Jakar Nilson | 19 Jan 2014 3:23 p.m. PST |
A couple of years back, I sculpted a bunch of 15mm oni (Japanese ogres) for the Gear Krieg setting. Unfortunately, you can't get three sculpts cast up and produced on their own. A few years later, it dawned on me to expand them into a small range of miniatures based off of Japanese folklore. You can find such things in 28mm, just look at Clan War or Bushido. But in 15mm, the only related things are samurai, ninja, warrior monks, everything to do historical sengoku (Japanese Warring States era). So there's clearly a gap to be filled. Here are the various yokai (being the term for supernatural creatures in Japan, just like the English term "fair folk" encompasses both good creatures like fairies and nymphs and bad creatures such as goblins, giants and so forth)
Note: the two metal figures are a Finnish soldier from Resistant Rooster and a British artilleryman from Skytrex/Old Glory. Both are there to serve as comparative references in 15/18mm. Oni As stated above, these oni were sculpted for an alternate WWII setting, and thus do not wear tiger-pelt loincloths or wield maces. They still are horned, fanged and come in red or blue skin.
And a picture just to compare with all the newer sculpts. I also sanded down the blades, to make them more uniform.
Kappa The iconic water tricksters, who look like a mix between a turtle, a monkey and a frog. Kappas often try to drown passersby, so they have been armed with weapons that allow them to subdue rather than kill outright. A common way to defeat a kappa is to trick it into bowing its head, thus emptying the little bowl on its head and rending it powerless.
Tengu These bird spirits traditionally wear the garb of the yamabushi hermits. They can be either evil spirits, or wise teachers and weapon smiths. While they have been commonly depicted as men with long noses since the 14th century, the tengu here have more prominently avian features. Incidentally, bird-headed tengu are the basis of the Kenku found in D&D.
Goblins Creatures that actually resemble our perception of goblins are in fact quite obscure. Ko-oni and jaki (or amanjaku) are referred to as small onis, the latter are usually depicted as being trampled upon by the four Heavenly Kings of Buddhism. In the West, yokai such as the tengu, kappa, bakemono (a grouping of all the really weird creatures) are usually translated as goblin. But fantasy role-playing games do like goblins, so I sculpted some, although the faces are inspired more by famous mangaka than the Kev Adams/Bob Olley school of greenskins. Dressed like brigands and ashigaru, they make great swarms. Bows
Spears
Mysterious Girls from Another World How many times in anime has a high school student found themselves in another time or another world, destined to save the day thanks to some new-found power? You know the drill
|
captainquirk | 19 Jan 2014 3:29 p.m. PST |
Very nice. Are you planning to put them into production? |
Carlos13th | 19 Jan 2014 4:01 p.m. PST |
They look great. IF they were 28mm I would be all over the Tengu. Sadly not collecting 15mm atm. Good luck in producing them though. |
CPBelt | 19 Jan 2014 4:21 p.m. PST |
I would love to do Legend of the 5 Rings in 15mm! I always thought the 28mm-32mm figures were too large and too expensive. Need some L5R inspiration? Check out the database of every L5R card made. imperialassembly.com/oracle I'd love me some Ratlings and Shadowlands. :-) |
Redroom | 19 Jan 2014 4:40 p.m. PST |
very nice, esp the oni and tengu |
PaulCollins | 19 Jan 2014 5:10 p.m. PST |
How would these work with my 1/72 samurai do you think? I would love to add a fantasy element ala Clan Wars. |
Eli Arndt | 19 Jan 2014 6:39 p.m. PST |
Nicely Done. Please considering getting them produced. -Eli |
Zargon | 20 Jan 2014 12:28 a.m. PST |
Wery cute. On to getting a little company set up and them molds made and producing, seeing as this is a labour of enjoyment, here's hope you do well. Also great for a HOTT army or two. Cheers |
Lion in the Stars | 20 Jan 2014 12:04 p.m. PST |
I'd buy LOTS of those, to go with my 15mm Japanese troops! |
Jakar Nilson | 22 Jan 2014 5:30 p.m. PST |
A few answers: -Production: talking to people, so TBD -20mm/1/72: no idea, as I don't have any in my collection (figures of the any, any genre) Best bet is to take the measurements from the picture with the ruler, and then compare it to the other pictures. The Oni are about 20-23mm tall. -Ratlings, other things: Did more sketching while I was sculpting these, but it's probably not going to completely parrallel L5R. I did discover that website during said sketchings. Unfortunately, there's so much that I'm lost. Where are the spell cards? What do I know, I don't play card games. |
Darwin Green | 01 Feb 2014 10:53 a.m. PST |
well, I hope to see those in the future. |
Lion in the Stars | 01 Feb 2014 11:33 a.m. PST |
Ratlings are not exclusive to L5R. "Nezumi" is Japanese for "rat", and there are a lot of rat-monsters in Japanese myths. I'd also like to see Hihi (ape-monsters, much taller than a human), and maybe some bakeneko (cat goblins) About how many 15mm minis do you need per mold? |
Darwin Green | 01 Feb 2014 1:53 p.m. PST |
Honestly undead samurai would make a great range filler. |
Duck Crusader | 01 Feb 2014 2:40 p.m. PST |
|
Jakar Nilson | 01 Feb 2014 8:58 p.m. PST |
What I meant with ratlings, is that I've been looking at alternate depictions. Or even going with some other creatures. While doing research, I did come across a 15mm fantasy range that had samurai meerkats, or something like that, but I can't remember who made them. Asking around, I found that the current tally would only hold half a mould. I had hoped to do it in instalments. |
TheRatGod | 01 Feb 2014 11:50 p.m. PST |
mongeese, the merkats are more middle east style: link |
Jakar Nilson | 02 Feb 2014 5:31 p.m. PST |
That's why I couldn't find them again: obscure plural form. |
Darwin Green | 03 Feb 2014 7:03 a.m. PST |
a really simple one could be conversion kits to make naga's. just a couple of different "tails" with some light armor and maybe some snaked theme sashimono.
link |
Lion in the Stars | 03 Feb 2014 7:58 p.m. PST |
Asking around, I found that the current tally would only hold half a mould. Hrm
So, ~36 or so minis per mold. I'd add the undead samurai and some naga. Darwin Green's got a good idea about the conversion set, too. Split models would let you make both foot and mounted regular samurai as well. |
Light Horseman | 03 Feb 2014 8:43 p.m. PST |
I hope these are produced! |
Jakar Nilson | 01 May 2014 10:07 a.m. PST |
15mm.co.uk has picked up the range and will be selling from the 15th onward! link Have some sample pics:
|
Lion in the Stars | 01 May 2014 10:12 a.m. PST |
|
Jojojimmyjohn | 01 May 2014 1:14 p.m. PST |
Wow, I guess I lost track of this thread. They look great, can't wait for them to be available!! |
Eli Arndt | 03 May 2014 4:51 p.m. PST |
Cool news! Glad to hear they landed in such good hands. -Eli |