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I've been putting this one off for a while now........partly because I dont want to mess this one up and partly because I absolutely love Studio Ghibli, with Porco Rosso being one of my favorite movies to come from the imagination of Hayao Miyazaki. Porco Rosso tells the story of a WW1 fighter Ace Marco Pagot (or Rossolini in the English dubbed version) who is cursed after refusing to fly for the Italian Airforce due to the fascist regime that takes over during the 1920/30's. Proco seeks to make a living as a bounty hunter over the Adriatic Sea hunting Air Pirates until he comes up against the American pilot - Curtis, who appears to be based on the American Aviator Glen Curtis. I believe it is still available to watch on Nextflix and I cannot recommend this movie enough...... So, on with the kit from Fine Moulds. This will be the earlier 2004 kit with the later release being the Savioa S.21F (the F being that it has a flying display mount) This one stunningly well made kit, and designed to be made with out the need to paint with some very thoughtful injection moulding. The polymer is super smooth and shiny so will need to be lightly abraded for the paint to adhere to. The engine is the same that you see in the movie with a nice easter egg included (the engine is called Ghibli whist translated is the Libyan-Arabic name for Hot Desert Wind) The tan coloured sprues are ment for the underside of the aircraft and the winpontoons as well as the interior structure You have 2 choices for Porco, one as the pilot or standing next to his Savioa...both are superbly detailed The instructions are all in Japanese but look to be easily followed. A little history on the flying boat, it would be nice to see if there are translated versions of these instructions, as I feel Fine Molds have put some serious thought into this kit. In preparation for this, and earlier this year Scale model Aircaft did feature a build of this very kit, so some great reference material I also have a copy of the Art of Porco Rosso too for some great screen shot and reference material too. A little more detail on the fictitious Savioa S-21 Flying Boat Hiyao Miyazaki is known for having a huge passion for aviation and flying, just one more aspect of Ghibli's movies that I love. And if it wasn't enough......Porco forms a part of an incomplete Ghibli tattoo on my right leg. This picture was taken a few years back just after it was completed. As with any new build 50% of the prep time is selecting the right paints to which I will be visiting eModels on Saturday to pick up some more rattle cans etc for this build. This is going to be a labor of love for me, so I hope that you will enjoy and tag along with me.....