Savoia S.21 (Porco Rosso)

Porco Rosso (Japanese: 紅の豚 Hepburn: Kurenai no Buta, lit. Crimson Pig) is a 1992 Japanese animated comedy-adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is based on Hikōtei Jidai (“The Age of the Flying Boat”), a three-part watercolor manga by Miyazaki. Toshio Suzuki produced the film. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Japan Airlines and the Nippon Television Network and distributed by Toho. Joe Hisaishi composed the music.

 

The plot revolves around an Italian World War I ex-fighter ace, now living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing “air pirates” in the Adriatic Sea. However, an unusual curse has transformed him into an anthropomorphic pig. Once called Marco Pagot (Marco Rossolini in the American version), he is now known to the world as “Porco Rosso”, Italian for “Red Pig”.

 

– courtesy of Wikipedia

The finished model:

The story:

Porco Rosso (1992) is probably my favourite Studio Ghibli film.  It often dukes it out with Laputa – Castle in the Sky (1986) for top spot, but it usually comes out on top for two main reasons.  The first is anticipation.  When I first stumbled across it and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) in the late 1980s, it made a lasting impression, but in a “shock to the system” sort of way.  By the early 1990s I was already a Studio Ghibli fan anxiously awaiting the follow-up to Miyazaki’s smash hit Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) and the anticipation was almost unbearable.  In those pre-internet days, it was hard to receive up-to-date information on events that were happening as far off as Japan.  So I tried to gather every bit of news I could find in anime-friendly magazines and other news articles – it was almost like being an investigative reporter.  Of course It’s rare that something you’re so anxiously waiting for meets your expectations.  But when I finally got to see Porco Rosso in all it’s grainy, seventh-hand VHS tape glory, I was blown away.

As I’ve said plenty of times before, here and elsewhere, one of the things I love most about Miyazaki’s work is his recurring theme of flight.  That doesn’t really express the idea though, does it.  It’s not just “flight”, but soaring into the endless expanse of the (generally blue) sky, leaving your earth-bound troubles behind you and just being totally free.  That, in a nutshell, is Porco Rosso – it’s got flying around in spades.  Since it’s arguably set in the “real world”, despite the fact that the main character is a literal pig (instead of the just a figurative one), it doesn’t really allow Miyazaki’s imagination to run wild in the “wacky flying machine” department.  What it lacks in imagination though, it makes up for it in style.

Most people don’t know that the Savoia S.21 is actually a fictional plane, but most people also don’t care, because it just looks so cool!  In fact, it’s more or less what you’d get if a real-world Savoia S.21 had a baby with a Macchi M.33.  What a great concept though.  The result is a sleek flying boat, with it’s Italian red scheme, is as much a character as any other in the film.

The build:

Unlike most of the builds in my Studio Ghibli or Tintin 1/72 scale projects, where I need to scrounge around for a kit (if I’m lucky!) that can be bent to my will and converted to the subject at hand, this one was a gift – literally.

Obviously I’m not the only one fascinated by Miyazaki’s planes, so the nice people at FineMolds have seen fit to provide us with several VERY nice 1/72 scale injection moulded kits of the Savoia S.21.  You can choose from the S.21, which is the plane as it’s shown at the beginning of the film, the S.21F which is the version after it’s reconstructed by Fio, and the S.21F Folgore, the version that appears in the original manga series.  In each case the only major difference is the shape/type of the engine and the addition of the window “seat” in the nose where Fio rides.

I initially chose the S.21, mainly because I liked the shape of the engine the most, but I also ended up getting the S.21 Folgore too as a birthday present from my son.  Thanks Elliot!  Incidentally, FIneMolds also has an equally fine kit (which, of course I also built) of the Curtiss R3C-0 that appears in the film.

Since this was such a special film/build for me, I really wanted to do it right.  I spared no effort and cut no corners.  In the end, I’m not sure how much of a difference it made in the end result, but that’s at least in part a testament to how nicely engineered this kit is.  I had no problems. So few in fact that I seem to have much fewer pictures than I usually do in my build album. It just fell together so nicely and quickly, there wasn’t much to photograph.

As usual, I started with the cockpit and painted the side walls and then added the details.  The fuselage went together so nicely that there was barely a seam to be seen, let alone take care of.  I also didn’t bother with the decals and opted to paint on the green/white/red stripes instead.

About the only thing that was remarkable or interesting about the build was that it was my first attempt at decanting Tamiya lacquer-based paint from a spray can and using it for my airbrush.  I followed an online guide and it worked like a charm and let me spray on some authentic Italian red.  Here’s the pro-tip: make sure you leave the paint to de-gas after you spray it into the bottle, otherwise the micro-bubbles let out by the sudden change in temperature/pressure will cause an eruption.  I was careful, and followed the guidelines, but I couldn’t resist a bit of agitation just to see if it give me a response.  It does.

Anyway, I’m quite happy with this one. I might not feel the same level of accomplishment as I do when I realise a project through more a intensive or difficult process, but just seeing that blessed little plane sitting there on my shelf gives me enourmous joy.  And isn’t that just what it’s all about anyway?

Feel free to let me know how you feel about it though: