24th Cathayan Expeditionaries

[spikedog]

Very nice looking army and you are steaming through it at a rate of knots!

Also good job making Japanese (Dai Nippon Teikoku) models look Chinese, I think the red red really helps achieve this.

I look forward to seeing your display base when you have a chance to make it, as well as all the extras you talked about in the start, wagons, carts etc.

[tancrede]

very, very nice army.
i think i will show your work to a friend of mine, who started a japanese themed army or battle, mainly with perry miniatures.

[Rikkjourd]

Nice work, very inspiring. Where do you live in Sweden exactly? Those look so good that I want a chance to kill them =)

[Mephistofeles]

Spikedog: Thank you very much, I was a bit worried in the start that they would look to japanese, but when I look at them I think they look more chinese then japanese. A bit ironic that the red achieves this, since I based the colourscheme on the army of Li Naotaka, a japanese general :P

Tancrede: Thank you, tell me what he thinks of it, I would love to inspire someone with this

Rikkjourd: I live in Nyköping, ten "mil" south of Stockholm. I'm trying to finish this army for Rouge Trader Open, and hope I get to play in it, maybe I'll see you there? I'll also be playing at Lincon next year.
Or we can just arrange a meeting when the army is finished in a couple of months, we have a great place for playing games here in Nyköping.

[Mephistofeles]

Ok, there has been a real shortage on updates here, due to more delivery problems and general **** ups...

Anyway, I have now gotten 30 spearmen, including casaulties, which I really look forward to painting.

They will hopefuly be done by next week, but right now I can't work on 'em since I'm so sick that I can hardly move, and there's blood and mucus and all manner of nastyness everywhere. This night I had such a fever I thought me feet were squids, and then bulldozers...

Anyway, hopefully pics of the new unit by next week-end.

[mrtn]

Krya på dig!

Looking forward to see updates.

[Mephistofeles]

Ok, today I have started on the 40 spearmen, I filed and primed all of 'em, and started painting 7, didn't have time for much.

Now, two strange things happened:

1: My parents told me that I got the 40 models as a birthdaypresent. It's about 60£

2: The Perrys sent me another package of 40 models, since I completely blundered with the order form. This was another 60£. My parents told me that I got these as a birthday present too...

That means I just got 120£ worth of models as birthday presents from my parents. I mean, seriously, it's not like we are rich or anything, I mean that's a HELL of a lot of money!

Well, I'm happy anyway, now I have just 1 more regiment of spearmen to buy, and then the greatswords, and then I'm done. Wonderful.

Oh, I just counted, and my parents actually gave me 96 models for the army. That's almost exactly a third. A big thanks to them :P

[Mephistofeles]

OK, I have now finished one more unit of spearmen, and will post pictures soon. This unit includes wounded and a real unit champion, I hope you like it.

[Arhalien]

96 models, a third of your army? Are you insane!

Looking forward to the next update though

[Mephistofeles]

96 models, a third of your army? Are you insane!

Looking forward to the next update though

Well, remember that this army is going to be 263 models in total... I have almost 160 or so ready now... I will count them tomorrow when I take pictures.

[Arhalien]

:O 263 models, you are mad.

[Mephistofeles]

:O 263 models, you are mad.

Why thank you very much

I will be done with the next two units of spearmen (60) by sunday, and will post pictures of them then. Maybe their detachments will show up then too, we'll see.

[NornTyrant]

Hi there Mephistofeles, I am also working myself on the Perry Twin Japanese models, which mean the same one as you! I live in Hong Kong so it is really nice to see that there is another person half the way around the world working on the same model as me!

I am using the same models for a Japanese theme army, target to use the Empire rules (if I can ever finish it). I paint the models instead of dipping, so I am much slower. For more than 3 years, I can hardly manage to paint less than 100 models. (I am a lazy painter)

My theme army is Takeda, a warlord in the 16th century in Japan. I used orange red for his army.

