Unreal Miniature Dioramas of Batmobile, Urban Decay

Craft & Design

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

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March 2nd, 2015September 7th, 2015 2

The scale models and dioramas of Tokyo-based artist Satoshi Araki are so incredibly life-like, you almost need his Gulliver-sized hand in the frame to reveal the truth behind these Lilliputian worlds. Amazingly, he uses a lot of Styrofoam to build the basic structures for his often-dark, often urban-themed dioramas, along with model kits, kit-bashed parts, and other miscellaneous bits. I’ve been dabbling in miniatures and model painting for most of life and know enough to appreciate just how difficult it is to achieve this degree of realism. This guy’s weathering/rust effects alone are an art form.

You can see more of Satoshi Araki’s work on his (Japanese-only) blog. Thanks to Alberto Gaitán for introducing us to Satoshi’s work.