Studio Ghibli Mystery Project(s)!

[Vorcha]

wow

[strobez]

Thanks guys! I knew I'd get some sympathy here.  Strangely enough, Tombo's bike ends up being smashed and re-built in the film, so... it's more authentic now! Right?! 

Anyway, a few updates...

Got the Totoro Daihatsu Midget finished and painted.


Not quite sure how I'm going to paint the inside... luckily most of it is still blue.  The open cab and the "didn't exist until I built it" aspect of it made it difficult to follow the normal "build the cockpit and enclose it" process.


While that's drying... I noticed the leftover sails from the Cutty Sark kit I'm using to build the submarine reminded me of something... and of course I have a bunch of Spad XIII fuselages lying around..l


As usual, I just need a few parts. Basically the fuselage and two of the sails.


Actually, not even the whole sail.  Oh, and the cockpit will have to be moved back.  Luckily the Academy 1/72 Spad XIII kits basically have no cockpit.


Most of the holes have been filled and the sidewalks and cockpit have been painted.  I'll need to finish the cockpit before applying the putty... and there will be plenty of putty.  Also, glad I kept that MiG-21 nose cone... came in handy.


Frustratingly, some bright spark on Scalemates pointed out something that had been nagging at me.  The Nausicaa glider is largely out of scale.  I used the Nausicaa figurine from the Bandai Gunship kit to eyeball the scale... but it seems that kit as well is more likely 1/48 scale than 1/72.  When I compared Nausicaa to my 1/72 Airfix pilot, she looks like an Amazon.  As a result, my glider just got reclassed as 1/48 scale (which after measuring is pretty much spot on) and it's back to the drawing board. 


That led me to the realization that the reason I was getting frustrated with my other mystery project is that it too, is woefully out of scale too.  I also used the same Nausicaa figure for reference.  So I cracked it apart and basically started over again.


Finally, I also started working on another little build which will almost be completely scratched up...

[TheChronicOne]

Masterful work, Greg!  Pretty much at a loss for words here.....  just... good work, keep going!

[zenrat]

Please tell me you have a cat-bus planned...

[ericr]

Please tell me you have a cat-bus planned...

ah ! oh, yes ...   

[PR19_Kit]

I don't understand a BEAN about what you're building, but the workmanship is outstanding! 

[NARSES2]

I don't understand a BEAN about what you're building, but the workmanship is outstanding! 

That's two of us then  Wonderous build 

[Old Wombat]

I would've cut the sails into pairs & stuck them out from the sides of a sailing ship hull suspended below a Zeppelin-ish gas bag, & with a "crows-nest" mast projecting down from the hull.

[strobez]

Please tell me you have a cat-bus planned...

I thought about it... but I'm not sure how I'd do it.  Lots of furry legs and a curved chassis... uhm...

[pirx]

a curved chassis... uhm...

What about the Opel Blitzbus?

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/142771-roden-724-opel-blitzbus-ludewig-aero-1937

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/142769-roden-725-opel-blitzbus


Daniel 

[strobez]

I hate you... 

[zenrat]

I would've cut the sails into pairs & stuck them out from the sides of a sailing ship hull suspended below a Zeppelin-ish gas bag, & with a "crows-nest" mast projecting down from the hull.

Ideas, ideas, ideas.  Mentally stored in project ideas storage.  Thank you.

Kit and Chris.  Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio which has made lots of excellent movies (including one about Racoon Dogs and their magic scrotums) amongst which are a couple you may have heard of because they involve aircraft - Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Studio+Ghibli&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwji8o2q7djVAhUEbbwKHSZGB98QsAQIdQ&biw=1277&bih=665
The Cat Bus is a cat which is also a bus (or vice versa).  It has 12 legs and its eyes are its headlights.  When modelling one I think getting the fur right would be the tricky bit.

[NARSES2]

Cheers Fred 

I have seen and enjoyed both Porco Rosso and the Wind Rises. Magnificent films.

Mind you magic scrotum ? What the heck are these people on ?? 

[strobez]

Porco Rosso is my all-time favourite Studio Ghibli film... but Laputa, Castle in the Sky is a close second.  I've got both the Finemolds 1/72 offerings for Porco Rosso (Saviola and Curtiss) and have a scheme to turn a Henkel He-51 float plane into as close an approximation of a Macchi M.52 as possible (unless I can get my sweaty hands on the Vintage Models M.52 kit itself).  I'm still working my way up to those projects though.

In the meantime though, I decided to leave the Catbus in the ideas category for now.  It's very organic and the fur would be a problem.  I'd rather tackle a 1/72 Laputa Tiger Moth as a challenge and I've got the 3-wheel mini-truck as my Totoro entry, so that'll do for now.

Speaking of which...


She's pretty much done. I still plan to do a clear coat and a wash, and then add a base (too small to be call a dio).


Apparently I missed a couple of ejection pin marks on the under side. I won't tell anyone if you don't.  I was a bit lazy and just sheeted over the other prominent ones.


She's tiny, but for a machine cobbleded together from a Willis Jeep and a Kettenkrad, I'll take it.  Still might add some random barrels/boxes in the back and tie it down using the rigging from the Cutty Sark kit (waste not, want not), but I'm not going to try to replicate all the family belongings from the move... although I thought about it.


Meanwhile, I finally got the cockpit painted and inserted into this project.  Did anyone ever figure what it is?


I probably didn't need quite so much putty... but just in case.  After sanding down the Spad XIII fuselage so much, I'm a little worried about structural integrity. So I'm trying to hold it all together with as much putty as possible. 


Meanwhile, I got a bit further in this other mysterious scratchbuild.  This one is almost 100% scratch.  Any guesses yet?


Finally, I wasn't happy with where the new Nausicaa glider was going.  The first one being 1/48 really irked me, but I tried to cheat on the redo by using a cut up wing from a 1/144 F-4E.  The angled wing seems to work well at first glance, but the bend is wrong and sets up a ton of problems for later, so it's back to the drawing board (again).

[nighthunter]

Greg, awesome scratch building and kitbashing! The fuel tank based project, was that supposed to be the "flopter" from Howl's Moving Castle?