Wednesday 15 June 2016

Masters of the elements!

hi all

I've only got a couple more posts left for the models I've been collecting for Bushido, at least for now :-) this will undoubtably change around Xmas time, when another faction will probably make its way into da Grotto. This could be either Silver Moon Syndicate - a collection of street trash and criminals, Kaze Kage - a shadow organisation of ninjas or what better to oppose ninjas than pirates, the Jung pirates to be precise - a brand new faction however models are scarce for this lot and I might wait and see until 2017 for them, that said the starter set came out this week and it looks awesome!! So awesome in fact I've started making some piratey terrain pieces in preperation for a new themed board - more on that later....

The first post will be for the last bits of my Temple of Ro-Kan faction (I know it is lacking in Rice Farmers and that won't change following this post but it will later on). But what I have got is some more minor Kamis, these elementals are ideal for boosting the monks around them and with the addition of the "Kami of the Strong West Wind" enhancing move stats, my monks will get into position a lot quicker and the addition of the " Kami of the Eternal Earth" providing some durability to them, they can only aid the fight for the Balance...

The Kami of the Strong West Wind is an air elemental and as such I tried to stick to light grey/blue to represent this. I used a base of GWs "Lothern Blue" washed in "Drakenhof Nightshade" then drybrushed with base colour, again with base plus "Fenrisian Grey" 50/50, then "Fenrisian grey" and finally the grey with white 50/50.




The Kami of the Eternal Earth was just as simple really with a series of grey base colours and highlights with black washes. When it came to the mossy type areas I basecoated with GW's "Mournfang Brown" rather than green and then drybrushed some dark geen over the top and highlighted the green up after that to represent the stone type Kami bursting from the ground covered in turf, this is not clear from the base which I kept quite rocky, so i might have to go back and give it a browner look.



While i like the Kamis that GCT have produced I think the "Earth" Kami is probably the weakest model visually, looking a bit less animated than the others, but I still like them and they will boost my warband in higher rice games.

To finish this post then, here is a pic of the 4 Kami, representing 4 of the 5 elements according to Japanese legend, the 5th being "Void" and I'm not sure if there is a model in the range for this, certainly there isn't for the Temple of Ro-Kan.

from L to R - Water, Earth, Air, Fire
And finally, finally..... ;-)
a pic of my entire Temple of Ro-Kan faction finished (maybe)



hope you enjoy
dGG

the fig count has definitely gone up!


109:62 (-47)


figs bought:painted (difference)

26 comments:

  1. More eye candy courtesy of the Baron of "Bushido", and some very nice brushwork to boot. I'd actually have been tempted to buy two of the "Earth" Kami and fix one on top of the other to give it the look of the other kamis - though that would be rather expensive I appreciate. You are quite right though that it doesn't look as formidable a sculpt as the others, Andy. Even so you're done a tip top paintjob on it :-)

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    1. Thank you Simon, appreciate it. Yes the earth Kami disappoints a little and could do with being twice as big as you suggest, I might be better off finding a substitute that would work better ;-)

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  2. Great work on painting these so well, Andy. I must agree that the Earth Elemental is rather underwhelming but on the plus side, he does complete your set. I was pleased to see you include group shots of all four Elementals plus one of your complete Ro-Kan faction.

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    1. Yes there is a completeness too it which is very satisfying, but it's just a little small and rather undynamic which is a shame as their is so much potential in the concept and totally at odds with the rest of the Kamis and indeed the whole range.

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  3. Now those are very interesting and might make nice 'ghost' models for a little distraction that I have planned. Fabulous as usual.

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    1. Ooh can't wait to see what you come up with sir.

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  4. Whilst i can't fault the brushwork, I am distinctly underwhelmed by the models themselves, especially when you compare them to the rest of the range.
    And this is not due to the subject matter - as elementals make pretty good 'supers', I always keep my eyes open for them. As for the Earth Kami - try as the might, I can't even see the character. Looks like a rockery to me...
    Obviously, for the same of completeness, I can understand why you'd want the official figures, but I'd be tempted to replace them with either D&D pre-paints or maybe something from Reaper's Bones range (note all 'cost effective' alternatives). Just my opinion.

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    1. Absolutely spot on Jez, of all of the models I've reviewed so far these are the least engaging. The air Kami is ok (highly useful in the game though) but the earth is just pants in comparison to the others - which are brilliant! It is marginally better in person, but only marginally and an alternative for non competitive games, which lets face it is most of them, has to be found

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  5. Because i like to help - try here:

    https://www.tritex-games.co.uk/search/?q=earth+elemental

    Quite a few options, ranging in size and price. Add a suitably lipped base and repaint to your requirements. And voila! No more rock garden. And repurpose the existing Earth Kami as an objective, maybe with a stone lantern on top?

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    1. Cheers dude, some much nicer options! On the Xmas list..... ;-) good ideas about repurposing too.

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  6. I dunno but I really like these (its the Dungeon Master in me I think). The Kami and his pals look striking as heck, and I could quite see myself collecting these for a really interesting "Scarlet Heroes" rpg set up.

    I`m not so sure about the white lines on the bases.... functional - yes: but might evenly symmetrical lines (perhaps cut into thin white plastic strip and glued in place) look even cooler mate?

    All in all, I very much like these. And you CANT be getting to the end: moreeeeeee, we need lots moreeeeee.

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    1. Thanks Steve as always.

      You're right about the white lines of course, they detract from the mini so I need to come up with something else, these were functional only as LOS in this game is really important and often with the minis it's difficult to determine facing due to the amount of movement in the figure. I have seen people paint the entire front facing of the base in their faction colour, I've seen kanji being used and other symbols but I'm yet to think of something that particularly grabs me, so I've waited and used the lines.

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    2. How about small triangles (your choice of point up or down) in the faction colour? It will still give the same indicator, but might be less obtrusive. Plus it will also make the base look like a gun sight...which is cool.

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    3. In "Ninja All Stars" facing is also important. Their figures have a small diamond etched into the front of their bases to indicate which way the figure is facing. It's another idea for you to consider.

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  7. ok, I`m going to go really whacky here, but an idea from an 18th century naval ship miniatures game called "Sails of Glory" comes to mind (I saw it being played in my local game store). In that game line of sight is also massively important, but so as not to detract form the beautifully painted ships themselves, the games uses a universal see through plastic base. You just slide the template under each ship - as you need it. All the pertinent detail are engraved or painted onto the clear plastic template, and you measure from that. Simply remove the template when not needed. I watched the guys carefully slide the template(s) under each time it was needed, and it worked so smoothly.

    The elementals in this week`s post are so very good Andy. I think they might be some of your best yet. Perhaps less obviously striking, but to me, every bit as good and with as much merit as the others - especially fun to use in a game I would think. Excellent, as usual sweetie.

    Tarot

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    1. Another good idea T. I'm gonna have a long ponder about it :-)

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  8. oh now these are a bit special aren`t they. Oh yes, I do concur The Kami of the Strong West Wind, and Elemental Earth are quite stunning, in their own totally unique way. They look great too, when placed alongside the others.

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  9. Hmm, wouldn't the model for "Void" be just an empty base? Or perhaps not even that...

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    1. Lol, I think it's giving the designer a headache. The 5th element is sometimes known as spirit or heaven.......erm....

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