Tag Archives: Samurai

Sukia the samurai finds the perfect balance between elegance and simplicity

Two or three carefully selected elements are all it takes to create something truly elegant from LEGO and ItouN’s samurai girl Suika makes this a case in point. Combining inverted wedge and red ball joint elements to create flared britches is inspired building at its best. It’s a trend that continues throughout, from the clip plates that double as braided hair through to the pointed red boots; everything here works towards a coherent aesthetic vision. Simplicity in this instance is the very essence of beauty.

A samurai’s secluded retreat

The flower-laden gardens and open paddy fields that surround Rollon Smith’s Snake Samouraï Temple create a beautifully secluded retreat for the noble Japanese warrior.  What I find really appealing about this scene is the way the well-selected decorative details, such as the serpent reliefs and the various printed tiles, are balanced against an obviously tended natural landscape.

Snake Samouraï Temple

Zooming in you find the minifigure inhabitants of the temple caught in the acts of harvesting rice, pruning plants and raking gravel; and it’s this little nod to Zen aesthetic practice that ultimately makes for such a satisfying build.

Boba Fett: The last bounty hunter

You can tell that Nathaniel is a fan of Star Wars just by looking at the way he has lovingly upgraded the recent Boba Fett buildable figure set. Everyone’s favourite Mandalorian looks noticeably filled-out with new anatomical details added in the form of cleverly integrated brick built thighs. A number of other neat touches to his armour provide detail and a samurai twist. I suspect Nathaniel knows his Star Wars lore, specifically George Lucas’s debt to Akira Kurosawa’s epic The Seven Samurai, referencing the connection in the theming of his creation. I have to agree, that the bounty hunter reimagined as samurai warrior, banners flying, Katana in hand, striding across a flower-laden Shogun era meadow, looks amazing.

The Last Boba Fett

A samurai is always prepared for death — either his own or someone else’s

Nothing says “Japan!” more than mechs and samurai. Japanese builder Moko fuses both concepts into a figure of a dignified warrior. A stunning combination of shiny chrome-gold rings on dark-red armour contributes a lot to the model’s calm but awe-inspiring character. Despite his origin, this samurai is armed not with a long thin katana, but with a heavy sword with a nice-looking chrome hand guard. And there’s definitely some great story behind this weapon…

MFS-014 斬

Thou shall not pass!

Seen at any angle, this moment in time captured by Eero Okkonen is astonishing! Eero is known for his character builds, but takes it a step further by embodying them in a scene where tension between two swordsmen is captured in time.

The New Shogunate

See more of these remarkable LEGO characters

“It’s a grave error to think the Way of the Samurai consists of nothing but a show of strength.”

Since it’s just the two of us, constant reader, let’s jump into the way-back machine again and set the dial for 2011. Even though the build can’t be considered new, the builder (LEGO Suzuki) is new to me and perhaps to many of you too. The reason for all this fussy time-travel is to show you Suzuki’s outstanding Samurai battle gear display set, which is detailed enough to make Miyamoto Musashi proud.

LEGO Samurai battle gear display set 03

Golden Samurai

I think it’s high-time we offered another custom minifigure. NickGreat previously offered some gorgeous customs a few years back, and has posted the newest edition–his Golden Samurai.


via Classic-Castle