This web page is for those interested in military figure modeling and painting.

This article is about is a 9 inch tall resin figurine of a Japanese Samurai Officer.  The model when purchased was painted up a little bit with hint on the detail here and there, I wasn't satisfied, so I got my fine paint brushes and paints out and went to work on it.

It took me about 3 days solid to paint up the figurine to this standard. I am a perfectionist and wasn't happy until I had got it exactly right, to the way that I wanted it to look.

The hardest part was painting the eyes so that they didn't look "boss-eyed" which was more difficult than words can explain! I'm sure some of you modelers out there understand.

There is a tremendous amount of detail created on this figurine and to me it was like shining a green light to exemplify the model to its best form and bring out all of the inherent detail with color and attention to detail.

In the daylight the colors really stand out a treat and make the model look quite superb !

It was only Samurai Officers that wore all of the decorative armor when going into battle, the common foot soldiers were very bland in their appearance.  Bright colors were the order of the day, there was no such thing as camouflage and disruptive outline patterns in those days, the idea was to stand out proudly on the battlefield, the field of honor.

Similar in a way to the British Armies battle dress of the 1800's when they used to wear bright red tunics, (the red coats) bright snow white belts, shinny brass buttons and helmets that caught the light and could be seen miles away.  There was no hiding in the undergrowth to ambush the enemy in those days it was all done out in the open.

The Samurai Officer utilized a mixture of bamboo, wood and bronze for His armor plating protection and it was all tied together with cotton ties and leather straps.  The face had a lower part protection mask made of light bronze.  The Samurai Officer hoped to get his sword thrust or swipe in first, taking down the enemy straight away, then to move on to the next one.

Sword fights lasted a matter of seconds, not as depicted by Hollywood where they would stand swinging at each other for minutes on end with the mandatory trickle of blood coming from the corner of the mouth.

A single strike with a three foot long razor blade, I mean a Samurai sword, would incapacitate or kill in an instant.  So the idea was to get yours in first !

The helmets had a huge long neck piece to protect the wearer from killer sword strikes across the back of the head and neck.  These were also highly decorated with with painted bamboo, leather and wood shapes that were 'sewn' into the panel.  The helmets were very ornate but also served to deflect a poorly aimed swing or thrust to the head by an enemies sword.

The ornaments that were positioned on top of the helmets visor was a family symbol much like a family coat of arms is to a westerner.  The Samurai Officer and his warring family class could easily be distinguished with this adornment, they were usually painted gold or silver and were made of tin or bronze.

They looked very proud but again served some purpose, if an enemy was to swipe his sword down onto your head, you only had to look down a little and the sword could snag in the ornament and be deflected.

Like the rest of the armor, the side plates that gave some protection to the upper arms from lethal sword strikes were tied in place with brightly colored cotton or silk ties.  The Samurai Officer did not completely cover his body in armour like medieval Knights of olde as it restricted movement too much.

Seeing as most of the armor apart from the breast plate was made of wood, bamboo and leather the Samurai Officer was quite light on his feet and highly maneuverable.  If His sword skills were up to par then He would not have relied too much on the armor in the first place.

The side skirts of the Samurai Officers Armor suit was made from leather straps that were stitched together and studded.  Although leather is not an ideal medium to stop a strike from a razor sharp Samurai sword it still offered protection against a glancing blow that would otherwise slice through the skin right to the bone.

All combat in these days were well before the advent of firearms and all combats were conducted in open fields with the armies facing each other man to man.  These guys probably had a good " war cry " too, guaranteed to scare the wits out of you !

I hope that I have captured the essence of the Samurai Officer with my colorful paint scheme, it is loosely based on a real Officer of the time although I have let my imagination run off on its own where I was unsure of particular patterns.

I hope that you have enjoyed viewing this web page about my Samurai Officer Figurine.  These figurines are available to buy off the internet and cost about $30.00 up to $60.00.  Of course E-Bay is probably the best place to purchase one if you are interested.

This resin cast figurine was initially painted up to look as if it was made of Bronze with some dabs of colour here and there and looked ok as an ornament but I couldn't resist turning it into a piece of 'Capo D Monte' or Object D'Art.