Hi

I didn't know this existed until yesterday, and I've just ordered the full kit.

I was lucky enough to see the original armour when it came to London way back in 1981, it was one of the exhibits in The Great Japan Exhibition at the Royal Academy. I remember standing gazing at it for ages, thinking 'I want that". Now I can have it!

It will be the first model I have made for years, although I'm not sure that's quite the right word for something on this scale.
Back then I was very interested in this topic, I made models of samurai and studied Kendo and Iaido for a while. And that brings me to a technical question.

Lacing is a large part of the build process, and I was wondering what the laces themselves are like? Are they very stiff? When I got my Kendo armour and Iai sword, I was advised to take the cords off and boil them for a while, this relaxed the fibres and any stiffness just fell out, the cords would hang straight under their own weight and were very supple. Do any previous builders think this would make things easier, or is it unnecessary?

This will be a great project and I'm looking forward to it very much.

Hi Macky

Firstly welcome to the forum and enjoy your journey on this build. You will see this grow into a very impressive and imposing model that will have an effect on all who see it.

Now to answer your question on the supplied laces, originally the laces were made of leather on the early pieces but this was soon surpassed by the use of silk laces because of its strength and also it natural springiness or give. This give made a big difference as other materials could tear in battle and make the armour useless. The reason for using silk was because its a continuous thread that adds strength to the lace unlike the short fibres of say cotton that have little strength when compared to silk.

The laces supplied are of a synthetic material that have some give or stretch when the plates are added so I dont think washing then will help. So its a good idea as you add the plates on the supplied card reference jig to lift the pieces so they hang and then adjust to get the spacing right. This sounds complicated but its easy to get the hang of it.

As for the main plate parts the armour comes pre painted in a high gloss black paint, I would recommend roughing up the surfaces that are to be glued to get a good surface but dont roughen up any surface that will be seen.

With the beard parts use half what you think is right to fit in the holes and use gloves and some fishing line or its equivalent to pull them through the holes.

One last point do not glue together the wooden stand parts as this was meant to be a tight fit but by friction only as it was meant to be dismantled to enable it to be stored with the armour box.

Have fun with your build and hopefully we will see a build diary from yourself on the forum.

Regards

Andy

Welcome to the forum.

I`m sure you`ll love the kit you have chosen.

Good Luck

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Thanks for the welcome and advice.
I've spotted the various build logs and will be mining them for useful tips once I start the build.

Macky,

Welcome to the build and the forum. I am on the downhill side of my build and have truly enjoyed the experience and using the forum to communicate with other modelers for help and comment.

Feel free to ask as you go.

Tom

Well, the courier's been



I shall spend the afternoon doing the inventory and checking everything's OK.

The last time I built a samurai model was about 35 years ago - I have nothing left now, only this picture. I gave it to a friend in Norway, no idea if it still exists. Scale is 1/12.

Now the fun begins

Well all parts are there and seem in good shape, so the build's underway with the mask and helmet bowl. Once that's done I'll make a tasset jig like tnequette's as that seems a good way to do things.
I won't do a full build diary, but post up occasional progress pics, unless I have an idea to do something different.

I'm contemplating getting this kit as well. How did customer service handle this? Thanks.