Samurai

Subject:
SAM I AM
Samurai Warlord
Kit Used: Verlinden 120mm

Review & Figure by:
Ian Dow
Pictures: R. Forys

Background: This model is a representation of the Samurai Warlord Toshi Goto who lived sometime between 850 AD and 976 AD in Feudal Japan. He is based on an ancestor of a close friend. There is not a lot known about Toshi Goto except that he controlled a small region in the central part of Hokkaido. The family still retains a small part of the land to this day. There were a few drawings of Toshi Goto that the family has preserved in Japan, one of these drawings was of Toshi in his Samurai armor. I tried to find a Samurai model that reflected his style of armor, but none really matched. The 120mm resin kit by Verlinden came the closest.

The Kit: The resin kit by Verlinden has a high level of detail and goes together with minor adjusting and filling. The high level of detail lent itself well to very intricate painting. When researching color schemes and armor types it became apparent that almost no two were the same. The majority of Samurai armor did not have a great deal of full armor plating on the front or back. Most had small pieces fashioned together with dyed rope of various colors. Toshi Goto's armor was of this nature but the kit did not come that way. What Toshi's armor did have was a padded bamboo breast piece and bamboo cowards plate on his back. These were painted to reflect a floral pattern with a chrysanthemum flower on the breast. The other pieces of armor were made of leather and cloth held together with metal studs and rope.

I sprayed the figure with a testors primer gray to give everything a solid base coat. I then drilled each piece and inserted a small metal rod to give myself a way of handling them while they were being painted. This method works well, especially on larger figures. I used a variety of paints on the figure to achieve varying shading techniques. I have noticed that acrylics such as the Testors, Tamiya and Citadel colors are all very good to put a nice base color or accent colors on a model, but they dry too quickly to shade effectively. Windsor & Newton acrylics work well for shading, but they will bleed together quickly if too much brush work or water is used. The Windsor & Newton oils are the hardest and most rewarding medium I have found so far. You can achieve very good depth and shadow, but you need to have some patience to give enough dry time.

The figure was painted in various reds, oranges and metal shades. From there I shaded and shadowed with varying shades of browns and grays using the Windsor & Newton oils. The armor and helmet were detailed with an interwoven vine pattern that was outlined with a 0.25 repidograph pen. It was very time consuming but well worth the attempt. Various pieces of the armor and clothing were also highlighted with the repidograph pen to produce accented areas of interest.

The sword was the most frustrating piece of the build. It came sadly bowed without the typical Samurai sword shape. After trying to bend it into shape, I proceeded to break it at the hilt. I glued it back together and then took a piece of aluminum and laid it over the blade of the sword. I then filed and shaped it into the contours of the blade. It has a few ripples in it, but overall it turned out ok.

The base came with the model, and this was painted primarily in oil washes and acrylic colors. (Note: You can paint oil over acrylic, but not the other way around. It can be tricky if using several different mediums, but you can experiment to see what works best.) I let it sit for a week when it was done to ensure that all the colors had cured before handling it.

Overall it was a very good build and the level of detail was excellent. I would recommend this kit to anyone who is interested in figure building.

Note: We're happy to add that Ian's figure placed first in the 120mm figure category at the 2005 South East Michigan Model Expo.