Thursday, July 16, 2015

Seriously cool set from Steve Barber

My little retinue (with extra copies of the baggage carrier and an extra lady. The ladies come with parasols, but I will give one of them a walking stick for variety. The kago is dry-fit here, hence, the gaps.
My "kago" arrived from Steve Barber Models, and it is seriously cool!

Window screen up or down? Mine will be up.
I commissioned Steve a few months ago to start working on these figures, which include the kago (the Japanese word for palanquin,) its carriers, a baggage carrier model, a lady and a bodyguard.

Steve had the foresight to put an option for one of the kago windows to be open or closed; this leaves the possibility of commissioning a passenger in the future -- diplomat, tax collector, concubine or daimyo off to serve his time in Edo. Whoever the passenger might be, that commission will have to get in line (I do have another project on Steve's desk once I pay my money.)

Her majesty's matched luggage! (Sorry, no mogs in this set.)
It will take a little work to get everything cleaned up and assembled. I'll probably do my usual routine and replace some bits with brass rod for added strength and such, but the set is excellent as is, and I think it's going to look great on the table.

For a paint scheme, I will paint a uniform design on all the baggage- and kago-carriers.
To pull everything together, the bodyguard will probably have a similar uniform, though, not the exact same as the carriers.

The ladies present an opportunity for some unique floral patterns. I'll have to do a little research, at least to find something I actually have skill enough to paint.

The other side of the kago (sorry for the cruddy photos; I was in a hurry to share pics of my new toys.) Also, I noticed my dry-fit is wrong: the side windows should be toward the back -- just a matter of swapping sides with the sidewall pieces.

6 comments:

  1. PhyllionJuly 17, 2015 at 12:10 PM

    That's a really cool set

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  2. Allison M.July 17, 2015 at 2:15 PM

    According to Wikipedia this may actually be a "norimono", kagos were less elaborate litters for rich commoners. They all look uncomfortable, though presumably less uncomfortable than walking. This is a seriously impressive set of castings, at any rate.

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    Replies
    1. EvilcartoonistJuly 18, 2015 at 12:45 AM

      Thanks for the heads up. I was not aware.
      This sculpt is definitely probably more norimono.
      No matter what it's called, I'm happy with how it looks :)

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  3. Allison M.July 19, 2015 at 9:16 PM

    That was a polite response, considering you'd have been wholly entitled to reply with "go be pedantic somewhere else" ;)

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  4. EvilcartoonistJuly 19, 2015 at 9:46 PM

    :)
    I don't pretend the figures I commission (and provide the reference pics for) are 100% historically accurate. I see something that I think looks neat on the internet or in a samurai movie and say, "I'd pay money to have a cool mini of that!"
    I was even thinking of having Steve do some Samurai Champloo figures at one point:
    http://cartoonsimages.com/sites/default/files/field/image/samurai%2Bchamploo.gif

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  5. UnknownJuly 24, 2015 at 9:00 PM

    I am looking forward to seeing the ladies painted up. As inspiration, here is a wedding kimono that I photoed last time that we were in Tokyo

    http://s511.photobucket.com/user/marianas_gamer/media/Wedding%20Kimono_zps75vy8pw6.jpg.html

    Notice that though complex it is basically a repetition of several simple patterns, well within your skill sets. All the best.
    LB

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