Pikmin Fan Creates Incredible Real-Life Model of Hocotate Ship From Pikmin 2

Highlights

A passionate Pikmin fan recreated the Hocotate ship from Pikmin 2 out of clay, capturing nostalgic fans’ attention.
The clay model of the Hocotate ship features impressive detail, including two cockpits and thrusters, with a metallic-like finish and rusted areas on the hull.
The creator, Sculpted Nostalgia, has made other impressive Nintendo-themed models, such as King Boo, Kyogre, and Gooper Blooper, and has a YouTube channel showcasing their work.

A passionate Pikmin fan has recreated the Hocotate ship from Pikmin 2, creating the detailed model out of clay. This latest fan creation has caught the attention of nostalgic fans and comes on the heels of the successful launch of Pikmin 4 in July.

While much of the focus might be on Pikmin 4, which won Best SIM/Strategy game at The Game Awards 2023, many fans are still fond of the first two journeys of Olimar on the GameCube. Both games, released in 2001 and 2004, saw Olimar crash land on PNF-404, albeit in different spaceships. The first time around, it was the S.S. Dolphin, while he returned to the planet in an older ship from the Hocotate Freight company in Pikmin 2. Recently, a gamer paid homage to the second game in the series by creating an impressive piece of fan art based on this interplanetary vessel.

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In a YouTube video, a Pikmin fan known as Sculpted Nostalgia shared a picture of their incredible model of the Hocotate ship from Pikmin 2. The replica of the craft featured an immense amount of detail, such as its two cockpits, research pod, and thrusters. While the creation was molded out of clay, the creator managed to make it look almost metallic, even replicating the areas of rust that had developed on the dilapidated ship’s hull.

In addition to showcasing the final design, Sculpted Nostalgia gave a deep dive into the creation process in their YouTube video. The over 11-minute-long video began by revealing the artist making a rough shape similar to the Hocotate ship out of aluminum foil. Following that, they added and shaped various layers of clay to form the proportions of the craft. Several coats of paint were then applied to the design, adding the iconic pink coloration to the vessel. To finish the look, the player added clear domes to make transparent cockpits for Louie and Olimar.

While this Hocotate ship is stunning, it is not the only Nintendo-themed artwork Sculpted Nostalgia has made over the years. The artist has previously shared other incredible models on their YouTube channel, including real-life recreations of King Boo from Luigi’s Mansion 3, Kyogre from Pokemon, and Gooper Blooper from Super Mario Sunshine. They even created a diorama featuring Master Hand and Crazy Hand from the Super Smash Bros. series.

As this most recent fan art of the Hocotate ship from Sculpted Nostalgia suggests, some fans are still nostalgic for the classic Pikmin installments from the GameCube days. Fortunately, Nintendo has made it easier to play these classic titles, as the company has released Switch versions of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2. Based on the current uptick in the series’ popularity, it is possible that gamers will be able to take part in more adventures featuring Pikmin in the future. Hopefully, the wait for more games in the franchise will not be as long as the previous one for Pikmin 4.