Forum > Adventures in the Far East

Captain Harlock goes Ronin

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Captain Harlock:
Ok, so we decided with afew friends to have a go at Ronin. I have so many other modelling ongoing projects, so another one wouldnt hurt  ;D
I chose the Koryu Buntai, mainly because the figures are inspired from japanese pop culture. There are the 7 samurai (some more recognisable than the others) and 2 plus minis. The older looking one Im positive that represents Yagyu Retsudo, the main antagonist from Lone Wolf and Cub. The remaining mini, might be Lone Wolf, might be Sanjuro, Im not sure if anyone does it would be great to know.


A samurai is defined by his sword and while the minis are generally very nice their original swords looked way too thick and out of shape to me. They almost look like cuccumbers. So I decided to make my own. Some time back we had a small renovation at our house and we changed all the old electric cables with new ones. Usually the electricians keep the old ones and sell them for scrap metal. Not in this house!  :D I immediately appreciated all those meters of copper wire and kept them, thus gaining an almost inexhaustible source of modelling material.

Forging the Katana (almost literaly)

1) I started with a length of copper wire. After straightening it, I hammered it until it was nice and flat all over.
2) I measured lengths for each blade and cut them down to size.
3) I took a file and gave the katana its basic form as a profile. Also I shaped the ''tang'' which would be pinned inside the hand of the mini. Then bent it till I got the right curvature.
4) After the basic shape was set, I had to ''sharpen'' the blade and give it an edge. I kept the blade in place with pliers and with the file, I shaped the edge by carefully filing at an angle.
5) A bit of buffing with sandpaper and the blades are ready to be inserted in the drilled hands of the minis





The blades are very sturdy and the only problem is that I exagerated abit on the sharpening part (ask me how I know..)

to be continued....

Gibby:
Brilliant, that's such a VAST improvement on those already excellent models. I always thought it was the weapons that let them down. Great work!

Captain Harlock:
I want to represent the 7 samurai. I made some reserch about the supposed colors of their clothes. I have not found a definitive source till now. I checked a Kurosawa documentary that briefly shows some concept art, but it doesnt seem to be about this movie. I ve seen some japanese action figures of the heroes, that might be ok. We will see.. I decided to start from the flesh parts till I sort the  cloths colors out


Kambei Shimada

Captain Harlock:
Katsushiro Okamoto

Captain Harlock:
Gorobei Katayama

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