Hi all, I'm new to the forums, but I was inspired to join after stumbling upon andonio64's great scratchbuild of the pirate plane from Hayao Miyazaki's amazing animated film, Porco Rosso.
After a bit of browsing around, I've seen a few familiar faces from other "WHIF/Fantasy" sites/forums and there seems to be a bit of cross-posting going on, so I felt empowered to do so as well. There's always a bit of a different crowd, and I thought this one might enjoy seeing my collection of Miyazaki mini-projects in 1/72 scale. I've adapted (and improved) some of the project elements based on feedback I've received elsewhere, so feel free to send any constructive criticism my way.
Apologies to those who have already seen this elsewhere...
I'll be happy to provide direct updates if anyone's interested, but in order to catch up with the rest of the class, I'll start my just listing and linking to my albums on Scalemates.com. So far I've crafted:
A Flaptter from Laputa: Castle in the Sky - primarily from a cut up 1/72 Spad XIII fuselage married to the underside of a 1/100 Me162 Komet.
The propeller bike (and a flying broom) from Kiki's Delivery Service - basically from scratch, but using some bits (and wheels) from that same Spad XIII kit.
The three-wheeled "mini truck" from My Neighbour Totoro - using parts of a 1/72 Willis Jeep, a Kübelwagen and a Kettenkrad.
The Mehve powered glider from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - using a pair of unknown wings I scavenged from a spares box in a store in Tokyo, although I discovered my scale reference was off and it was actually 1/48. So a true 1/72 one is back on the bench, this time using the wings from that 1/100 Komet.
Meanwhile, I'm still working on:
Fujimoto's submarine from Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea - mostly using the hull from a 1/350 Cutty Sark.
The Aero-Kayak from Howl's Moving Castle - basically formed from the drop tank of a 1/72 MiG-21.
Jiro's "Bird Plane" from The Wind Rises - from another Spad XIII fuselage, he nose cap from the same MiG-21 and wings from the left-over sails from the Cutty Sark.
The Dora Gang's Car from Laputa: Castle in the Sky - using nothing but styrene bits (probably a steering wheel left over from that 1/72 Willis Jeep).
I'm also planning to scratch build the Little yellow Fiat 500 from Lupin III - The Castle of Cagliostro using the chassis from the aforementioned Kübelwagen. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to approximate the curved frame. Any suggestions would be welcome.
As for the most current pics... here's what I'm still working on:
Just about finished crafting some "stuff" to go in the back of the Totoro mini-truck. I wasn't planning on building a bunch of furniture, but after an online nudge, I agree... it's missing something without it.
In between making tiny desk drawers, I was able to make some progress on Jiro's bird-plane from The Wind Rises.
Finally, things are coming along for my Aero-Kayak (How's Moving Castle). I used strips of thin styrene putty and sanded on one side to simulate the panel lines. Then I used some brass to start building the spindly wings.