INSPIRATION Although I didn’t have any illustrations for the Koryu  Buntai as such, I took inspiration for the colours for their  clothes from the film Seven Samurai. It is true that this is a black and white film but luckily for me I was pointed to a  place on the web that had sketches of the clothes from  the movie in colour and these were invaluable as  guidance on painting the models. I spent a long time  studying the designs and trying to figure out how best to  represent each design on a tiny model!  Where there was no illustration I referred to my collection  of historical samurai books, all the while trying to keep my  colour palate for them very much Japanese in style.  UNDERCOATING It is worth going over any model carefully just to make  sure there are no sprue, flash or mould lines, clean any off  with a sharp scalpel and a fine file. Undercoating is  essential as it provides a consistent surface on which to  apply the next coats of paint, and it shows up the detail on  a model much more clearly than shiny bare metal. For the  undercoat I used Humbrol enamel matt black. I usually  undercoat in oil based paint as I find they give better  coverage on the bare metal.  THE PAINT I used Army Painter War Paints to paint Koryu Buntai,  mixing up colours to suit my style and preferences. The  Mega Paint Set provides an adequate range of colours for  almost all needs, but you will always need to mix colours  to get the desired results, however I have tried to work out  colour combinations to reduce mixing if possible.  

PAINTING THE KORYU BUNTAI The Koryu Buntai box set gives you the perfect starter  army to begin playing Ronin.   This set is a particular favourite of mine. I think Steve  Saleh has reached new heights with the subtle modelling  of the samurai clothes, and they all have very  characterful faces. Also as they are not in armour, it  gives a great opportunity to go to town on those outfits  and to make every one an individual character.