There is a suggestion for the Greatsword. I am planning to use the Samurai with Yari, and change the Yari to Naginata (can be bought in the Perry models, SAM 29), it could give you a good Greatsword block

Are you planning to have some Fagellants? If you do you can buy the "Armed Monks attacking with naginata"

[lilljonas]

I'm actually doing exactly the same thing, using Perry Miniatures for Empire as it seems to be impossible to find 28mm historical gamers in Sweden. However, I'm going all Japanese, basing them on the eastern army at Sekigahara. But painting those Perry samurai takes ages, compared to anything I've done in Warhammer! Too many details!

Anyway, it's great to see those units together, they look really good and it's a good source of motivation to get my force going. Keep up the good work!

[NornTyrant]

I'm actually doing exactly the same thing, using Perry Miniatures for Empire as it seems to be impossible to find 28mm historical gamers in Sweden. However, I'm going all Japanese, basing them on the eastern army at Sekigahara. But painting those Perry samurai takes ages, compared to anything I've done in Warhammer! Too many details!

Anyway, it's great to see those units together, they look really good and it's a good source of motivation to get my force going. Keep up the good work!

Way to go, man, another collegues here for the eastern army

The Perry Twins did a really good job at those minatures. The details in those miniatures are historically correct. Since I am deeply interested at that period of Japan, so I had quit some books. When I compare those miniatures and the illustration of the books, they match! This is simply outstanding I will not be suprise if an Japanese sculptor can produce that kind of quality, but an Briitish scultor! Amazing

If you are gonna to be historical, then lilljonas, I would suggest that you can have some books that contain material and colour scheme at that period. It helps a lot to create an historical accurate theme of army. I had at least 4 feet of books about that period of time (all in Japanese ) and at least 5 books that are theme at the Takeda army.

What is your color scheme? Do you have some pictures to share with us?

[lilljonas]

Yes, the Perry Twins are amazing in that they can pick up virtually any era of historicals and make good miniatures out of it. I've even been tempted to pick up some of those napoleon wars miniatures, and that's really an era I don't find very thrilling usually.

Regarding litterature, the idea has been brewing since I studied japanese history some years ago at university, and since then I've been living in Japan for half a year, and I'm going back there this autumn. Seeing castles and armours in museums is a good inspiration, even though Osprey's books works just as well! Being interested in Takeda, have you checked their book on Kawanakajima? It's quite nice.

Regarding colour scheme, I'm really torn between a "realistic" samurai army and a "table top" army with a proper colour scheme. The first one would probably be much less cohesive, but it would allow myself to put many of the generals from Sekigahara on the table, since Perry miniatures have several of them made. However, it would be more of an explosion of colour like Bretonnia, and I have yet to see if it works out well, since I'm still on my first samurai, trying to figure out whether black primer (my usual method) it better than white primer for them, since I'm having a hard time getting all the details to show. Those Perry do are so tricky to paint! The ashigaru will probably be easier, as they will allow me to paint them in uniform colour, either I'll go with only ashigaru from one general for a complete uniform look (all red, like Mephistofeles, looks great), or I'll make them from several attending lords. Hopefully the flags will make it more coherent, but I'm slightly afraid that they will end up like a big blob of paint from a distance. *sigh*

No pics for now, we'll see if Mephistofeles would approve of us making it into a general "Perry fans"-thread, or if we should get separate project threads. I've never taken good pictures of miniatures, so it would be interesting to experiment once I have done some white primer experiments so I can put them up for comparison.

[Mephistofeles]

Hi there Mephistofeles, I am also working myself on the Perry Twin Japanese models, which mean the same one as you! I live in Hong Kong so it is really nice to see that there is another person half the way around the world working on the same model as me!

I am using the same models for a Japanese theme army, target to use the Empire rules (if I can ever finish it). I paint the models instead of dipping, so I am much slower. For more than 3 years, I can hardly manage to paint less than 100 models. (I am a lazy painter)

My theme army is Takeda, a warlord in the 16th century in Japan. I used orange red for his army.

