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Kingsford Miniatures

Canada


12th-13th Century Samurai foot
As Delivered

























Barrett Scale: 30½L/M
Mixes best with: In common with many North American figures, these are on the large side, so they won't mix with most of the other ranges available.
Long Review: When I first saw an advert for these figures a while ago, I was intrigued. The figures definitely match up to my expectations, and are really well-done. The samples I received from David are representative of the range (a mixture of Samurai, Bushi and a mounted Samurai), and are wearing well-detailed armour.
Let's start with initial impressions- the figures are well-presented, arriving in zip-lock bags with coloured inserts (black for the samurai, orange for the bushi). Each pack contains two of each pose of three figures, as well as a variety of weapons and back-banners.
SA-040 contains three different samurai, standing in relaxed poses, each with a back-banner and a pole-arm (there are two types). The poses are natural, each holding the pole-arm (yari or naginata, 3 of each) with his right hand, looking in different directions.
The kneeling bushi of SA-010 come in three poses- firing, pulling a load from a pouch, and ramming the load home. Also included are seperate swords, and two of the figures have seperate arquebuses. The pack also includes the obligatory back-banners.
SA-052, the mounted samurai, comes with back-banner, a random yari or naginata, a seperate katana, the riding samurai and his horse.
From some research (mainly looking at Stephen Turnbull's books), the armour looks correct (there may be some inaccuracies, but if there are, these are pretty minor). The most important part is that everything looks right, and is incredibly well-detailed. The anatomical proportions are also pleasing, and, for once, the horse is also correctly proportioned relative to the rider. The moulding is also pretty decent (I did find one or two seams that needed taking care of, but no more than many other companies out there).
This is a range well-worth examining, especially as they will work very well for the period they're designed for, as well as (dare I say it) Warhammer's Nipponese.
Commentary: While I have a few figures- it isn't really a major period of interest for me (I prefer the earlier Samurai), so further investigations will happen at a slow pace.
Historical Accuracy: Four Average.
Pose Quality: Four Average.
Sculpting: Four Good. Very neatly sculpted figures with an incredible amount of detail.
Casting: Four Average. There is a minimal amount of cleaning, but not excessively so.
Sources: Review samples sent by David at Kingsford Miniatures.
Sculptors: Emmanuel Valerio.
Other reviews for this company: See the reviews:

Assorted additional images of the figures

Samurai rider and horse, as delivered

Samurai rider and horse, as delivered

Samurai with all bits, as delivered

Ashigaru, as delivered


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