15 mm scale
I've had a bunch of these Rebel Miniatures ninjas kicking around for ages; I was honestly disappointed when I got them. Some dicey sculpts, but mainly, their hands are AWFUL, literally like Easter hams stuck on the ends of their arms. Anyway I found these ones half-painted the other day, and decided to finish them up. I may tackle some of the others at some point, the archers and naginatas aren't too bad.
In classic wag-the-dog fashion, I also decided to make a small terrain piece to go with them: a Torii gate, traditional boundary of sacred space at a Shinto shrine and iconic Japanese scenery item. It's made of wooden odds and ends from my bitz box.
I'm quite happy with how it turned out!
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| "Ninjas! At a temple too, shameful! Well, tanuki, it looks like you'll have to do that thing with your magic testicles." |
Love the gate would not have guessed it came from a bits box, the ninja paint scheme looks good, I see what you mean about the hams though. Why 15mm for the figures?
ReplyDeleteThanks. Just bits of dowel and stir sticks, mostly. The kind of dross that only a crazy person would hang on to ;)
DeleteI know I've been doing a lot of 28 mm stuff lately, but 15 mm has been my preferred scale for a long time. It's just that there are also so many nice 28 mm figures...
You are dead wrong here: these ninja hands are historically accurate.
ReplyDeleteUgly handed people had no choice to leave their families (could a dad pat his son with that!?) and work in the shadows for a living.
Ugly punches of death aside, it's the kind of thing you notice when you are to paint them. I might have not noticed if you didn't point it out.
Oddly enough, they look good despite being that much of a black silhouette. You got the dark and light tones right.
On a side note I wish I could kitbash /build a torii but haven't found the proper bits yet.
Tanuki balls' ninjutsu! I'd call them oddballs (no pun intended) if it wasn't for all the other yokai being WTFesque weird. I mean, an umbrella with a sandal on, a wall that just blocks your way...🙄
As mentioned above, I built it out of wood scraps in my bitz box. It being very small helps. If you want to build one more than 5cm high, actual carpentry might be involved...
DeleteAs for the hands, it's one thing to have an unarmed brawling buff... but some of these guys are practically Cock Knocker XD
Oddly, Alternative Armies' 15mm Japanese range absolutely have a licking umbrella yokai figure, among others. Yokai come up a lot at our house lately as the kids have been following an anime series about them ("Yokai Watch").
XD
DeleteSomehow it made me think of Marvel Universe's ninjas... The HAND. That could explain certain things. BTW the hand are red which is kinda cool (try sneaking in red).
Have seen "toys" related to that kid show. Looks like Pokémon met Japanese folklore but they all look like... Cats? Dunno, always loved the subject but these look more akin to Pikachu than say, a kappa or a tengu.
Those look great! I've eyed up those ninjas before, once I clear more of my 15mm back log I should pick some up.
ReplyDeleteFantastic Shadow Warriors! Love the highlights on their black clothes.
ReplyDeleteLove the Torii, it's almost unbelievable you managed to make this with just some scrap wood.
ReplyDeleteAs for the hands, it's something many older 15mm sculpts suffer from, Alternative Armies got some really bad ones (thinking of their redemptionists now) too. The way you painted the models you brought out the best of them though. Love the way the uniform looks.