Ghibli: Howl's Moving Castle (Aero-Kayak)

Greg Baker Szerző
The Mehve and Flapter have been revealed, but can you guess where this one's going?

Choppa Nutta
Nope, not even slightly but you have piqued my curiosity 😄

Greg Baker Szerző
I realized, after some discussion with Coppa Nutta on some other albums, what was bugging me about this build was that it too (because of a reference domino effect) was out of scale. So I tore it down and basically started over.

Choppa Nutta
worth it though, you do want this collection to sit well with each other 🙂

Greg Baker Szerző
Yes indeed. Have you figured this one out yet?

trl
That's going to be Aero Kayak from "Howl's Moving Castle".

Greg Baker Szerző
Yay! That's correct!

Greg Baker Szerző
After a long bout of PSR, this project is now back on track. I'm still having trouble getting a smooth finish over tamiaya putty. No matter how much I sand, it seems the divests and dents never quite disappear. Am I missing a trick her? Or is it just I,possible to sand putty 100% smooth?

Choppa Nutta
I use super glue smeared over the area, stiffens it up and fills the gaps etc. 🙂

Greg Baker Szerző
I've never tried that. Can you sand it cleanly to a smooth shine?

Choppa Nutta
yep

Greg Baker Szerző
Ok... stay tuned.😉

Greg Baker Szerző
I didn't try the CA glue trick yet, because I decided to add some styrene strips and sand down one side so they act as panel lines. I also got started on building the wings using a bit of brass. Next up is the tail, and then the cockpit. I realized there was still too much body work to be done to start worrying about a final finish. Adding putty for the panel lines alone would've ruined it.

Choppa Nutta
coming along sweetly 😄

Greg Baker Szerző
Alright. The paint is on and this one is done, but for a final clear coat. Since I'm redoing the Mehve from Nausicaa, I gave the stand I build for it the first time over to the Laputa Flapter. It seemed a better fit, so I was able to just repurpose the original Flapter stand for the Aero-Kayak with very little modification. I basically just snapped the end off and touched up the paint.

Despite the u-turn for a scale adjustment in the middle of this build, I'm quite happy with the result. The paint was a bit darker than I was aiming for, but not enough for me to want to redo it (no matter WHAT Choppa points out!). I also might have toned down the rivets, but once you start putting them at 1mm intervals, you're pretty much committed.

Choppa Nutta
Looks good mate,
Btw, I hope haven't given you nightmares 😄

John Thomas
Greg, more great work