Thursday 18 January 2024

From Curt: Characters from 'The School of Strength' for 'Hametsu' (15 points)

Hi Everyone!

Here is my last trio of heroes for 'Hametsu'. These are the archetypes from the 'School of Strength': the Gaijin, the Sumo and the iconic masterless Ronin.

Similar to most of my other figures for this project, these are 3d prints that I sourced from MyMiniFactory and Thingiverse.

I really enjoyed working on all three of these models as they are so evocative of the period and very well designed. My hat is off to the sculptors. 

The Gaijin ('outsider' or 'foreigner) is based from a Renaissance Spanish rodelero which I thought would work nicely since the Portuguese were the first Europeans to make contact with the Japanese in the 16th century. 


I was thinking of what kind of colours to do him in and found some great images of the Papal Swiss Guard in their red, buff and blue livery which I thought that was perfect. I imagine him a lost Guardsman, perhaps the bodyguard of a Jesuit, or perhaps a Prince of the Church, stranded in Japan and making the best of his lot.  


For a bit of fun I added a Japanese lamellar spaulder to protect his right shoulder. I was thinking of giving him the distinctive leg faulds as well, but didn't want to hide his fancy European trousers (it's all about cutting a dash, right.). Model by PeculiarCompanions.

The Sumo was fun to do as well. I wanted to make sure I did a decent job on his skin as, um, there's a lot of it being that he's a big boi! I also really wanted to give him a tattoo, but wasn't confident on my freehand bush skills to do a dragon, so I used two rose decals from an old Sisters of Battle sheet, which give a close approximation to chrysanthemums. Done. 


There is an armoured version of the Sumo which I may do later to reflect the progression of the character - but that will be for another day. Figure by The Dragon Trappers Lodge.

The Ronin is one of my favourite figures of the series. Such a wonderfully dynamic pose, with him giving his all with his terrifying nodachi two-hander. Somebody's going to have a real bad day with this fella in front of them. 


I also really like the texture of the sculpt, with the deep folds in his trousers, his sinewy musculature and the spikiness of his hair and beard. A ferocious character to be sure.

These three warriors from the School of Strength should give me 15 points.

And to close, here is the wrap up shot of all nine characters for the heroes.


Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

TeemuL: So the hero character collection is now done? Looks great. I'm with you, the Ronin looks excellent and you have added nice stripes to his clothes, too. Very effective. I'm under impression, that tattoos are not a big thing in Japan, but I wouldn't argue with that sumo wrestler about it... And the colourful Gajin, I like all the colours there, emphasizing the mix-and-match equipment he has. 15 points that is.

35 comments:

  1. Just Wow Curt. These are amazing, the Portuguese is my favorite along with what I'll call the Sumo wrestler. Stay warm.

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    1. Thank you Bruce. The Gaijin was a fun figure to work on. You hunker down and stay warm as well. :)

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  2. Fantastic colour choices on each of those figures- wonderfully painted.

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  3. What a great looking assembly of heroes. The spaulder looks fantastic.

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  4. luvely designs and choice of paints. were these printed by you or did you buy the printed figures.

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    1. Thank Ian. I printed these myself. It a wonderful luxury. It allows me to increase or decrease the scale of the miniatures, which is a huge boon. These I printed at a slightly larger scale (33-35mm) just because I wanted them to look heroic.

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  5. Incredible brush work man! They are all lovely, but the colours and look on the Gaijin are particularly amazing!

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    1. Thanks Dude! I'm delighted you like them.

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  6. Amaze balls! I want to see them on table.

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    1. Thanks Pete. I'm sure we'll be seeing them doing feats of daring do soon. :)

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  7. Beautiful painting once again, Curt!

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  8. Awesome, just awesome! The use of the Swiss Guard uniform colours is inspired, and your application is just awesome. The skin on the Sumo is really nicely done and the added tattoos just make him even more awesome. And the Ronin... I'm not sure how, but you've managed to add the sense of ferocious movement to a static miniature. Just awesome!

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    1. Aw, thanks Ed, that's very kind of you. I'm happy you like them. :)

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  9. Thanks for fitting me in with your Thorsday crew, Teemu! Yes, this will finish off the Heroes for now. I may add more examples later, but I want to move on to the villains, bosses and terrain next.

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  10. Beautiful work as always, love the Papal guard tweak

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    1. Thank you Martin. I remembered their uniform from a childhood trip to Rome, sourced a photo and boom - it worked.

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  11. Splendid work Curt, I love the great colours on the gaijin, but the other too are also fabulous! I am really looking forward to the rest of the project!

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    1. Thank you Martijn! I'm very happy to have the heroes done and ready for play.

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  12. Stunning work Curt, the decals really set the Sumo guy apart, the finished set of heroes would sit front and center in anybody's collection, just wonderful painting.

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    1. Cheers Kent, very much appreciated. I wasn't sure on the SoB decals, but they did the trick in the end.

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  13. Great work on all of these minis Curt, the colours and patterns you have used really suit the models.

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  14. Another magnificent set of characters!

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    1. Cheers Barks. I'm happy to finally have finished them.

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  15. That's clever Curt - so much thought has gone into this project, brilliant thinking on the Portuguese background but the ace in the pack is the Sumo - skin tones are perfect

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  16. These are fantastic! Love the sumo and the idea of using a foreigner but linking him with the shoulder pad is ace

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    1. Cheers Jamie! I had fun with the shoulder armour accent.

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  17. Wonderful painting here Curt, love the colour choices and smooth transitions

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  18. Cool work on some more great figures, the Papal Guard just got even tougher !

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    1. I just need to paint up 31 more and I'd have one of your units! ;)

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