Scratchbuilding the Nuclear Truck from On Your Mark --Finished.

What is that, from a movie?

On Your Mark is a seven minute music video which Hayao Miyazaki did for the Japanese singing due Chage & Aska. The song is in Japanese, but you don't need to know what the lyrics mean to appreciate the video. Miyazaki is known throughout the world as the unofficial Japanese Walt Disney.

I had a friend who was stationed in Japan pick up a copy of the video and convert it to an AVI file. You can usually find really bad (jerky animation) copies of On Your Mark on youtube. Just search for On Your Mark Miyazaki.

The story told in the video is set in the future. The camera pans through a beautiful countryside, with houses, but no people. There has been a Chernobyl-type accident and Mankind is now living in a huge, glass-topped underground city. Nuclear warning symbols are on all the vehicles.

A police force leads a raid on a religious cult (the building has a blinking single eye and the message "God is watching You").  After the raid, two of the policemen find that the cultists have an angel imprisoned in a small room. She is laying in garbage.They rescue her; the authorities take her away. The two policemen decide to rescue her and set her free.

The plotline is non-linear. It looks as though there are three attempts to get her out of the city. After each failure, there is a kind of  "rewind" and you see the plot repeated taking a different path.

There is no dialogue, but the drawn images are powerful and laden with emotion. Miyazaki, in an interview, said that he tried to incorporate every cautionary visual clue he could think of into the backgrounds. The walls are stained. There is trash everywhere. When they escape outside, there are hundreds of nuclear cooling towers in the distance. As the angel flies away, you can see a city with skyscapers on the other side of a distance shore (and if you freeze the frame, you'll see that one of the skyscrapers is leaning to one side, ready to topple). The road's edges are overgrown, as are the front yards of homes at the very end of the video.

I have watched this video repeatedly and always notice something new in it. The attention to small details. The emotion expressed by the characters through their actions is amazing.

Miyazaki's animated films aren't  just for kids. They create worlds and tell stories that adults can get into as well.

His best are: Nausicaa; Princess Mononoke;  My Neighbor Totoro; Porco Rosso; Spirited Away; and Kiki's Delivery Service. Pick any of them up on DVD. They are classics. They have a depth that early  Disney features never approached.

While waiting for my materials to arrive (two broken Tranformers and some sheet styrene) I decided to draw and paint a background for when the Nuclear Truck is finished.

It's based on one of the screencaps and is 14 inches wide and 10 inches high.

I spent the weekend building the windshield section.

Here are two pictures. I still need to do some clean-up work and paint it.

The Bonecrusher Transformers I purchased on ebay are too small to be used as a base for this scratchbuild (I really thought they would be bigger). So, falling back on my computer graphics experience, I made a "wireform" platform which will form the bottom of the Nuclear Truck.

I purchased some .040 sheet styrene and found that it is very hard to heat and bend. So I bought some .020 sheet and started making body panels, using my propane torch as a heat source. The body panels are being positioned and glued on top of (and around) the wireform base (bottom of the truck).

This is the body, to date:

As you can see, I have masked the windows of the crew cab, primed it in light gray. I also added some cooling grills to the right side of the body (they are from a model locomotive engine) black grillwork to the rear of them, and two round doodads that are toward the front.

I also built and primed the angled door hatch.

 Four sets of resin dual-wheel for a 1/25 scale semi are on order. They will be placed on the right (passenger) side of the Nuclear Truck (you will remember that it has four front wheels, with the passenger side wheels being dual wheels and the driver side consisting of single wheels).

I left the hood rather long because I don't know how much space the double front wheels will need. When I get the wheels, I will fabricate the front suspension. The rear will probably just be a metal rod running through holes in the body, since the rear wheel on the passenger side is mostly covered.

Scratchbuilt the radiator and shell.

Over the weekend I attached the panels on the right side of the Truck, adding latches and lift handles.

On the left side i fabricated a fender with a curved lip and a 40 degree angle downward, where it attaches behind the crew hatch door. I also added grab rails beside the door, and that angled bit which sits on top of the fender.

Under the fender I added some ":frame" detail, and a perimeter band which angles in at the front (which will eventually support the front fender).

I spent today working on the turbine housing on the left rear of the truck, using a combination of bent card stock, heat-bent styrene, and superglue gel to fill in the gaps. I used small guage speaker wire for the wiring coming out of the housing.

I also ordered some "hot rod" headlights from Detail Masters. They only had two sets of the satin headlights (four). Since I needed five headlights (three on one side, two on the other) I ordered a set of polished aluminum headlights to go with the two satin sets. I hollowed out a pair of legos and then cut them in half to make the headlight shields.

