During the last couple of weekends, I've been gradually expanding my red and blue samurai armies. My armies include various types of figures: primarily, the smaller and slender Minifigs S Range samurai figures, which make up the majority of my collection, along with the bulkier Minifigs Samurai from a later range and a few Dixon Samurai. To these “hodge-podgy” armies I've have recently been adding some plastic 1/72 figures that work reasonably well when viewed on the tabletop with the S Range figures.
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| Red army headquarters |
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| Blue army headquarters |
This use of plastic figures all began a couple of years back when I started looking to find some samurai horses for my cavalry figures from the S Range, which were lacking mounts. While you can still buy the Minifigs S Range samurai from Caliver Books, unfortunately, they no longer possess the moulds to cast the horses. As a possible alternative, I initially purchased some Zvezda Samurai cavalry figures and found their horses were a suitable match for my cavalry units. This got me looking at their other samurai options, specifically, the headquarters kits and samurai foot soldiers.
The headquarters proved particularly useful and they look good. Any minor scale variance in the 1/72 figures and my other 25mm figures isn't a significant concern since it's a complete set, and I won't be intermingling them with other figures on the tabletop. I do mix scales a bit already with my buildings which are often one scale down from my miniatures, for example 15mm buildings are generally used with my 20-25mm units.
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| Ashigaru unit which has Minifigs S range figures in the second row and 1/72 plastics in the front row. |
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| A better view for a size comparison. |
When it came to some of the infantry units, I decided to blend Minifigs S Range soldiers with the 1/72 infantry, which are slightly smaller in scale. Initially, I thought this may be a bad idea mixing them up, but to compensate for any potential height disparities, I added Sashimono banners to help disguise any differences. The one difficulty I did have was the the plastic figure poses were too dynamic, so I am being careful in my choice of figure.
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Arquebus unit.
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The original need to search for alternative horses.
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| All painted up in a very basic block fashion with a lick of gloss to give a toy soldier look. |
Having now completed this bit of painting, I am now eager to get these freshly painted units, especially the headquarter units, onto the tabletop for a wargame
Good post, Peter! I enjoyed your exploration of figure size differences and your hunt for the right figures. You know my Samurai project uses mainly 15mm Peter Pig and a few of the larger Museum Miniatures. I ordered several Lancashire Games’ 18mm Samurai as a test. The figures are HUGE. They might work well with your 1/72 figures. For a game, will you be using the same rules we played?
ReplyDeleteI find on the tabletop the size differences are not as noticeable, so all figures will be used (conscripted). It is surprising the size differences between manufacturers and as you did getting a few as a test is required. As for rules, they have been amended since we last played a remote game and can be found at top of blog. I will be adding some chance cards for the game.
DeleteThe HQs are very striking Peter. I like the gloss varnish finish - perfect for lacquered armour
ReplyDeleteThanks. Agree the gloss finish does work well for their armour. I use PVA glue for its gloss and flexible finish.
DeleteInteresting and innovative ideas for filling the gaps Peter. The use is f banners is inventive - ‘distract your enemy’s eye from your weakness’ would be a good Samurai maxim!
ReplyDeleteChris/Nundanket
Nice quote. The banners are also quite eye catching on the tabletop.
DeleteIf you hadn't taken the trouble to point out the differences I doubt I would've noticed. Anyway, mixing figures of differnet styles and build is very 'old school' i.e., from when there weren't the massive ranges that are available today.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that once you start down the path of mixing figures you begin to lookout for other figure opportunities to deliberately mix it up.
DeleteNot really my scene, but those encampments and figures look wonderful. Very nice indeed.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to getting the encampments onto the tabletop.
DeleteYou gotta admit, those Samurai armies have that extra 'cool' factor that not many others can match!
ReplyDeleteAll the banners certainly make for colourful armies.
DeleteLooking good Peter, and I can't say that I can see any difference.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in height is minimal with the 25mm. The body size is more noticeable sometimes.
DeleteCrackign work there Peter, with the camps looking superb and the gloss lacquer really making the colours pop, which is good. I would not have known any scale differences if you hadn't mentioned it. A period I keep pondering but have too many other projects in the pipeline as it is. Maybe one day...
ReplyDeleteThe gloss finish does work well with the samurai. I started this project because I had many of the miniatures purchased 40 years prior.
DeleteThe plastic 1/72 figures don't seem out of place alongside the Minifigs samurai Peter. Shows how "25mm" have "grown" over the last 40 years! The two command groups look great.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It is fun getting the command encampments onto the tabletop. The Minifigs S range were exactly 25mm and being slender figures also helps.
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