1/35 Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (七人の侍)

Hello Folks,

For our next big project Jen and I decided to cooperate painting the classical film characters from the Seven Samurai.  This set is from a Japanese toy company Kaiyodo.  We thought the figures are very nicely sculpted even though it was made as toy (Jen is a big gashapon fan).  As we are both fan of the film,  we can not pass this one up.  Luckily Jen found it for sale in Japan as this is extremely rare set to find.  Anyways, We hope you will follow our blog as we can see this will take a while to paint.  Please enjoy!

All seven samurais with base.

The line up.

It is truly a nice set.  At 1/35 from feet to eyes the facial sculpt is incredibly done.  I just hope I can do justice with this set.  I promise I will take better photographs when it is done!

Here are the model sculpt images compare to the live actors:

Takashi Shimura (志村 喬) as Kambei Shimada (島田 勘兵衛)
The leader of the group and the first "recruited" by the villagers, he is a wise but war-weary soldier.

Yoshio Inaba (稲葉 義男) as Gorōbei Katayama (片山 五郎兵衛)

A skilled archer recruited by Kambei. He acts as the second in command and helps create the master plan for the village's defense.

Daisuke Katō (加東 大介) as Shichirōji (七郎次)
He was formerly Kambei's lieutenant. Kambei meets him by chance in the town and he resumes this role.

Seiji Miyaguchi (宮口 精二) as Kyūzō (久蔵)

He initially declined an offer by Kambei to join the group, though he later changes his mind. A serious, stone-faced samurai and a supremely skilled swordsman; Katsushirō is in awe of him.

Minoru Chiaki (千秋 実) as Heihachi Hayashida (林田平八) 

Recruited by Gorōbei. An amiable though less-skilled fighter. His charm and wit maintain his comrades' good cheer in the face of adversity.

Toshiro Mifune (三船 敏郎) as Kikuchiyo (菊千代)

A would-be samurai (right down to the false noble birth certificate) who eventually proves his worth. He is mercurial and temperamental. He identifies with the villagers and their plight.

Isao Kimura (木村 功) as Katsushirō Okamoto (岡本勝四郎)

A young untested warrior. He comes from a warrior family and wants to be Kambei's disciple.

We think they look really good.  I got the description of each character from Wikipedia and the images from Kaiyodo, which I think its pretty dead on.  If you are interested to see more about this set (which contains the colored version),   You can see it at their website here.

Here are the flyer and color reference the came with the set.  As you can see the pattern of the kimonos are complex and must be paint it in a drab color tone.  This will be a challenge for us.