Samurai for Ronin

I knew painting Samurai would be difficult but I underestimated just how painful it would be. There's lots of detail packed on each figure, with kit overlapping kit and everything bunched up.  I love the process of bringing a figure to life but for these, I was quite unhappy until I got to the finish line.  I'll attribute that to painting outside of my comfort zone.

I don't have much in my library for reference material on Samurai but I did I find a fantastic heraldry website here.  The fellow who does the artwork is a genius and you can't help but be inspired by his work. If I were to paint another, I'd like to paint the clan who featured a giant red radish on their sashimono.

No washes were used except on metals. I tried to paint neat to keep black intact for shadow but there was simply too much going on. At the finish line, I had to double back and add some blacklining.

I worked up the bright red in thin coats, starting at the high points and dragging paint to the edges while trying to leave a bit of the darker base coat peeking through at the edges for shadow.   

My cheat for painting a circle on the sashimono was a thin bit of plastic punched with a 3 hole punch.

If it's good to paint outside of one's comfort zone, let's say "Mission Accomplished." 

Lastly, I've been nominated for the Liebster.  I'm working up my recommendations of fellow bloggers but I'm down to typing with one hand.  I burned and blistered 4 fingers on my lawnmower muffler when I leaned over to adjust the damned thing.  This just reaffirms that one should avoid yardwork where possible as it is hazardous to your health.  More on the Liebster to come.