Dragon Model Subadai
Subadai is the latest in Dragon’s Ancient Warrior offerings, that has so far consisted of Goths, Huns, Vikings and now a Mongol. In my opinion, Subadai is the best of them all.
Even without my obvious predilication to things “eastern”, Subadai would be a nice figure. He has a nice face mold, a bearded face with nice character that looks MUCH better without his helm than with it. In fact, as much as I love the helmet, and as nice as it looks on him, Subadai actually looks better from a facial perspective without the helm. Without the helm, Subadai looks even more Oriental than he does in most of the pictures you see. For kitbashing purposes, he could be used for a bearded Chinese or Japanese in other eras.
He comes with a nice set of molded rubber armor, similar to their Timeline armor. This armor simulates the ribbon-tied banded plate common to the feudal times of China and Japan. It cannot be removed without cutting it carefully down a seam, and then reglueing or remelting it on another figure, so kitbashing potential is slimmer, but do-able. His helmet is made of the same rubber material and fits nicely on several different head styles, so it can be used on other kits. It’s nice to have a set of this armor type, even with the limitations of kitbashing, just for its uniqueness.
He comes armed with a horseman’s bow and quiver, along with a belt tied carry case for the bow. The bow is nice, very similar to the one that came with Attila, with only a minor difference in the hand grip separating them. The quiver is a solid “golf-bag” style, made of hard plastic. It would do well in any kitbash, as would the bow. Subadai comes armed with a sword, Chinese style (similar to a katana, with a bit more curve than typical for a Japanese blade). The sword and scabbard are well done, and he also carries a Naginata (a sword-spear), another unique weapon for collectors. This can be transferred to any oriental kitbash with ease.
Subadais clothing is nothing special, simple cotton pants and shirt under his armor. The pants are removable, but until the armor is removed, I can’t see getting the shirt changed out for anything else. He also comes with an Obi (belt sash) of beige cotton cloth that looks nice, if wide. I doubled mine over (in half) and retied it over his armor, and improved his look, in my opinion at least. For more kitbashing potential, you can use other cloth to make your obi, and match it to the red “ribbons” on the banded mail for a more uniform look.
Final thoughts, a nice set, grab one on sale if you can find it, and you won’t regret it.
