Thursday, December 20, 2012

The First Cut - Lord Asano, Daimyo of the 47 Ronin - The 3rd Annual Painting Challenge Begins (oh, and 5 points...)


Well, I thought it only proper that since I'm the host of the Painting Challenge I should try to open with the first submission. Similar to last year I burned a bit of midnight oil and powered through this figure to get it done quickly (literally powered, with a hair dryer - the texture gel was still quite soft when I took these photos).


This is a Perry casting from their excellent 28mm samurai range. 


I quite like the dynamic yet mannered pose of this sculpt. When I first saw it I knew I wanted to use it to depict Lord Asano, the tragic feudal lord (daimyo) of the 47 Ronin, at the moment when he lost his temper, striking out at Kira Yoshinaka who had bated him. This action , in turn, sparked the legend of the 47 Ronin as Asano was forced to commit ritual suicide (seppuku)  for this breach of discipline.


I made an attempt to replicate the Asano clan crest on the back of his kimono. My hand is not as steady as it used to be so I hope I haven't made a complete hash of it. Otherwise I kept the paint scheme fairly minimalist.





This figure will give me 5 points (and the crowd goes wild).

Alright everyone, let the fun begin!


62 comments:

  1. He looks great Curt. I especially like the blue of the jacket.

    cheers,

    DaveR

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dave. I was in a bit of a quandary of what to do with colour but sometimes simple is best.

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  2. A splendid start. And you're in the lead!!!

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    1. Oh, that will end soon. You should see my IN Box on my email... but thank you!

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  3. Replies
    1. Out of the gates hot and heavy! I already have a waiting list of submissions to go up today!

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  4. Good start. Unfortunately i'm still at work and away this weekend with plenty to do before i go. I'm not hopeful that I'll actually submit anything until the new year.

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  5. Great looking figure, nice basing. Good luck with the challenge.

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  6. It's on!

    (and nice painting there)

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  7. Very nice. Did I miss the note of how you want your Samurai based, BTW? obviously that one's a bit special, but...

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    1. Thanks Mike. Actually, if you leave the basing to me that would be great. Otherwise on round washers would be fine.

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    2. Great that was one of the questions I had.:-)

      Christopher

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  8. Well done, it is always best to draw the first blood.

    John

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    Replies
    1. Cheers John! Now, where are the first of your Brunswickers?

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  9. Replies
    1. Thanks, this figure was just crying out to be done first.

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  10. Well that's a great figure, your typically tight with the points for yourself again though. I'm working on batch #2 and #3 at the moment. Well back to the table ;-)

    Ian

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Ian, glad you like it. Depending on work I should have your submission up in a little while.

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  11. A great start Curt!! What a beautiful figure!

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    1. Thanks Ray, I thought it important to have a good kick-off. Now, you pitter-patter and get-at-'er!

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  12. A cracker to get us off the mark well done

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  13. Curt,
    What a superb figure - dynamic pose and beautiful painting. And great photography too. You've set the bar high.
    Kevin S.

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    1. Thanks Kevin, your kind words are much appreciated.

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  14. It's a very exciting contest, even if I'm not a participant!!
    It's also going viral through the wargaming bloggosphere
    Nice start, Curt

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Benito! I want you in for next year's for sure.

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  15. Nice One Curt. Figure looks really good. I am enjoying the Buzz of the competition.

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    1. Thanks Clint. I hope the Challenge helps to keep folks entertained over the next few months.

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  16. Great start Curt. That design looks very nice. Interesting basing - I expect thats to protect the lunging pose and projecting sword.

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    1. Thanks Scott. Yeah, I wanted to mitigate accidental damage to the arm and sword as much as possible.

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  17. Lovely stuff. Fitting that you will have 47 Ronin after your own effort, too

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    1. Thanks Phil! Yeah, like last year's Vikings the Ronin will be a great momento of the 3rd Challenge.

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  18. Nicely done - give yourself another .25 points!

    I really like the mini

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  19. Wonderful work Curt and a great kick off! You pulled the Mon off great! Like Scott said nice planning on the base.;-)

    Christopher

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  20. Really nice.

    I hope you don't mind mine being crap in comparison!

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    1. Thanks Phil! Your's will be awesome, I know it.

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  21. I agree with you, Curt: "simple is the best". Wonderful model, the painting work is fantastic!

    This Challenge is going to be fast, I see...

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    1. Thanks Juan and yes its moving at a good pace!

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  22. HI Curt,

    Great paint work and the motion in this figure is excellent. Need to get off the mac and on to the brushes.

    Cheers,
    Ross

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  23. What!? So we started. Looks like the perfect opening to me.

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    1. C'mon Michael I'm eagerly waiting for your first submission.

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  24. hmm, I love it.
    It reminds me I have to pick my ronin mini for you. I have an idea though.
    Cheers
    Seb

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  25. Lovely stuff. If only mine would turn up so I could get started!

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    Replies
    1. No worries, you have lots of time to get him done.

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  26. great looking paint work, love the jacket design, I think you have been a bit harsh on yourself did you not say some where the 1 ronin figure would be 20 pts
    Peace James

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    1. Oh, I'm just think of myself as the Challenge pace car. As long as I can pip-in with 800 points I'll be delighted!

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  27. Lovely figure with lots of action. A worthy start to our adventure.

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    1. Thanks Mike! I thought we needed a send off that tied-in with our theme.

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  28. What a superb way to start us all off and I just lve the pill shaped base which seems to add to the movement of the piece.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I think you're right on the base-shape reinforcing the motion of the figure (though I can assure you that was not planned)

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  29. Yes, that's very nice. I also do use protective bases more and more.

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  30. Very cool dude. Lovely figure, awesome paint job.

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)