It's been a while since my last post. Not because I didn't feel like or because I wasn't doing stuff.
On the contrary.
When I finished my 54mm knight Owain Glyndwr (see my last blog post), my eyes fell on a plastic tupperware container which had been languishing in the remote corners of the war chest for years and years on end. Inside the container was a 90mm metal model of a mounted samurai general which I had built in my late teens or early twenties and in time bits and pieces started coming off. Luckily, though, I saved all of them and having given up of any immediate repair, I stored the lot in the container and left them there, all forgotten.
So six months ago I opened the container for the first time in decades, checked that all the pieces were, indeed present and set to work on restoration. I have to say at this point that this model is one of a series of samurai models from Poste Militaire. These were all the rage in the eighties and today are looked upon as classics. This one is a sculpt of samurai general Kato Kiyomasa - apparently more renowned for his prowess of hunting tigers than for his generalship - by Ray Lamb. I don't think these eighties' models are up to the standard of today's sculpts but they are still very nice and imposing pieces. One thing I had noticed in the past was that the horse's hind leg had buckled under the weight of the metal (the whole thing with base weighs in at just shy of 1.2kg) so one of the first things I knew I had to do was to reinforce the legs with brass rods drilled as far up the legs as possible. The whole thing was stripped down to bare metal and rebuilt from the ground up. This is the result.
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| This is what I had muddled through forty years ago. Poor Kato ! |
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| All stripped down |
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| Had to reinforce the legs or they would have buckled once more |
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| I thought of putting a roadside lantern on the base so I scratch built one |
This project was a marathon during which I met quite a few hurdles but which I thankfully managed to overcome. I hope you like the end result and thank you all for visiting and commenting.
Hope not to take so long before my next post!
Mike
Mike, this is an AMAZING transformation. What a stunning centerpiece for your collection. Great to see you back!
ReplyDeleteHave to admit there were times when I was on the verge of giving up but it would have been too much of a waste. Glad it worked out in the end and very glad you like it. Thanks Jon!
DeleteWhen you said your eyes fell on a plastic tub, for a second I imagined a horrible accident and eye injury and that was why the long absence. phew, instead you fell down a well into painting a miniature from your youth.
ReplyDeleteBut you did an amazing job. fabulous painting. 😁
The eyes are still in place haha, don't worry. A bit worse for wear but still functioning somehow. I should have written 'gaze' - goes to show my mastery of your language is still rough around the edges sometimes.
DeleteAnyway, yes, it was quite a fall down the well, a bit like Alice's. Thankfully there weren't any mad hatters around, even though at times the job was driving ME a bit mad. But all's well that ends well and thanks a lot for your kind comment Stew.
Wow! Stunning work on this samurai, Mike! Everything is museum-quality, and the work on the jinbaori spectacular.
ReplyDeleteVery happy that you like it Dean! Unfortunately it doesn’t show but I also put two cherry trees in the inner lining of the jinbaori. It’s a pity that they are completely covered! Still, I’m happy with the final result as I am with the scabbard of the katana which I copied from a real life specimen. Thanks for your kind comment.
DeleteLate to the party but this is a gorgeous piece of work!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Hey Iain! Party’s still on, don’t worry! 😜
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your kind words. 🙏🏼
A big scale and a wonderful job...with superb colors and details!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Phil!
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