Japanese in M1930 uniforms coming - MORE pictures!(12/29/09)

[former user]

these are really good sculpts

did not know that Arisakas were that large - they are very finely detailed

pity they'll only be available by february

how do they work in size?  japanese average height?
maybe Leandro can send some comparison shots?

[carlos marighela]

If these are meant to represent the earlier Arisaka service rifle  then the original rifle was 50 1/4 inches long ( 127cm) or a little over 4 feet. That means they should come to somewhere below the shoulder of the average Japanese soldier of the time and that's what contemporary pictures show.

Judging by the photos of the greens, the rifles are grossly oversized and appear to as tall as the figures themselves.

Overall nice sculpts, noses look a little too roman to me and they seem to be sporting very unmilitary collar length hair ( maybe that's my eyesight or is meant to be a havelock). A little disappointing but mere quibbles really, it's the rifles I find really offputting. Hopefully your sculptor can sort out the scaling issues.

[the commissar]

I like the look of these - how will they compare with other companies (say Artizan)?

Will they be limited to just three figures (and an NCO) without gasmasks?

[Doc Twilight]

In response to comments/questions.

1. Arisaka size -

The average Japanese soldier was 5'3 at the time. The average weapon was just under 4.5 feet long without bayonet, even longer with bayonet. This was the largest bolt action weapon of the era. While they may be a bit oversized, I don't know that they are "Grossly" oversized. However, I will speak to the sculptor about resizing them to an appropriate length.

2. Faces -

The sculptor is himself Asian, and has a very good eye for appropriate racial features where necessary. I think they'll do just fine.

3. Size -

Don't have them in hand yet, but they should average out to 28mm tall. In this case, the figs in the range are actually 28mm. Not 34mm. The size was chosen to make them compatible size wise with most pulp miniatures ranges. They look fine with my Pulp, Brigade, Artizan, etc, but I suppose it's a matter of personal preference:)
That said, keep in mind again that the average Japanese soldier was 5'3, so they may very well be shorter than your average European/American type.

4. Availability -

There will be other figs coming, yes. These are only the initial sculpts. Three riflemen and an NCO should cover many needs admirably, however.

-Doc

[Doc Twilight]

More photos. In this case, an updated Eastern Pearl, and our first view of the Japanese NCO, in this case modeled with a gas mask. I have asked Leandro to add a helmet to the gas masked head, but otherwise I'm quite pleased. Yes, the NCO will have a variant non-masked head.






-Doc

[Helen]

Very nice Alex, this will be a good genre to game.

Helen

[Prof.Witchheimer]

The whole range is very tempting..

[argsilverson]

Tempting range and tempting figures!

Here is a link with lots of pictures for study and inspiration:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=105642

Here you also see the comparison of the rifle vs the real man!
Alex is right about the proportions of the rifle and bayonett fixed rifle vs the soldiers ob the era.

[argsilverson]

Oh I forgot!
what about some officer in more traditional look, i.e. spectacles, soft cap, no hood and no gasmask?

[former user]

good pics thx
apparentely nipponese of that time were quite small and arisaka pretty big

where did You get the pictures? whenever I entered "japanese soldier" I got pretty unnerving pictures 

[argsilverson]

where did You get the pictures? whenever I entered "japanese soldier" I got pretty unnerving pictures 

axishistory forum thread: China incident. Just follow the link.

I searched in fact for the term: "interwar Shangai" and this popped up!

[Doc Twilight]

Oh I forgot!
what about some officer in more traditional look, i.e. spectacles, soft cap, no hood and no gasmask?

All of the troops will have heads with and without gasmasks. Not sure if Leandro has decided to do the NCO with a soft cap or a helmet for his non gasmasked version. Soft cap on duty wear in China is relatively uncommon in the pictures I have, though not unheard of. Future troops will probably have a mix of helmets and soft caps.

Colonel Toro is as is, I'm afraid. Probably wouldn't be too hard to do a bit of converting, though.

-Doc

[argsilverson]

All of the troops will have heads with and without gasmasks. Not sure if Leandro has decided to do the NCO with a soft cap or a helmet for his non gasmasked version. Soft cap on duty wear in China is relatively uncommon in the pictures I have, though not unheard of. Future troops will probably have a mix of helmets and soft caps.
Colonel Toro is as is, I'm afraid. Probably wouldn't be too hard to do a bit of converting, though.
-Doc

Uncommon? approx. 50% of the photos in the thread are in soft caps

[former user]

nobody wears steel helmets all the time - maybe for propaganda photographs, and possibly steel helmets were not discarded that often in the disciplined japanese army, but without shellfire and trenches, steel helmets would be obsolete.
so no problems with nipponese soldiers in soft caps

[Arlequín]

While I'm sure you meant no offence former user, there are people who would find the use of the word 'nip' to be offensive. I don't wish to crack the 'PC whip' to you or anyone else, but shall we just attempt to keep things polite?