based on a modern-day reenactor as pictured in Mitsuo Kure's and Ghislaine Kruit's THE SAMURAI Recreated in Colour Photographs (Europa Militaria Special No. 14; p. 67). And as such it is quite a successful accomplishment! Thus, as a historical reconstruction, it leaves much to be desired; but as a cost-effective platform upon which to launch an interesting, colourful, and unique conversion project, it is superb!

The conceptual design of my interpretation is still very sketchy--but I do like where it's going. . .

More to follow. . .

The Silver Samurai

By now, most know that the second Wolverine solo movie – The Wolverine – after a number of setbacks, has been scheduled for release in Summer, 2013; that it will be set primarily in Japan; and that the primary villain will be Harada Kenichirō, bka Silver Samurai.

I am a huge fan of Wolverine’s stay in Japan, and the events leading up to it. The ‘Japanese hiatus’ of Logan’s life is a classic arc in the history of the character. Regrettably, Harada’s namesake armour has provided a negative consistency. This I attribute to an at-that-time understandable ignorance of the rich history and variety of Japanese armour; and a complacency that was satisfied by the stereotypical pastiche that would be identified with the Silver Samurai’s costume.

The film is still in pre-production, so there is nothing in the way of leaks or sneak-peeks to draw from. While some may see this as a hindrance, I see this as an opportunity! What would a canonical, albeit “historically accurate”, Silver Samurai look like?

If the Muses grace me, the Silver Samurai might be the very subject that would allow me to bring my historical and non-historical passions to the fore. I have tentatively begun my research. . .

BaneLegions: Bits--and pieces. . .

If CMON being announced as a US retailer wasn't enough, the good folk at BaneLegions have turned it up a significant notch: (almost) each and every component for all the BaneLords miniatures can now be bought separately from the Maelstrom Games webstore (parent company of the BaneLegions), with the BaneBeasts Bits following next week!

This ably addresses so many entries on so many wish lists, that all that really remains to be done is to thank Maelstrom and BaneLegions for thinking like us--and being one of "us"!

To the best of my knowledge, the Bits are available exclusively from Maelstrom Games.

I've already begun my list; and as soon as the BaneBeasts Bits are made available, Maelstrom will be receiving my first order. . .