The Scale Models of Leiji Matsumoto
The Leiji Matsumoto projects:
My projects based on the manga works of artist Leiji Matsumoto break down into these main sections:
The Cockpit
- the 1/144 scale The Cockpit projects are mini-dioramas that represent some of the classic scenes from the manga series.
- the 1/72 scale The Cockpit projects are more or less stationary (wheels down) representations of the airplanes/tanks/other vehicles as they appear in the manga series.
Galaxy Express 999
- the 1/700 scale Galaxy Express projects are mini-dioramas that represent some of the classic scenes from the manga series.
The passion:
As you have noticed, my tastes in manga and comics are a bit old school… well there’s nothing like the work of the masters to spark inspiration, and there’s no better a master than Leiji Matsumoto. Even if the name isn’t that familiar to you, I’m betting you’ve seen some of this signature art style, prominent in his most famous manga series, Galaxy Express 999 (銀河鉄道999) and Space Pirate Captain Harlock (宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック).
However, although I’m quite interested in all of Matsumoto’s work, for the purposes of my scale modelling blog, I’m most interested in his collection of WWII-based short stories, collectively known as The Cockpit (ザ・コクピット) – also known as The Battlefield (戦場まんがシリーズ). In many ways it is the genesis of the Area 88 manga series that I also love building out, since Kaoru Shintani was once-upon-a-time Leiji Matsumoto’s assistant. Although both masters in their own right, if you look, I think you can see some of Matsumoto’s influence on Shintani’s style, and I’m quite sure that his work on the Battlefield Manga was a pretty direct inspiration for Area 88.
Unfortunately, none of The Cockpit manga chapters have been translated into English, but in many ways the artwork speaks for itself. And quite honestly, that’s all you need in order to build some nice models based on the work.