All I have to do now is enjoy Christmas and wait for the resin wheels to get here. Then I'll work on the suspension, front fenders, and cowling. (I've already printed out a wicked set of Nuclear Warning symbol decals).

The wheels have arrived and are bigger than I thought they would be. I also decided that the door I had put on the driver's side looked "wrong." 

So I spent today constructing a new door and reshaping the driver's side of the truck. I also built a lower hull. I plan to mount the wheels onto the truck using simple metal rod for axles, which will run through holes drilled into the sides of the lower hull.

Glued the lower hull to the rest of the body and then finished up by hitting everything with a coat of primer gray.

Very impressive.  Cant wait to see more.  Learning alot!

Last night I made several styrene panels to "marry-up" the lower hull to the upper body.

I also made a lower "chin" for the radiator. I also added one of the nuclear symbols to the insert grill (I'll be taking the insert out when I paint the radiator shell its final color).

The chin section was made from a piece of Bristol Board. Bristol board is an acid-free type of artist paper which is like poster board, only thicker. To make the chin, I used  an old brass door bumper. Its base (the square part which bolts to the floor, was about the width of the radiator. The top of the door bumper is curved like a half-dome (the rubber bumper for the door to hit against sitting underneath).

I cut a strip of Bristol Board one inch wider than I thought I would need and ran some tap water over it; making sure it was thoroughly soaked. I waited a minute or two for the board to soften, then I molded it over the metal top of the door bumper, squeezing and and slowly making it conform to the complex curves of the half-dome. Then I turned my wife's hair dryer on "low," set the hair dryer on its side on the table and held the Bristtol board and door stop in front of it until the paper dried. You have to hold the paper in place against the metal doorstop or it will straighten out as it dries.

Once it was dry enough to hold its shape, I coated it with a heavy super glue gel to give it strength and so the I could sand surface and remove some of the wrinkles. It's a good idea to prime it before sanding it. Bristol Board is usually white, and if you use a gray primer, you can see when you've sanded off the "high" spots.

After that, you just glue it onto the part, and prime it again. Then you're ready to hit it with the finsh coat of paint.

Got both of the front fenders done and glued them on. Tomorrow morning (when the glue's dry) I'll give it a final shot of primer and then start painting it with some Polly Scale Dark Yellow (it says O&RGW Yellow on the bottle).

Yesterday I painted the truck and after that was dry, I installed the headlights, wheels, and Police Light Bar. I still have several things to make. The front bumper and the area below the driver's door looks like it needs a step and some other details.

Well, the Nuclear Truck is pretty-much finished. I added a wider rear fender and step on the driver's side, a couple of oxygen bottles in front of the door, an antenna, and hood latches (which you probably can't see in the photos, and finished the front bumper using aluminum rod with a center section made from the outer casing of some coaxial cable that I had laying around.

Here's the Truck, on the shelf with the background painting pinned-up behind it.

This has been the first "scratchbuild" that I've done where I have made all the panels, chassis and body. I still need to fill-in and smooth some of the seams around the rear of the vehicle. More weathering and pinwashes are in the works.

The Nuclear Truck is now sitting on its shelf, directly across from where I sit when I'm working on the computer. After looking at the truck for a couple of days, I decided that the contour of the front fenders wasn't right. So I got out my exacto knife and straightened the curved line I had on the bottom of both fenders. I then cut some pieces of styrene into long triangular shapes with straight edges and then glued them onto the fenders, painting them after the glue had dried. I also painted the white section of the brake drum a flat black so it wouldn't stand out and added a second windshield wiper..

Since I'm into story-types of drawings, I tend to people my models with figures. The first arrived yesterday. A 1/35 Warriors "European American General." I assembled and painted him and placed him next to the Nuclear Truck.

I have two more figures coming in the mail. One will be the guy who is wearing the sunglasses (the "general figure's" partner) and also a 1/20 resin girl soldier which was supposed to be used with models from the Ma.k series. I plan to add wings to her and use her as the Angel figure. I have no idea how the 1/20 scale figure will work with the others, but I have high hopes. Maybe she won't be placed right next to them. That might visually minimize the difference in scale. --or I'll use her in some other project. Whatever.

Here's the dioramic setting, so far.

While I am waiting for the other figures to arrive, I started weathering some of the panels on the Nuclear Truck, using my oldtime method of charcoal pencil apllied on my fingertip.

Then I used some gray pastel powder to age the tires a little and started detailing my painted figure. I only got part of the face done before my brain disorder kicked in and my fingers wouldn't move the pencil in the direction I wanted them to. So I'm taking a break to let that part of my brain recharge. I was, however. able to add some shadows to the folds on his pants.

I got my order from Squadron and spent today painting and gluing equipment onto the Truck. I also got a soldier figure which I painted and assembled (except for the head, which I ordered from Ultracast). The head which came with the figure ended up on the other guy (whose head I messed up). This head wears a billed cap instead of a helmet, so that was another reason to put it on the other figure. (When the other head comes and I get it painted, I'll post photos of both).

Here's the equipment shots:

I got the Hornet head set from Ultracast. I was so impressed that I ordered a second set and will be replacing the head on the other figure.

On the "sidekick" figure, He's the one in the helmet.

I purchased a 1/36 Warrior figure and put on a Hornet head. I messed around with my Dremel and altered his stance to make it more casual. This morning I realized that he was leaning over too far so I shimmed up the base. His cigarette was more difficult. All the wire I tried was too thick and made it look like he was smoking a cigar. I ended up coating a piece of sewing thread with superglue, letting it dry, and then gluing it onto the figure's face. After the glue has set, I used a very small pair of scissors to trim it to what looked like the correct length.

Since taking this photo, I realized that I had scuffed-up the face a little when adding the shading to the folds in the uniform. I have since repainted the scuff marks and added the little gold insignia on his helmet.

Did more work on detailing the sidekick figure.

Fantastic!

Jim Barton

Fantastic!

Thank you. I was hoping for  feedback but was getting the feeling I was posting just for myself.

The fun thing about this build is: six months ago I wouldn't have been able to do it; I have deteriorated so much. I am really proud of what I have accomplished, building this truck and painting and detailing it and the figures.

The second set of Hornet heads arrived from Ultracast today (along with the set of six hands). Things went really well and painted three of the heads, all of the hands, and then selected the ones to go one that other figure (the Warriors "European General").

Here are the results.

I also received a little crafty-type clay mold to make angel wings. After trying various papers, tissues, and Bristol Board, I decided to risk the clay mold and use an epoxy. It is sitting on a shelf now, curing. All I need now is my Ma.K female soldier 'B' figure to get here and this project will enter its final phase of contruction.

Wow! This is an excellent build!! It looks outstanding!!

05Warrior

Wow! This is an excellent build!! It looks outstanding!!

Thanks. I appreciate the compliment!

Well, the epoxy didn't work and I broke the mold trying to get the hardened angel out. After gluing the mold back together using super glue, I thought about the problem for awhile and then tried Play-doh . I baked it in the oven at 200 degrees until it was completely dried out.

Believe it or not, it worked. The Play-doh shrank a little while it was in the oven and came out of the mold easily. I sprayed it with with a clear enamel sealer and then gave it several coats of thinned acrylic titanium white and then picked out the feather details with aircraft gray mixed with some flat white. I'll be picking out the lines of the feathers with a 5mm mechanical pencil (with the tip of the lead rubbed to an even finer point).

Here's a photo of the results:

The wings are 1.5 inches long.

I got the Ma.k figure in the mail yesterday. I had been hoping that since women are usually a little smaller than men that the heights wouldn't be too far off (1/20 for the Ma.K and 1/35 for the two soldier figures). But I guess I have to work on my ability to visualize other scales.

That didn't stop me from building her, though. I assembled and painted her, spending the evening shading in the shadows of the folds in the clothing. Then I realized that the wings I had already made were too small. So I got out the Play-doh and made two more; this time from scratch, without a mold. I baked them in the oven and then this morning I sealed them, painted them, and then glued them onto the Ma.K figure.

Here it is.

I am, however, having trouble finding a suitable female figure in 1/35 scale. The ones from Legend are all "pin-up" poses and nudes. A 1/32 scale female figure "might" work, but might also be too big if I place her next to the other figures. "G" scale figures are also out, since they are almost the same scale as the Ma.K figure I have.

Any suggestions from out there?

Looking pretty good.  For a female figure in 1/35, check out Verlinden, they have a few female soldiers.  Also, Coree made a helicopter pilot set that has a nice female in a flight suit.  There is also a Sci-Fi figure set in 1/35 in the Mech-type line that goes with a hovertank (or something like that) that has a couple females in it.

Good luck.

HeavyArty

Looking pretty good.  For a female figure in 1/35, check out Verlinden, they have a few female soldiers.  Also, Coree made a helicopter pilot set that has a nice female in a flight suit.  There is also a Sci-Fi figure set in 1/35 in the Mech-type line that goes with a hovertank (or something like that) that has a couple females in it.

Good luck.

Ilooked at the Verlinden figures and they just aren't what I'm looking for. The female soldiers don't look very "feminine" and with their uniforms you can't rreally tell that they're women. Their civilian female figures aren't what I need, either.

I think I am going to buy a set of Hasagawa's Ma.k "Figure Set A" and replace my 1/35 police guys with two of the male figures from that. At least, that way, the figures will be all the same scale.