Ronin - setting the scene

[Gunbird]

I picked up Ronin when it was released, got a warband, and then nothing. FFW to now, and I've bought some lasercut stuff (to be delivered) and thought, why not make a test build for a small piece?


Basic shape.


Decided it was too low so raised it by 5mm.



Basics done, just using a couple of matches and swizzle sticks.



Cardboard roof (glued on) as a base for the wood (more swizzle sticks) and some spare pebbles from our fish tank.


Size wise it should be ok. Needs some Gesso to cover up the open foambits.

Well, it's a start

[von Lucky]

And a pretty good start. I like how effective it looks with not too much effort. Nice.

[Gunbird]

I like how effective it looks with not too much effort.

Well, it did take me most of the evening and a bit of the night, being trial and error and all that. Just needs some watered down filler now on the flat areas to hide the joins and then paint it. Might go for a bigger version of this next week, but I have no clue how to make roofs (or afford pre made plastic sheets for it) for the bigger houses so I'll have to look into that first. Or create fences first, and a vegetable garden. Did the Japanese have lettuce back then? No clue on that.

[Modhail]

If you're making a peasant village, you could get away with thatch roofs. Google "Minka" to get some ideas. I've got some fake fur you can have a piece of, if you want?

[Gunbird]

If you're making a peasant village, you could get away with thatch roofs. Google "Minka" to get some ideas. I've got some fake fur you can have a piece of, if you want?

Yes please

[Pijlie]

Nice!

[von Lucky]

Google "Minka" to get some ideas.

Better to Google "Minka roof" or "Minka house" to get some ideas.

[Gunbird]

I've just doubled my village





I've noticed a couple of things. I'm leaning heavily on Jimbibbly's work, but in my own style. Also, compared to MDF, these are a lot less plain, so I cancelled my order with Warlord and will build the rest of the village using my own stuff.....the money saved will be spent on small details like rooding tiles, lanterns and other small tidbits.

[Cherno]

Looks good! Can'T wait to see it painted

[Gunbird]

Some of the following pics are a bit shitty, apolagies for that in advance.

Finished building the first outhouse:



The big (sort of) building is currently fighting me all the way. It doesn't help that I'm making stuff up as I go along, but it is getting there, and she still has plenty of details to add.



After finishing this and the second outhouse I'll spend some time making fances, some vegetable patches (even though I have no clues what a 16th century Japanese farmer would farm besides rice?) and after that some rice paddies. Better check Alcals vietnam topic for that.

PS Pointers to where windows would look good on tyhe big house would be helpful.

[mellis1644]

Looks really good to me.

[Modhail]

After finishing this and the second outhouse I'll spend some time making fances, some vegetable patches (even though I have no clues what a 16th century Japanese farmer would farm besides rice?) and after that some rice paddies. Better check Alcals vietnam topic for that.

I'd say, look at historical Japanese food(stuffs) and their ingredients. I think you'll be fairly safe with some generic leafy stuff, radishes and tubers (daikon?) and some beanstalks. Some low grow cereal crops like millet as well perhaps?
When in doubt, observe the Way of the Bibbley... (Sometimes I think he's really two Japanese guys stacked on top of each other! ;P )

[Juxt]

Nice buildings you have there :-)

With regards to your choice of crops- stay away from kabocha and other squashes/pumpkins, potatoes and peppers. They were all introduced in the 17th century. Also sugar cane, corn and beets. Rhubarb and carrots are also out, as are most cultivated berries.

You can't go wrong with cereals such as millet, barley, rice (and wheat if your settlement is in the North of Honshu or in Hokkaido), leafy veg, daikons, beans crops etc. Plenty of tubers were grown in the 1500s and 1600s, so largish leafy plants would work well to represent the above ground parts of yamaimo, satoimo, nagaimo and the like. Burdock was widely cultivated as were renkon roots.

Fruit trees should be limited to golden coloured persimmons and small greenish yellow citrus fruits. Nashi pears were at that time incredibly expensive and apples were even rarer.

[Gunbird]

Lot's of low bushy green stuff then. Any idea how they cultivated the beans? Only low growing variants or also creepers up a rope or a frame? Can't find anything about that, only modern methods which may or may not have any relevance on the period....

[Juxt]

I don't know for certain, but since modern soybean plants reach an average of 40" in height, maxing out at around 50", it's pretty safe to assume that the cultivars from 400 years ago would be smaller- perhaps just waist high to an average person.

They didn't use frameworks to grow them up that I know of, just rows of plants much in the same way modern potatoes are grown, in furrowed field.  Ploughs were mostly hand drawn not horse or beast pulled, so any furrows would be relatively messy and uneven.

If you do want some sort of framework in your field though, rice drying racks were used very frequently and add a nice 'wall' for models to hide behind.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=japanese+rice+field+rack&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=ismvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq-5jeyd_SAhWKWhQKHVhLAOIQ_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=728#imgrc=_