The Samurai of Japan are one of the great modelling subjects (well in my opinion anyway). Most of the modelling companies offer a Samurai or Ashigaru in there range and quite rightly too. Nearly all are from the time span of 1000 AD to 1600 Ad which was the end of the golden Samurai age. In the subject range is a huge choice. From the armour made of scales which was laced together in the most intricate of patterns to the later styles of solid plate with patterns embossed onto them. Underneath the rainbow of colours and patterns that make the choice almost limitless.

But do the companies make the most of this source of inspiration. I am sorry to say that they do not and the number of outstanding examples are few. Two spring to mins for me straight away the Samurai bust by Andrea and the Post Militaire offering of an Ashigaru in a running pose. But now this has changed and a new figure has come on the market.

The figure has been sculpted by Alan Ball and the company who have made it available to us is I&E Miniatures. Alan Ball has a well known reputation of a well known sculptor with many high class figures to his name. I&E the Leeds based firm have been making a very strong entry into the figure modelling market for two years now. By putting the two forces together they have brought out perhaps a new classic?. The figure is that of an Ashigaru Commander circa 1600 who is advancing up a slope with the new weapon of war, a arquebus. The Samurai no longer rule the battlefield with their bows and single combat. A Damiyo or Samurai can now be killed by a common Ashigaru with his arquebus, the tide of war is changing.

Enough of the history time to get to the reason for all this the figure. The release comes crisply cast in an ivory colour resin. So what you may say, well through the miracle of modern casting no pouring blocks to remove (hooray). Which in turn means that the fit of the pieces is excellent. The phrase "clicks into place" is one that is a bit over used but it fits the bill exactly with this one. I have never made up a figure where the joins were so good!. The fit is so good that when the figure is put on the base some pieces will hold themselves in place, it took me a while to tire of this anti gravity act it was so much fun, what a sad man I am. The result of this is that you can break the painting process down into the component parts and not have to worry about the fit when it comes to assembly and this brings me on most conveniently to the painting.

I & E in there painting instructions leave the choice up to the modeller for the armour and quite rightly too for this brings me back to the leading comment in that the choice is endless. I used the "no undercoat" method for the flesh areas as the Ivory colour is just right, why make things difficult?.

The armour that I went for was a rich brown colour with blue lacing. Right that was the easy bit lets reproduce it on the figure. After a bit of trial and error I came up with this. A undercoat of Humbrol Super Enamel Matt wine (73) was put on. As seems to be the common factor with the Super enamel system it goes on lovely and smooth but needs at least two coats to get a good solid colour. When dried, over the top went Burnt Sienna oil paint thinned down with a SMALL amount of Liquin to make it flow. When this had dried I had he colour I was looking for, when things go right it does make a nice change!.

Now for the clothing of the figure Now this is a point where I have gone very wrong in the past and have ended up with some very weird and wonderful colour combinations. One comment made about one was of "a Jester on a VERY bad day! ". What I settled on was plain brown leggings, the cloth that the armour is attached to was orange and the underclothes blue. Sounds a bit of a mix but hopefully you will agree that the end result looks good. The painting techniques were base colours toned down with a series of washes and then the highlights put in. A pattern was put on the orange using Titanium White oils and using the Osprey book for a guide.

Now the bit I had been dreading the lacing. For this a small brush, Humbrol enamel Matt Blue (25) and a lot of patience. I find that can only work in short sessions on this type of work, any more and the mistakes start to creep in and the armour colour nee a solid lump. In between the plates a very thinned down Burnt Umber oil paint and turps was placed. This was done by just letting the paint flow by capillary action into the grooves. This helped to give the segmented effect. I was so pleased by this that I used it again on the overlapping plates of the rest of the armour.

For the ties that were on the wrists, ankles and for the armour, were then painted using a very pale blue (65 Matt Aircraft Blue). This was then toned down by a very thin application of Prussian Blue oil paint. The swords and the belt that they are tucked into were next up. I could not resist the inclusion of red on the figure for the belt as this was apparently the favourite colour of the Samurai. It also fitted into my colour scheme. The Swords were painted black with gold hardware. The grips themselves were painted using orange, again trying to keep in with my colour scheme.

Something was missing, it was all a bit bland. These men did dress to impress!. The crown of the helmet was painted using Humbrol Gold and this was also used on the tops of the armour and this brought the figure to life.

All that was needed now was the flag painting and here again the choice is the modellers and boy are there plenty to choose from again!. I was drawn by an article that had been written by the Samurai expert Dr Stephen Turnball. This was an incident during the invasion of Korea by Japan when the castle at Ulsan was under seige and a relief force came to its aid. Some very interesting designs for the banners and it was in the time range of the figure. What drew my eye were the figures to the front with a blue banner with a white circle. Perfect as it fitted in with my colour scheme. Now how to reproduce it.

The blue part of the flag was easy masking tape. I always like to pre-stick my masking tape to a surface, cut to shape and then peel it off. It will still stick but not too much so there it no risk of pulling off the first coat. Now the circle was a different matter altogether. It is said that the test for a artist is if they can draw a perfect circle, so I did not even try to go there!. I used the bits from a hole punch as a mask. The end result looking very good, nice when it does go right, even nicer twice in the same project. A name plate "Relief of Ulsan Castle" was ordered from the local engraver.

The figure was attached to the base using the tried and tested pinning technique. It is better to invest some time here than take a tube of superglue with you when ever you show your figure!. Attach the arms and flag and this is one very slick looking figure.

Now for the big test. During construction I has been reporting back to Ian Burton the head man at I & E. He mentioned that Dr Turnball would be giving some talks and the White Rose Modelling Society of Leeds would be giving a show as well. The big day arrived and it really was fun, the talks by Dr Turnball were excellent. The model was looked over by Ian Burton and Dr Turnball and given the thumbs up. I was given a minus point on the fact the relief of Ulsan was in February and barefooted a Samurai may have been a little cold after wading through the river.

Also at the show was the sculptor Alan Ball and I had a very interesting chat with him. During the course of this the subject of the lacing on the leg protection (kusazuri) where it hangs from the main armour came up. Alan had very carefully cut through the bits between the lace and this had left him with a excellent looking end result. This could not be put on the model as it would not have been able to cast. One to try if your are a bit more confident with the knife than me!. The result of the comp?. A joint first which I was more than pleased with.

Well what do I think of the figure?. The answer of superb is the answer. In my opinion it ranks equal first with the Poste Millitaire offering and that is some praise, but this figure does deserve it. The quality is there for all too see. To top it all the price is just too cheap to be true, some modellers may be put off by that fact. High quality figures do not have too cost a fortune, try this one you will not regret it. Congratulations to I & E and Alan Ball. Now how do they top this one?.

Ashigaru Commander 1600