Trial village setup...

 Initial trial setup for the 'defend the village' game ...

I have to make the barricades and other defence works. 

Assembled command figures and decided on flags etc...

Decided on simple flags etc for the Samurai armies I'm building.. 

with that done made up some paper flags and assembled the command figures (mostly Steve Barber figures)

The seven ...

 The heroes for defend the village game project are finished ...

Assembling ashigaru ....

I've started work on the ashigaru for the two opposing clan armies.

So far have assembled 4 spear (yari) squads and 1 musket (teppo) sqaud;  have another 7 teppo sqauds to put together then I'll have to start casting more figures and accessories.  In addition I will have to do a new mould for the samurai as one of the ones I made previously is not working very well (despite adding more air vents, any more and the mould would look like swiss cheese 😁)

Female civilians ..

 a few female civilians finished ..

Bandits assembled....

 Have cast up some of my figures and heads and assembled them along with some Steve Barber minis to make up the bandits for my defend the village project...

Armed villagers/peasants finished...

 The armed villagers to defend against the bandits are finished ...

Being painted at the moment are the seven samurai, also casting and assembling the bandits.

The last sculpts ...(for now ?)

I had some extra moulding compound, enough for a mould for 2 figures. So two new sculpts done...

An ashigaru advancing, to hold a spear...

A samurai bodyguard with sword drawn ....

Sourcing suitable weapons ...

 Been sorting out weapon supplies...

The Dixons 28mm range accessories have proved to be just big enough (compared to the 40mmm ones I can get), so I have bought a few packs for arming my samurai and ashigaru. The Dixons spears are a tad smaller but will do, the bows are small but two cut up and fixed in the hand of a figure are better than bending wire.

Two ashigaru archers equipped with the Dixons bows...

Some new sculpts ... (heads, samurais poses and ronin)

 Completed some new sculpts...

first up a selection of separate heads...

two new samurai poses

plus a basic mounted and dismounted ronin ....

all will have their final tweaks/corrections done before moulds are made.

Armed villagers (WIP) ...

 The bulk of the armed villagers assembled/converted, figures are a mix of Steve Barber and Irregular Miniatures...

More buildings finished...

 Finished painting the last three buildings I received from Oshiro Model terrain

The seven ... arrive ...

After receiving a recent order from Steve Barber, I revisited some of the figures I had already assembled and with some of the newly arrived ones I have finished putting together the first group of figures to defend my village...

the seven samurai...

currently working on the armed peasants ... then it will be the bandits.

A house gets an upgrade ...

 Modified one of the largest 3D print houses I had already finished to cover over the woodwork to make it look more high status...

Buildings tweaked and some armed villagers.

 I bought some buildings from Oshiro Model Terrain, really for 28mm - so have given them a tweak - a lift up with a thicker base and/or larger doors - makes them look better  with my 40mm figures.

Also I bought some Irregular Miniatures armed peasants from their 42mm samurai range - these are a bit smaller height-wise than my figures so put a small piece of cardboard in raise the height a bit - a couple have been tweaked. My favourite is the chap with the large hammer, I tried a sculpt of suitable head for him which has turned out OK.

Sample figures painted ...

 I have painted some of my home-cast figures up to see how they come out..

looking good, so will get back to the casting of more figures and start assembling a group of samurai, then a command stand - then I'll get some painting done.

Rice Paddies ....

 To make some rice paddies I used some of TimeCast larger ones (available from http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk/range_38/38fields.html .... codes 38/PF2 & 38/PF3) . They've been finished them in a mix of usage stages - a couple unplanted, one flooded and the rest flooded with planting.

Nabori flags (paper printout)...

 Today sorted out a template file to enable me to print nabori flags, can also colour in etc if needed.

The flags are as close in size as I can get to one available from Steve Barber; my paper flag works well with one of his figures or one of my own home-casts

Something for roads....

 I used up some strips of acrylic floor tiles I had stashed away to make some road sections; put some bits of scatter on the edges and a few bits in the road (can't get the tiles I used anymore)

Some villagers and more fencing ....

 Finished four of some 3D printed villagers I got from WooFoo workshop (who kindly didi a 40mm special print for me)

I needed some lower fencing and raided my box of fencing & walls for some suitable rustic fencing (it is similar in style to that sold by 4Ground for their 28mm japanese scenics); I repainted what I had already to match my colour scheme for this project

plenty of it to provide some property boundaries in a village

A few additions to the scenics ...

Some scatter items, cart, bails, boxes etc...

A small cultivated plot (a 3D print of a small paddy field which I though better as a veggie plot)

A scratch built bridge, made from cardboard, to fit over my standard river sections

(still no blossom trees ... yet 😊 )

Buildings finished and a few civilians done too ....

After much work all the buildings and wooden walled enclosure finished; 

lots of paint used up, schema

• roofs - tan, with a burnt umber wash
• wooden areas - burnt umber, with mid-brown dry brush.
• stonework - light grey with a dark grey dry brush.

Also finished some civilian figures

More civilian figures on the paint desk and I've ordered a couple more buildings (nutter !);  started work on scenic scatter items and also I will make a couple of bridges as well.

Ready for mould making...

Mould kits arrived end of last week; today finished bedding all masters in plasticene

ready to make the moulds now... time to get the lego out to make the mould pouring enclosures...

Village Building uplift .....

A building kindly given to me for the Samurai project, but not a close match in style to most of my purchased ones. I started by adding some steps up to the doorways and part of the wooden framing using thin cardboard....

and worked my way a round the building

windows detail was done using some bits of ladders from the bits box.

Painted up .. the finished building...

I am going to use the same colour palette for all the other buildings and scenics I have.

Preparations for mould making ....

 A step closer to mould making .. pouring reservoirs attached ....

need to do a detailed layout for each mould, where to put vents etc - then I'll order the mould making materials..

Scenics - Buildings arrived (3)..

Arrived this morning some 28mm resin buildings and scenic items from Oshiro Model Terrain 

Ninjas...

 The project is lowly coming along; I've started painting my way through some of the Steve Barber figures I have acquired. I have completed the ninjas....

Scenics - Buildings arrived (2)

Another set of buildings/walls etc from an Ebay seller; nice prints they were in a number of parts so a session to stick them together needed; nice addition.

lots to paint now 😀 Also need to review my sampling and work out what I need for games, then maybe order a few more choice items.

Scenics - Buildings arrived (1)

Three nice 3D prints from WooFoo (Etsy) - two buildings and a small shrine ; along with a resin casting of a temple bell.

Although the buildings are for (large) 28mm they work well with the 40mm figs I have. I have some more items on order from another supplier.