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Here is my review of the Samurai 1281 by SOL.

Detail of the release

Title: SAMURAI 1281

Scale: 200 mm

Manufacture by: SOL Resin Factory

Material & no. of pieces: 30 white resin

The Samurai from SOL comes from my grey army in a sturdy brown cardboard box with parts housed in one seal plastic bag and bubble wrap for protection. It consists of 30 white resin of a Samurai from the 1281 Kamakura period. The kit comes with choice of two heads. A regular head without the half face mask and the other with the half face mask mempo (Men no Shita men/ Me no Shita bo 目の下頬) . He is in his O-yorio armour (大鎧) "great armor" and holding his tachi sword ready for battle may be during the 2nd Mongolian invasion of Japan.

Here are the cast parts.

Parts View

Head, Kabuto Helmet, Mitsu Kuwagata and Cord View

Body and Arms Views

Hakama and Kegutsu (Fur Shoes)View

Osode and Kusazuri armour view

Sendannoita Board and Kyubinoita Dovetail Board View

Tachi and tanto View

Final thoughts:

The Samurai kit from SOL is beautifully sculpted with excellent details. The kit is well researched by the sculptor. The O-yorio is highly accurate and the faces are well sculped with good eyes. All parts are finely cast except for a few bubbles. Overall an impressive looking kit and good value for the money. The kit is still in production. You can order it directly from SOL or from a couple of retailers.

My Rating Summary:

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.

Kuwagata and Mempo of Samurai Armour

Kuwagata

The term "鍬形 Kuwagata" refers to a type of decoration on a samurai helmet, specifically a type of maedate (front decoration). It was used from the mid-Heian period to the Edo period. From the Kamakura Period to the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period, it grew to an exaggerated size. Long, narrow kuwagata are called nagakuwagata, and wide kuwagata are called okuwagata. The Kuwagata/Maedate the decorate fitting mounted on the kabuto helmet is usually made out of brass, bronze or some of them in wood, leather or even paper.

Samurai mempo

Mempo is the term for various types of facial armor worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.

Men-yoroi (面鎧), also called menpō (面頬) or mengu (面具) is an armored face mask used by samurai warriors to cover their face and nose, below their eyes. Mempo appeared approximately in the 11th century. They gained popularity and were standard features by the late14th /early 15th centuries. Despite the huge variety, all face armours could be separated in six groups:

Happuri 半首—This covered the forehead and cheeks and, during this period, was used only by the ashigaru
Hanbo半頬—a half-mask covering the throat and chin
Hoate頬当—a half-mask protecting the throat, chin and cheeks, but not protecting the nose, eyes and mouth
Hitaiate額当—protects the front half of the forehead. It is not clear when the Hitaiate began to be used, but it is thought that it was used when the Happuri was replaced by the Hoate
Menpo, short for Men no Shita men/ Me no Shita bo目の下頬—a half-mask which covered all the face under the level of the eyes
Shomen 総面—a full mask, protecting the entire face

Sendannoita and Kyubinoita

There are two chest boards both tied to the shoulder straps hanging in front of the Do (cuirass). The larger SENDAN-NO-ITA栴檀板 (right side) and the smaller KYUBI-NO-ITA鸠尾板 (left side). The tops of these two armor plates are connected to the main body of the armor. The Sendan no Ita resembles a miniature sode was designed to protect the right chest and armpit area while riding into battle when firing arrows. The Kyubi-no-Ita is a solid plate, long and narrow, on the other hand it was designed to protect the heart. Both were made of steel (lamellar construction), cowhide, and deerhide.