Sosuke’s Toy Boat (Ponyo)

Ponyo (Japanese: 崖の上のポニョ Hepburn: Gake no Ue no Ponyo, literally “Ponyo on the Cliff”), initially titled in English as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi and Toho, and distributed by the latter company.  It is the eighth film Miyazaki directed for Ghibli, and his tenth overall.  The plot centers on a goldfish named Ponyo who befriends a five-year-old human boy, Sōsuke, and wants to become a human girl.

 

– courtesy of Wikipedia

The finished model:

The story:

As I’ve said before, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008), is not my favourite of Hayao Miyazaki’s works, but I think it’s growing on me.  Maybe I would’ve liked it more if the main characters were a bit older, but I have a hard time buying into a love story between little children.  There’s obviously nothing salacious in the plot, but even the platonic love between Sosuke and Ponyo always feels a bit forced to me.  Still, if they weren’t little kids, I probably wouldn’t have been able to build this neat little (enlarged) toy boat, so who am I to complain, right?

When I was decided what vehicles I should include from Ponyo in my quest to create 1/72 scale models from all the Studio Ghibli films, Fujimoto’s “flying” submarine was my top choice, but this little boat was always hanging around in the back of my mind.

The build:

So then, it should come as no surprise, when I bought the 1/110 scale HMS Bounty kit from Revell (in advanced preparation for Red Rackham’s Pirate Ship over in my Tintin 1/72 project) and opened the box “just to check it out”, the little rowboat jumped out at me, full of possibilities!

So, I snapped it off the sprue, put everything else back in the box for a later date, and got to work.  There really wasn’t all that much to it, to be honest.  Using a bit of polystyrene sheet plastic, I cut out out a rough roof piece and a bow cover and glued them in place.  Then, with a bit of putty and a lot of sanding, shaped them to fit the smooth edges of the toy boat.

The interior “engine” was also scratchbuilt from a bit of polystyrene punched circles and a bit of tubing bent using a candle.  After that it was just a matter of masking and painting.  I had a bit of trouble here and there, mainly from dirty fingers leaving small smudges on still-wet paint.  But, in the end I was able to get it looking good enough for my exacting standards.

I did have a bit of trouble gluing on some of the accessories, like the rudder and the gold-coloured rings and exhaust tubes.  They feel off more than once and slide around on a a bit more glue than was strictly necessary.

Finally, at the last possible second, I decided to add a couple of blue LEDs to the silicone “water” base – just to give it a bit of an effect.  I’m not sure I quite succeeded, but for a last minute snap decision, you kind of get what you paid for.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you thi: