Ghibli: My Neighbour Totoro (Daihatsu Midget DK)
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/0/4/2/370042-26441-75-720.jpg)
Here's the kit I'll be using.
![Album image #2 Album image #2](/albums/img/0/4/3/370043-26441-16-720.jpg)
Lots of bits and bites... 3 vehicles, 3 sprues.
![Album image #3 Album image #3](/albums/img/0/4/4/370044-26441-31-720.jpg)
Of course I'll only need a couple from each.
![Album image #4 Album image #4](/albums/img/0/4/5/370045-26441-73-720.jpg)
And those will be modified...
![Album image #5 Album image #5](/albums/img/0/4/6/370046-26441-68-720.jpg)
A bit of proof-of-concept...
![Album image #6 Album image #6](/albums/img/0/3/8/370038-26441-24-720.jpg)
And a few more parts...
![Album image #7 Album image #7](/albums/img/0/3/9/370039-26441-41-720.jpg)
Voila! All boxed up.
![Album image #8 Album image #8](/albums/img/0/4/0/370040-26441-97-720.jpg)
Had to modify the rear axle to accommodate the wider frame.
![Album image #9 Album image #9](/albums/img/0/4/1/370041-26441-64-720.jpg)
If I was really ambitious, I'd have removed the rear part of the jeep... if I was that ambitious. 🙂
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/1/3/6/370136-26441-23-720.jpg)
Added a second layer to the windshield frame and sanded it flush. Also added fenders!
![Album image #11 Album image #11](/albums/img/1/3/7/370137-26441-99-720.jpg)
Scratched up a driver's seat and puttied up the seams.
![Album image #12 Album image #12](/albums/img/9/3/9/370939-26441-21-720.jpg)
![Album image #13 Album image #13](/albums/img/9/4/0/370940-26441-52-720.jpg)
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/6/4/0/371640-26441-50-720.jpg)
Wheels painted...
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/0/8/3/372083-26441-47-720.jpg)
T'ah-dah! Basically done. Just a coat of future and wash left to do... oh, and the stand.
![Album image #16 Album image #16](/albums/img/0/8/2/372082-26441-68-720.jpg)
Wait... something's missing...
![Album image #17 Album image #17](/albums/img/8/3/2/372832-26441-48-720.jpg)
Ahhh... it needed cargo... 🙂
![Album image #18 Album image #18](/albums/img/1/6/7/373167-26441-38-720.jpg)
Ok... cargo in place...
![Album image #19 Album image #19](/albums/img/1/6/8/373168-26441-69-720.jpg)
Thank goodness it still all fits...
![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/1/6/9/373169-26441-51-720.jpg)
A coat of Future applied
![Album image #21 Album image #21](/albums/img/1/7/0/373170-26441-64-720.jpg)
Now it's really done.
![Album image #22 Album image #22](/albums/img/1/7/1/373171-26441-11-720.jpg)
This time for sure!
![Album image #23 Album image #23](/albums/img/1/7/2/373172-26441-90-720.jpg)
No, really!
![Album image #24 Album image #24](/albums/img/1/8/5/397185-26441-72-720.jpg)
![Album image #25 Album image #25](/albums/img/1/8/6/397186-26441-42-720.jpg)
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![Album image #28 Album image #28](/albums/img/1/8/9/397189-26441-11-720.jpg)
![Album image #29 Album image #29](/albums/img/1/9/1/397191-26441-52-720.jpg)
![Album image #30 Album image #30](/albums/img/1/9/2/397192-26441-95-720.jpg)
![Album image #31 Album image #31](/albums/img/1/9/0/397190-26441-68-720.jpg)
Opmerkingen
19 8 August 2017, 22:53
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Since he inspired me with his own mini vehicles build, this one is for hermitkey 😉
8 August 2017, 23:01
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Thanks guys! I'm having fun putting all these Ghibli-inspired mystery mini projects. This one is probably pretty easy for à ghibli fans to guess though, no?
9 August 2017, 04:17
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Bingo! I knew it wasn't going to be hard. I've already scratch built the Mehve from Nausicaa, the Flapter from Laputa and Tombo's prop bicycle from Kiki's Delivery Service. I had to at least include something from Totoro. 🙂
9 August 2017, 05:57
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I can not stop admiring your work based on Miyazaki's cartoons.
