The Amazing Miniature World of Satoshi Araki

Remember carefully assembling models? Breaking off the little parts and painstakingly painting and gluing them together? There’s an art to doing it well. Then, there are guys like Satoshi Araki who take it much further, adding decay and the tiniest of details to his dioramas. Tons of Satoshi’s incredible artwork can be seen on his Facebook page, but here are some motorcycle-related samples that we were drawn to and appreciate.

This li’l Honda Cub is 1/35 scale, leaning up against a 1/32 scale Mazda Porter Cab (a circa 1970 vehicle). Using knives and blades to create the peeling paint and rust, Satoshi even achieves ‘scale’ to the models’ aged imperfections.

Above: This scene features a discarded 1/24 scale Rabbit Superflow (circa 1964). The faux weeds and oxidation supplement the forgotten theme as the front fender wastes away.

This image (above) gives you an idea of how Satoshi’s models go from a cleanly assembled piece to a worn result. The 1/24 scale Vespa 125 becomes a tiny tattered character for one of his dioramas.

Another example of before and after, this 1/35 scale Simca 5 automobile goes from a neat little miniature to a junkyard relic.

Satoshi says he loves cats and off-road motorcycles, which explains this particular feline/dualsport scene.

It’d be a treat to visit Satoshi’s studio in Tokyo and peer into his realm of miniatures. In the meantime, we’ll just stare at photos like these (above) to imagine the wonderfully tedious, artistic processes he goes through to achieve his work’s grubby awesomeness.

Here’s a shot pulled from Satoshi Araki’s Facebook page, showing him sitting on a replica of the Kaneda Bike from AKIRA. Sweet!

from goodsparkgarage