The Sekigahara Campaign - Historical Research Center

[Akaie]

Thanks for the civility, guys . Good to see a passionate debate rather than a festival of insults .

[yoshisuke]

It's been a while since I've posted pics here and I recently came across interesting pics so here they come !

First two armors by Noguchi Zesai, a relatvely recently discovered maker with unique features (construction of helmets, red laquered oni mempo with broken tooth and laquered mustache and opening do to reach a poket underneath.)

Attachment 211110
Attachment 211111

This horrib.. hm.. well, inetersting leather scales folding armor.
Attachment 211112

And an armor of the Yamakami family, retainers of the Ii clan.

Attachment 211113

[Akaie]

That second one looks excellent. All it needs is a Mitsunari kabuto, although I can settle for the maedate/kabuto setup in that one.

Interesting indeed...

The last one reminds me of... planets. Neat .

[yoshisuke]

What do you mean "Mitsunari kabuto" ? With the horse hairs and horns ?

The maedate of the 4th armor was a phoenix but the head and wings are lost or destroyed. But it still looks great.

For those who read french and want to learn more about japanese armors and Noguchi Sezai, I couldn't recommend this book more.
http://www.amazon.fr/Armuriers-Japon-XVIe-XVIIIe-si%C3%A8cles-Etude/dp/284050579

[The_Nord]

Damn, I should've payed more attention in french classes.

[Akaie]

What do you mean "Mitsunari kabuto" ? With the horse hairs and horns ?

Yeah. It was quicker to say, as I'm not aware of any term used to reference it .

[yoshisuke]

That's a good question, I have no idea about how to name it.
If anyone knows the exact japanese name for this kind of helmets I'd like to know.

[yoshisuke]

And this style of helmet was popular ! (even if some of them are late Edo/early Meiji helmet and others are reproduction.)

Attachment 211254

Attachment 211255

Attachment 211256

Attachment 211257

Attachment 211258

Attachment 211259

Attachment 211260

Attachment 211261

Attachment 211262

Attachment 211263


Pics were taken at the Soma festival (the oldest and most famous festival)
More pics can be found here :
http://www.pbase.com/joanseeuw/samurai
be sure to check the museums pics too.
All credits goes to the artist.

[Akaie]

The fourth, fifth and sixth ones look pretty good... the rest look rather odd; either too much hair, hair in odd areas, disproportionate hair or even too little hair!

Looks like Mitsunari got it right .

[yoshisuke]

I came across few new pics I thought worth sharing.

Two quite odd hoshi bochi kabuto. Both unique in their styles and crafting.

Attachment 212502
Attachment 212503

A good looking so-fukurin kabuto with a fancy Tehen-no-ana.
Attachment 212504

A funny kawari.
Attachment 212505

This incredibly beautiful nio-do armor/kabuto-mempo. (sorry about the poor quality.)
Attachment 212506

This basic but beautiful armor with a rare chainmail nodawa and great hoshi-bochi kabuto.
Attachment 212507

This one for the impressive laquer work on the do.
Attachment 212508

And an opened up Yukinoshita-do.
Attachment 212509

Edit about Noguchi Sezai (pics in a previous post.) He was not a maker but a creator who had the various armor pieces made by request to create an original style.

[Akaie]

Yes! More helmets!

The second last reminds me a little bit of Ochiai Saheiji's banners:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[yoshisuke]

On the armor it's Fudo-myoo, a Buddhist deity, the "Immovable Wisdom King" and patron of the yamabushi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acala

Do you know the story of Ochiai Saheiji's banners ?

Edit : the story came along with the pic source, I guess.
It's the kind of small stories I love in japanese history. The small acts of bravery and the respect other warriors had for such kind of actions. Not the big hollywood myths.

[Akaie]

If you ever come across a higher quality version of that fudo-myoo armour (or any similar ones), be sure to send it over. They would make a great basis for an amour texture - I've been hoping to get some good image sources for some sohei/yamabushi armours .

[Robin de Bodemloze]

Try this for size:

[yoshisuke]

Damn, I forgot to post pics of Fudo myoo. Not as good as Robinzx's one but it's still better than nothing.

Attachment 212906
Attachment 212907
Attachment 212908

Another armor.
Attachment 212909

And a carved wakizashi blade.
Attachment 212910

[yoshisuke]

A few nice kabuto.

A nice Kawari.
Attachment 212983

A good hoshi bochi kabuto from the Haruta school.
Attachment 212984

Etchu zunari kabuto.
Attachment 212985

A nice Juyo grade 62 ken suji kabuto.
Attachment 212986
Attachment 212987

And a very interesting late edo zunari kabuto with removable shikoro.
Attachment 212989
Attachment 212988

[Akaie]

The first one looks excellent; the 'dai' symbol works well on heraldry, too .

[The_Nord]

Incase anyone is interested here is a lecture on the samurai, about armour and weapons by some japanese lecturer. The video has 4 parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2teJm...feature=relmfu

[yoshisuke]

A few pics today !

Mounted samurai from a french exhibit.
Attachment 218187
Attachment 218188

A unique kabuto made by Saotome Hidetama
Attachment 218189

A huge eboshi kabuto
Attachment 218190

Another maedate found in the game
Attachment 218191

And Hosokawa Tadatoshi's kabuto
Attachment 218192

[Akaie]

Good to see the real-life equivalent of CA's models . Excellent stuff again, Yoshisuke .