"Osprey: Sneak Peek at July Artwork" Topic

Giuseppe Rava certainly produces some dynamic artwork but there are some accuracy issues here and I remain unconvinced the armor and equipment of the 12th century have been fully comprehended.

1) Many are wielding only a sword (the slung "tachi" at this time rather than the katana of centuries later). However most battle accounts of the time only mention bows and naginata polearms as primary weapons with the tachi as a last-ditch sidearm.
2) Figure top-center has large shoulder-guards attached to his dou-maru style attendant's armor which was rare but happened sometimes. However these should be attached by cords to the torso which ended in a large knot on the back.
3) Some of the armor pieces seem a bit off in shape; helmet neck-guards should be larger; helmet domes shallow and slightly conical; shoulder guards rectangular rather than tapering towards top, tachi scabbards slung horizontal by two cords etc.
4) Wounded, bare-headed figure lower-left has the shaven-forehead hairstyle adopted around the 16th century onwards. Luckily other figures are wearing eboshi caps which most males at this time (except monks) would wear following their manhood ceremony.

I do hope mini manufacturers don't rely solely on sources like this but also look at reproductions of old picture scrolls and extant examples of 12th century armor. Unfortunately many don't.

@Moderate
I'll not repeat enough that all the details of an Osprey's illustration are double checked in detail by the author of the book. Firstly on the rough and after on the finished painting.

@Giuseppe Rava

Thank you for your reply and I fully accept that the author has responsibility for the accuracy of illustrations (and yours are beautiful, as were those of Angus McBride for Osprey) so apologies for not making that clear.

A point of interest I do think is well done is the early form of dou-maru/haramaki armor with four large skirts similar to the O-yoroi but with splits at the bottom to facilitate leg movement for foot warriors. Later these would be fully split into eight pieces and further evolution would move the tassets around so the groin would be covered (good decision!) or even overlapped slightly to cover the gaps. I've only seen Ritta Nakanishi show this previously in his detailed research on armor in the early picture scrolls – e.g. the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba, Heiji Monogatari Emaki etc.