There is a suggestion for the Greatsword. I am planning to use the Samurai with Yari, and change the Yari to Naginata (can be bought in the Perry models, SAM 29), it could give you a good Greatsword block

Are you planning to have some Fagellants? If you do you can buy the "Armed Monks attacking with naginata"

Hehe, cool to see other people making the same type of army as I am, even though yours are more japanese than chinese (as I'm trying to make mine appear).

This is one of the factors why I am thinking of using the naginata-armed monks as greatswords, since I think that samurais will gear the army more towards a japanese feel, which I am really keen to try and avoid. I will probably use samurai miniatures converted to carry shields (which I am very aware no samurai ever would consider) as my swordsmen, but I shall see. I am very torn here, since the armour of the samurai models would fit the greatswords so much better, but at the same time, they are samurais...

Maybe I could make them samurais after all, since in the warhammer world Nippon seems to be a province of Cathay, which would make it perfectly logical for a high ranking commander of the Cathayan army to have a bodyguard of Nipponese auxillaries...

This requires some thinking...

[Mephistofeles]

I'm actually doing exactly the same thing, using Perry Miniatures for Empire as it seems to be impossible to find 28mm historical gamers in Sweden. However, I'm going all Japanese, basing them on the eastern army at Sekigahara. But painting those Perry samurai takes ages, compared to anything I've done in Warhammer! Too many details!

Anyway, it's great to see those units together, they look really good and it's a good source of motivation to get my force going. Keep up the good work!

Hehe, thank you very much for that, I need all the encouragement I can get, I'm getting a little weary of painting the Yari Ashigaru now, I'm on my 130th model now...

By the way, I've started a "Perry-Models" thread in the painting forum now, were all can post their pictures of their own perry-works.

[NornTyrant]

Regarding litterature, the idea has been brewing since I studied japanese history some years ago at university, and since then I've been living in Japan for half a year, and I'm going back there this autumn. Seeing castles and armours in museums is a good inspiration, even though Osprey's books works just as well! Being interested in Takeda, have you checked their book on Kawanakajima? It's quite nice.

Regarding colour scheme, I'm really torn between a "realistic" samurai army and a "table top" army with a proper colour scheme. The first one would probably be much less cohesive, but it would allow myself to put many of the generals from Sekigahara on the table, since Perry miniatures have several of them made. However, it would be more of an explosion of colour like Bretonnia, and I have yet to see if it works out well, since I'm still on my first samurai, trying to figure out whether black primer (my usual method) it better than white primer for them, since I'm having a hard time getting all the details to show. Those Perry do are so tricky to paint! The ashigaru will probably be easier, as they will allow me to paint them in uniform colour, either I'll go with only ashigaru from one general for a complete uniform look (all red, like Mephistofeles, looks great), or I'll make them from several attending lords. Hopefully the flags will make it more coherent, but I'm slightly afraid that they will end up like a big blob of paint from a distance. *sigh*

Wooo, I envy you lilljonas, for you have the chance to be in Japan for half a year. I've only have a chance to have a visit there with my wife (Honey moon ) for 2 weeks. But still I went to Osaka, Keyoto and Nagoya (spell?) and visit the castle and museums there too. Great experience, you see those nice katana there....... *off topic*

*Three hours later* Well, back to the miniatures, I think they look great in a uniform colour, since it gives them a much more uniform look as the pictures of Mephistofeles had already demonstration that. You can give the general a bit different look though, e.g. their pants, and give then special patterns and it will look great.

For the book, I am not sure about the Kawanakajima books, but I got a bunch of oranged page books which describe different warlords of the feudal Japan. Great books.

By the way, I've started a "Perry-Models" thread in the painting forum now, were all can post their pictures of their own perry-works.

Thanks Mephistofeles. Really glad to see other people has the same enthusiasm towards the same models as myself, its been a great pleasure Those Perry miniatures really looks great, aspecially in large number. Work on it and really love to see your whole army.

[Mephistofeles]

Ok folks, today I finished a unit of free company and two (yes, TWO) units of spearmen. pictures will probably not be up until sunday (since I'm going away for the week-end and have a gig tomorrow night).