They are delightful.
9 August 2017, 07:24
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Thanks Denis! I'm just glad someone's following along. The feedback is very much appreciated. I kind of have this mental image of a 1/72 scale "Miyazaki Museum" that I'm the curator of. I just put the finishing touches on the Kiki's Delivery bike and the Laputa Flapter, so I'll post up some "work completed" pics soon.
9 August 2017, 10:03
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Just a little bit of progress with a very fiddly interior. I also think I made the cargo bed side walls a bit too high. I might need to cut them down a bit.
9 August 2017, 23:46
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Doesn't look wrong, nice colour too,
yeah painting the interior now is going to be tricky, sure you'll manage 🙂
Btw, I was looking the novels again, started reading them again more like 🙂
Because I thought something was off with the Gun Ship kit, mostly the scale but also the tail too.
at 1/72 that puts the model at 54 feet span which is big, way big.
In the novels it looks much closer to 40 feet, more like 35 I reckon,
which means if you carve out the cockpits to fit 1/48 figures that will be much closer to "correct" scale 😄
Also the tail end is very different, in the novel hardly any bend and it has a fin to hold the tail wheel
other than that overall I think the kit shape is quite good 🙂
12 August 2017, 19:34
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It doesn't look wrong, because I cut the sidewalls down a millimetre. They looked okay until I put the fenders on. Then I realized they were just a bit too high. I was hoping not to have to get fussy on the paint job, and luckily Tamiya X-14 Sky Blue came to the rescue. Painting the interior will be tricky, but with the open cab, I couldn't really paint it before I built it in place.
12 August 2017, 23:14
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Do I spy the beginnings of another Mehve in the bottom right of pic 13 ?😉 😄
13 August 2017, 00:00
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Hehe... I replied to the rest of your comments on my Nausicaa build... Ghibli: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Mehve) | Album by strobez (1:72)
13 August 2017, 00:05
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Got a bit more paint on.... masking the front wheel was a pain, but I hope it pays off.
14 August 2017, 15:46
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I´ve just seen this one.
I like the movie, so do my kids. 🙂
I´ll stay tuned for further progress. 👍
15 August 2017, 16:23
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This Totoro mini truck is almost finished. Just final presentation stuff (including a base), but I have a bunch of Studio Ghibli-related scratch builds ongoing. Someone tried to talk me into doing the Catbus from Totoro as well, but that might be a bit too ambitious a project... at least for right now.
16 August 2017, 00:36
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I thought about it... but probably not. I'm thinking I might just add some boxes and barrels I have leftover from the kit I used. Building the dollhouse furniture doesn't interest me much, especially when I just got another idea to use up another one of these little car kits...😉
16 August 2017, 08:10
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It damn well better all fit is all I can say. 🙂. I stacked it all three times before painting, but guaranteed, something will be out of place when I got to do the final assembly... I just know it.
20 August 2017, 15:54
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Thanks a lot John. I've updated some final-ish pictures. Luckily all the cargo I created went back in place more or less as I planned. It was tricky to glue together without making a mess of the whole thing, so I was a bit sparse. Hopefully it all holds together (the string actually does help... as does the generous coating of Future). Maybe a bit of a wash on the wheels and undercarriage for depth, but this baby is basically done now.
21 August 2017, 15:34
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I love this, really a stunning example of reuse of pieces... great Greg!!!
22 August 2017, 14:01
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Thanks! For the comment. As soon as I saw the donor kit, I kinda knew it was going to work... well, that's what I hoped!
22 August 2017, 15:04
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Thanks Mathew! I have a bunch of these little Miyazaki contraptions. They're mostly flying machines, but who can resist this little Daihatsu?! 😄
12 February 2018, 22:00
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Thanks guys. If you want to see all my Studio Ghibli builds, it's probably easiest to check out my blog - strobez.ca/wp/index...1-72-scale-projects/
29 August 2022, 02:07
Album info
A little kit-bashed scratch-build of the "three-wheeled truck" used by the Kusakabe family to move to their new house in the animated movie, "My Neighbour Totoro." Based on the Daihatsu Midget DK, I used parts of a 1/72 Willys Jeep, a Kübelwagen and a Kettenkrad to create the basic chassis and boxed it up using styrene plates.