I had been given a couple of 3d printed Samurai cannon and the crew by good friend and gaming buddy, John Grant. As I had no immediate use for artillery in my set up I had them put to one side for a future project. However, that all changed when I was asked to put together a scenario for ‘Never Mind the Naginata’s’ involving the Ikko-Ikki. If all goes well, I’ll detail the battle in a future blog.
So the cannon were promoted to the work bench and painting started. Just a quick word regarding 3d prints. I am in awe as to the detail that can be produced with 3D printing – the rope work on the cannon is superb. However, I have my concerns with both the robustness of the final models – they seem to be brittle, ( I have had two break badly when dropped) and the longevity of the models once they are painted. I’m sure that all will be fine, I guess that my sceptism is yet another sign that I getting old!
Back to the figures themselves. As already mentioned, they are superbly molded and are compatible with the Fireforge models that the majority of my Samurai army is made up of. The guns come with two crew members but I needed three for NMTN’s rules, so I made two ‘gun captains’ from spare figures from the Fireforge command set.
To make the bases for the guns, I used two 80mm x 60mm Mdf bases but as I wanted the gun crew to be removable in the event of taking casualties, I went for a sabot arrangement. I used some 32mm conversion rings to hold the crew. These were glued to the base, leaving a space for the cannon in the middle.
The next task was to cover the base in Milliput, levelling everything off ready for the next stage.
I then covered the bases in Vallejo texture paste and added some fine talus for detail.
When it came to painting the cannon, I used a tried and trusted technique to bring out the detail on the wooden carriage. You can see a step by step guide in an earlier blog by clicking here:
The barrel and iron work of the cannon was painted matt black, and the rope work painted with Iraqi Sand, washed with dark tone and re highlighted with Iraqi Sand. As for the crew, I went for two themes, based very loosely on James Clavells Shogun. That is one crew in browns, the other in greys.
Rather than a step by step guide to painting the figures, if you check out my previous Samurai blogs, you can read about the method that I use to paint Samurai and Ashigaru. I usually start with a black undercoat and then give the figures a light dry brush in medium sea grey to show up the detail. After that, I use a block paint and wash process followed by a highlight of the original colour. I don’t always put a pattern on the clothing but as there were only six crew in total, I added some dots, circles and flowers. These look better from a distance! I also added some Warlord Games Takeda decals, which with hindsight perhaps was a bit OOT!
Once the figures were painted, I went back to the base and used my standard basing process to complete the models. This involves painting the bases with Delhi Bazaar ( a green/brown colour) emulsion and then dry brushing with lighter shades of the same colour mixed with Iraqi Sand. I used Woodlands scenic’s green blended turf and then a mixture of Gamers grass tufts to add detail.
So with both gun crews completed, I am ready for battle!
So onto the next project – completing the rest of the Fireforge Command set!
Happy Modelling!