Taisho by Ray Lamb

[yellowcat]

Hello All,
Here ia a Taisho by Ray Lamb. I painted this back in '84. You are right 25 years ago. It was painted in enamel and artist oil. The casting was really bad. Chuncks were missing and I had to resculpt it. I guess it must be from the end of the run. I won best figure for this. Enjoy!

 

[Edward]

Wow....!

 

[megroot]

Outstanding work.

marc

 

[bunnie666]

That is so beautiful, glad you posted the pictures. :-D

 

[Tecumsea]

Hi Felix, some paint job-outstanding!

I think all of these are difficult to put together, I have 2 standing and one mounted in my grey army but not the courage to paint them:thumb down: If I do start I think it will be the mounted figure, should keep me out of mischief for months!

Keith

 

[redhorse]

That's an excellent job!

 

[Mike S.]

A blast from the past! Reminds me of the cover of my treasured copy of Philip O. Stearns' book How To Make Model Soldiers.

 

[winston]

Great piece...

 

[yellowcat]

Here are some more pictures:

 

[Tecumsea]

Thanks for the images Felix, I've saved them for when I pluck up the courage to have a go at this masterpiece.

Keith

 

[pipetrepid]

felix, great painting! bill

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Intersting. I too bought this with all of my holiday money a year or so after he came out. My copy was so bad that I could not complete it adn it was an expensive kit back then. Resculpting it was past my skills and resources at that time so I just stuck it back in the box where it still resides > 30 years later.

You did a nice job with yours.

Colin

 

[quico40]

Beatifull job ...

 

[dinovision79]

Great job Felix! A real retro figure, beautifully done, somehow I can feel the age.

Really enjoyed looking at your photos Thanks!
D.

 

[xt thunder god tx]

Wow! Fantastic paint job. So much fine detail.

 

[raymond evans]

Excellent paint job. I just bought two of them, one cheap the other not. I noticed there are differences with the casting quality but overall not too bad. I will sell one on eBay and paint the other when my painting skills improve.

 

[Bootneck]

Excellent job

Is this the old hinchcliffe figure. Always was a bad fit but you've a great good.

Peter.

 

[theBaron]

A blast from the past! Reminds me of the cover of my treasured copy of Philip O. Stearns' book How To Make Model Soldiers.

or Garratt's "World Encyclopedia of Model Soldiers" I always love seeing this piece, when someone tackles it.

Prost!
Brad

 

[raymond evans]

Well I have no idea which one it is; 'old Hinchcliffe', I assume there was only one casting and there was a quality issue with some of the mould casting towards the end of production. I wanted this model for 30m years and suddenly I got to buy two in the same week. I admit I paid $200.00 for the first one thinking they were as rare as RHS. The second one I bought was cheaper, intact, not used with all pieces in the original box.

 

[yellowcat]

Well I have no idea which one it is; 'old Hinchcliffe', I assume there was only one casting and there was a quality issue with some of the mould casting towards the end of production. I wanted this model for 30m years and suddenly I got to buy two in the same week. I admit I paid $200.00 for the first one thinking they were as rare as RHS. The second one I bought was cheaper, intact, not used with all pieces in the original box.

Here are the two different versions. An earlier casting by Hinchcliffe and later by Calder Craft. I shot some pictures to help you to ID yours.
The main differences are some of the Hinchcliffe parts were cast in two pieces (helmet/kabuto and shikoro, left arm and the leg piece). Also be aware some of the right arm and helmet for the Calder Craft may cast as one or two pieces. The Hinchcliffe castings are packed in layers of white foam sheet while the Calder Craft parts are in blister pack with red or blue cardboard. There is also a trade mark logo, copyright and year engrave on one of the foot. They all come with colour assembly instruction. I personally prefer the Calder Craft one mainly of the leg section was cast as one solid piece.
If yours does not come with a white metal round base and colour instuction it is likely to be a recast.










There was also a later release by Calder Craft a mounted Samurai which was sculpted by Paul Knight base on Ray Lamb's Taisho. Please beware that there is also recast for this mounted kit. So be careful when making your purchase.
Here are some pictures of the original casting that I have.










I suspect this a recast with no Taisho colour instruction, different box and packaging. The box is missing Calder Craft logo and description of the kit.