Steel Fist Miniatures: More Samurai Coming!

Steel Fist Miniatures just shown these new Samurai characters and they look splendid!

Here is a preview photo of one of the new packs due to be released in a week or so, elite samurai or hatamoto characters with unusual weapons, this pack has been a while in the making, and i wanted to get these figures painted before showing pictures.

First a little info on the figures and armour types, The first figure in the hariy armour is wearing a compleatly fur covered gusoku, not based on an actual armour but there are several fur covered suits that survive, they were mainly bear or cow or yak fur, he is wearing a type of karwari kabuto that has a molded forehead made to look like a brow, his face has no mask but he is wearing a long full beard characteristic of the ainu people of north japan, they were famous for being able to grow full thick beards something which is not to common in japanese men.

Ainu were also known to be very strong, the weapon he is carrying is call a kenemuchi, they can be seen in use in some japanese screen paintings smashing groups of samurai to the ground! it was similar to the kanabo but a little thinner and made of solid iron and it was also smooth unlike the kanabo, this was a weapon that needed great strength to use will skill men who took them would normally have a fierce reputation. His sashimono is a kind of bell.

The second figure is more traditional except he is wearing a gold lacured gusoku, his sashimono is a red fukinuki, and his weapon is a nagamaki, like a katana but with a very long handle, this weapon was apparently favored by Oda nobunaga.

The third figure is wearing an eboshi kabuto designed to look like a courtiers hat, this was a fairly common form of kawari kabuto, he is wielding a nodachi a long handled sword that could sometimes have a blade 5 feet long considerable strength and training was needed to use it with enough speed,and it would say somthing of a warrior who would choose to use one, they were the favored weapon of some master swordsmen, and are often seen in screen paintings. Also his sashimono is taken from a screen painting.