I’ve completed the first three of my North Star ‘Seven Samurai’ figures so far. Painting them has been a challenge to say the least.
I’m definitely no Kevin Dallimore. I’ve been slavishly following his painting guide for this set of figures, but – jeesh! – he paints details so small that I can’t even see them.
And as for picking out the freehand designs on the samurai clothing – I’ve painted the patterns as fine as I can get them, but they’re still twice as large and much rougher than Dallimore’s work! He must have exquisite brush control.
So far I’ve painted:
- Katsushirō Okamoto (left figure) – a young untested warrior. The son of a wealthy landowner samurai, he left home to become a wandering samurai against his family’s wishes. After witnessing Kambei (the leader of the Seven Samurai) rescue a child who was taken hostage, Katsushirō desires to be Kambei’s disciple.
- Kikuchiyo (middle figure) – a humorous character who initially claims to be a samurai, and even falsifies his family tree and identity. Mercurial and temperamental, he identifies with the villagers and their plight, and he reveals that he is in fact not a samurai, but rather a peasant. Eventually however, he proves his worth.
- Heihachi Hayashida (right figure) – an amiable though less-skilled fighter. His charm and wit maintain his comrades’ good cheer in the face of adversity.
So, challenging, yes. And I’ve proven that I’m no master-painter, that’s for sure. But it has certainly been fun. And hopefully from a reasonable distance they’ll be recognisable as the Seven Samurai.
VERY NICE!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you considered using a technical pen to draw the designs? Most of us have more control with a pen than a brush. I believe you can buy the pens with different colors of ink. I have blue and red as well as black. Very nice job, by the way, and a project I’ve long dreamed of.
Good idea. I did use a technical pen many decades ago (!) when I painted some Spencer-Smith plastics. https://arteis.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/very-old-old-school-spencer-smith-bavarian-army/
But hadn’t thought of doing so again. I’ll have to see how much they cost …
Superb job.
Thanks for that, Michael.
Very nice indeed, What rules are you looking to use Roly
Probably none – I’m painting this set of figures more out of interest in painting them than gaming with them. I do have ‘Ronin’ and have played it once or twice with my other samurai figures. But I really am a painter and modeller first, and gaming a distant second.
I’d be very proud of them if I was you. Mr Dallimore came from the stars with his sacred brushes and the eyesight of a hawk so don’t beat yourself up. Keep up the good work. I think their attack on the evil keyboard might succeed though 😄
Peter (Cork,Ireland)