Ghibli: The Wind Rises (Jiro's Bird Plane)
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/9/3/4/370934-26441-64-720.jpg)
Had some left overs... hmmm... those sails give me an idea...
![Album image #2 Album image #2](/albums/img/9/3/5/370935-26441-35-720.jpg)
Another Academy Spad XIII fuselage to start from.
![Album image #3 Album image #3](/albums/img/9/3/6/370936-26441-43-720.jpg)
First thing to do? Move the cockpit back and start filling in holes.
![Album image #4 Album image #4](/albums/img/9/3/7/370937-26441-66-720.jpg)
Holes filed, the general shape is sanded, and the cockpit sidewall get some paint. That Mig-21 nose cone came in handy...
![Album image #5 Album image #5](/albums/img/6/4/3/371643-26441-61-720.jpg)
Cockpit interior is pieced together. Hope it all fits!
![Album image #6 Album image #6](/albums/img/1/5/3/372153-26441-65-720.jpg)
Cockpit stuffed in and putty applied to the shape.
![Album image #7 Album image #7](/albums/img/1/5/4/372154-26441-83-720.jpg)
That's a lot of putty, but after all that sanding, I'm hoping it will help with the structural integrity. 😉
![Album image #8 Album image #8](/albums/img/2/8/6/372286-26441-17-720.jpg)
Added the wings and the tail.
![Album image #9 Album image #9](/albums/img/8/2/9/372829-26441-60-720.jpg)
Lots more sanding, but got the cowling more or less in place and added struts for the wheels.
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/8/3/0/372830-26441-22-720.jpg)
The cowling isn't quite centred, but this plane is so organic, I'm calling artistic license.
![Album image #11 Album image #11](/albums/img/4/8/3/374483-26441-47-720.jpg)
All the parts have been crafted.
![Album image #12 Album image #12](/albums/img/6/4/3/375643-26441-16-720.jpg)
After a lot of putty and sanding, she's ready for some paint.
![Album image #13 Album image #13](/albums/img/9/6/8/378968-26441-96-720.jpg)
Masked and painted
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/9/6/9/378969-26441-89-720.jpg)
I think it was the right choice on blue
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/1/9/8/397198-26441-49-720.jpg)
![Album image #16 Album image #16](/albums/img/1/9/9/397199-26441-63-720.jpg)
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![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/2/0/3/397203-26441-31-720.jpg)
![Album image #21 Album image #21](/albums/img/1/9/7/397197-26441-32-720.jpg)
Comments
16 12 August 2017, 16:54
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
I was looking at the leftover sails from the Cuty Sark kit I used for Fujimoto's submarine in Ponyo and I got another idea... can you guess where this one is going? 🙂
12 August 2017, 23:16
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Got most of the cockpit interior painted. Just a few more details and then I can get to work finishing the shape,
14 August 2017, 15:48
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Looks like this is the only "Mystery" left in my Ghibli project group... all the others have been correctly identified.
16 August 2017, 00:50
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Just one small update today. Spent a lot of time cutting the feathers and glueing them like a san which betweeen two sails and then putty/sanding it all together. Now it looks like a thing though.
17 August 2017, 15:30
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You think Choppa Nutta will notice the engine cowling is slightly askew? Better not mention it..😉
20 August 2017, 15:20
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😢 haha, too late you already did 😄
Looks fine to me though 🙂
Anyhow, you know I love your work though Greg, right ? 😄 😄 🙂
20 August 2017, 15:47
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Heh. I'm just impressed by your mental telepathy and ability to discover the part of a project I'm not happy with... sometimes before even I Know! 😄
20 August 2017, 15:52
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Ok... I know have all the parts I need. Next up is priming and painting.
27 August 2017, 16:40
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
After a lot of sanding touche ups, it was finally done, primed and ready to pain.... and that's when I cracked the leg nearly off... le sigh
31 August 2017, 16:22
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Ok... I screwed up the masking around the cockpit a bit, but my attempts to fix it started making it worse... so I'm moving this project into the "done" column before it rolls right down hill.
17 September 2017, 08:46
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let's see...wings that are actually sails.....with feathers...that's normal....carry on.....
3 October 2022, 05:13
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Extraordinary and immediately recognisable Greg. Let me guess, less than CAD5 in total materials costs?
3 October 2022, 06:58
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How could I miss this? I guess due to holiday ...
Very creative recycling? No, this is upcycling 👍
3 October 2022, 11:42
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Thanks guys! There is a kit in 1/48 of this plane (check out this great build of it - Jiro Bird-Wing Aircraft | Album by Hikaru (1:48)) but I wanted one in 1/72 scale. So I cobbled most of it together using leftovers from an Academy Cutty Sark and a Spad XIII - so yeah... about $5 in costs. 😉
My only regret is that the Spad fuselage is a bit too big. Maybe if I had a 1/100 scale kit... oh, well. Such a fun little bird though. 🙂
3 October 2022, 14:05
Album info
A scraftbuilt version of the imaginary "bird plane" that Jiro flies in Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises. Cobbled together using an 1/72 Spad XIII fuselage, sails from a 1/350 Cutty Sark and the nose-cone of a 1/72 MiG-21 (all from Academy).