Studio Ghibli Mystery Project(s)!

[strobez]

Alright, I made some progress on the painting of my Yak-38 and my F4F-4 Wildcat projects, so I decided I could start on the first of my GB entries.  Instead of just telling you all what I'm up to, I thought it might be fun to leave you guessing and see how long it takes a bright spark to figure out what the project is.  It probably be quickly revealed, but I'll have fun while it lasts.

As always... we start with a box...


Of course the donor kits aren't actually IN the box.  Instead, these two failed attempts at a Spad XIII crawled back out of the spares box.  They might be no good for a Spad XIII, but should be perfect for what I have in mind.


First up, more cutting!


Now then, what can I... ah-ha! A couple of leftover pods from an Airfix Gnat project will do nicely...


Cut to size and glued together. Looks like that's one problem solved.


Opened up the engine cowling and filed down most of the details. Also glued some extra styrene strips to the backing to create the grill that's going behind that newly opened cowling,


Ok. Not a bad start... starting to take shape.  Lots more filing and sanding to come... stay tuned.

[zenrat]

Jet biplane?

[NARSES2]

Jet biplane?

With bi-fubricated pipes ? 

This has me totally intrigued

[strobez]

Ok, so after a bit of sanding, I have to confess the second Spad XIII fuselage was a bit of a false trail. I'm only using one. I glued the modified engine cowling back on, cut up a bit of wing for the cockpit floor, and test fit the pods.


Next up was scratching up the cockpit control panels... lots of tiny adjustments while filing/sanding to get them to fit snugly in there.


Ok, looks good, let's glue the pods on the front now.


Oh my... that's a lot of putty for such a small little machine...

[strobez]

Ok.. so time to get started on the bottom... but where to begin? After scrounging around through the spares box, looking at bits and pieces, I remembered I still had half a kit left over from my Tintin shark project.  Low and behold, the 1/100 Me163B in there was just about perfect.


It's almost exactly the right size!


Of course it requires some surgery. I only need the bottom half.


Ok... that looks like it fits.


Well, almost... I needed to chop the nose off, and take out a chunk near the tail.


Still, all in all, it fits almost perfectly.


Hmmm... I may have spoke too soon.  The front's a bit off. Hard to complain though... what did I expect!? I didn't even have a plan to accomplish this part when I started.


Looks a bit better covered with some styrene.


Yeah, I can live with that.


From the side it looks much better,


Actually, the cockpit looks like the best part so far.


After a bit of filing, to even out the shape I think it's good enough for what I have in mind.  If I was goin to be that picky, I'd just go and but the real 1/20 kit.


Time for lots more putty... which of course means lots more sanding to come!

[CANSO]

Your build reminds me strongly of a Laputa Flaptter in smaller scale.

[strobez]

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

You're correct. I am indeed trying to pull off a Laputa Flapter in (roughly) 1/72 scale. The trickiest part has been the skirt around the bottom edge of the fuselage.  Not sure if I've quite succeeded, but I think it'll capture the essence anyway.

[CANSO]

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
You're correct. I am indeed trying to pull off a Laputa Flapter in (roughly) 1/72 scale. The trickiest part has been the skirt around the bottom edge of the fuselage.  Not sure if I've quite succeeded, but I think it'll capture the essence anyway.

Strobez, I kinda missed your initial question and didn't know that this is the "secret" part of the project.
But since I have the Bandai kit I usually compare all kitbashed flying platforms I see with the flaptter. You must have really good eyes (or good magnifiers ), because even the 1:20 original appears small-ish to me. Not to speek of a 1:72 miniature!
Good luck with the model!

[jalles]

Wow, that's looking awesome.  The skirt around the bottom edge of the fuselage looks great, I think you've captured it well.  Can't wait to see it finished.

[strobez]

Strobez, I kinda missed your initial question and didn't know that this is the "secret" part of the project.
But since I have the Bandai kit I usually compare all kitbashed flying platforms I see with the flaptter. You must have really good eyes (or good magnifiers ), because even the 1:20 original appears small-ish to me. Not to speek of a 1:72 miniature!
Good luck with the model!

Well, it wasn't really a secret... just a mystery. I was just curious if anyone would would be able to figure out what I was attempting. I don't have the kit myself, so I'm just trying to get as close as possible.  I figured a WWI-era plane cockpit would be pretty close to 1/72 Flapter.  I guess I got close enough.

Ayway, a bit more progress...

Drilled some holes for the hand rails and test fit.


Sprue bits cut to size and notched.


Okay, the joints are in place


Added some handrail anchor at the top.


The missile tips should work alright to attach the wings


Couldn't resist test fitting the canopy (another leftover from my Tintin submarine build).

[strobez]

Ok. Back at it after a short family vacation.

First off, added some details to the Laputa Flapter dashboard...



In the meantime, I got started on part "B" of this project.  First up, a pair of random wings I picked up in Tokyo....



Cut them down to size... and scrounged up a tank from an Academy F4U-4 Corsair.



Cut off the ends of the tank and squished it into a more oval shape.  Then I trimmed the wings and added extra tips using some of the cut parts.  I also added the pointy bits off an Academy MiG-21 tail... and voila! Starting to look like something.



Ah putty... and then some!

[strobez]

I scavenged a bomb from the same Tamiya 1/100 Me262 kit I used as the base for my Tintin submarine. Add a bit of squished tubing, cover the fins with a smaller bit of tubing and glue on a tip... and voila, instant engine!


...and voila, instant engine!


Added the handle bars...


...and the weapon holsters...


...and a bit of brass for the runners.


Luckily, the engine fits like a glove.


And you can see it from both directions.

[PR19_Kit]

That's looking awesomely weird. 

[jalles]

Wow, that's looking fantastic!

[zenrat]

Awesome scratching skills mate.