Go Figure Felix world of miniature figure modelling : Samurai, 13th century

Title: Samurai, 13th Century

Manufacturer: Vladimir Vasilenko

Scale: 90mm

Sculptor: Vladimir Vasilenko

Material & no. of pieces: 22 white metal, 2 pieces of wire, 1 wooden shaft

Order from: Vladimir Vasilenko

Received the kit from Valdimir Vasilenko. The kit arrives in a white cardboard box with parts housed in cut out foam for protection. It consists of 22 white metal parts, two pieces of wire one for the yumi/bow string and the other for the tassels and 1 piece of wooden shaft for the arrow. Superbly sculpted and casted by Vladimir.

The kit presents a Samurai archer of the 13th century, Kamakura period (1201-1300). He is wearing the O-yoroi armour and delivering an arrow from his yumi longbow.

The O-yoroi Armour

The O-yoroi (大鎧) means “great armour”, is the armour most people could picture when they think of Japanese armor. The distinctive appearance of Japanese armour derives from the padded styles imported from China and Korea during the first millennium AD. This tyype of armour flourished during the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura periods (1185–1333), gradually went out of fashion in the Nanbokuchō period (1336–92), and was revived in the Edo period.

By the late Heian period (10th century), the box-like o-yoroi appeared. Luxurious and heavily armed ō-yoroi were worn by senior mounted samurai, while the lighter dō-maru were worn by lower-class infantry samurai. It comprised a dõ, a body armour that wrapped in a ‘c’ shape around the body with kusazuri (four sections skirt pendant), o-sode (shoulder guards) and suneate (shin guards). A haidate, an armoured thigh-guard apron is a late occurrence in Japanese armour, not really arriving on the scene until around the thirteenth century.

These were made of varying-sized strips of lamellae (small plates or scales arranged in overlapping horizontal rows) or iron plates, held together by silk lacing. Protecting the head was a large, multi-plate kabuto (helmet) fitted with a wide shikoro (neck guard) and large fukigaeshi (turn-backs). These hallmarks of Japanese armour design were to remain largely unchanged for centuries.

In the 16th century a new style of armour called tosei-gusoku , which means modern armour appeared with certain refinements and cosmetic alterations.

The Samurai Yumi

The yumi (弓) is Japanese term for a bow. The bows must be long, sometimes even as much as 2 meters, which was quite the norm for any Japanese bow. It was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of Japan. It shoots Japanese arrows called ya. Japanese bows are asymmetrical, and includes the longer daikyū (大弓) and the shorter hankyū (半弓). The grip is positioned at about two thirds of the distance from the upper tip. Gripping the bow two-thirds of the way down its length maximizes its rebound power and minimizes fatigue to the archer far better than the more familiar centered grip. To achieve significant power, the bow itself was made of bamboo sections wound with rattan and lacquered.

These long bows were efficient and were used in both foot and horseback archery. Japanese arrows had bamboo shafts; fletchings of hawk, eagle, crane, or copper pheasant tail feathers; steel heads in a great variety of forms; and bindings of silk thread or floss covered with lacquer.

Quivers occurred in a variety of styles, including open frames with a rack or cords to hold the arrows in place and closed cases with a covered opening on one side or end. They often were of fine lacquer work and frequently were ornamented with one or more mon, or crests.