Ghibli: Laputa - Castle in the Sky (Flapter)
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/7/3/4/360734-26441-79-720.jpg)
Here's the box from the donor kit... an Academy Spad XIII
![Album image #2 Album image #2](/albums/img/7/2/9/360729-26441-57-720.jpg)
The kit itself comes from a couple of failed attempts at the Spad XIII. Already partially chopped up!
![Album image #3 Album image #3](/albums/img/7/3/0/360730-26441-20-720.jpg)
Lets's cut some more!
![Album image #4 Album image #4](/albums/img/7/3/1/360731-26441-84-720.jpg)
These pods from an Airfix Gnat will do nicely...
![Album image #5 Album image #5](/albums/img/7/3/2/360732-26441-57-720.jpg)
Pods cut to size and glued together.
![Album image #6 Album image #6](/albums/img/7/3/3/360733-26441-97-720.jpg)
Ok. The engine cowl has been filed down and opened up. I also glued some extra strips to a bit of styrene.
![Album image #7 Album image #7](/albums/img/1/2/8/361128-26441-42-720.jpg)
Some sanding done to check the basic outline... looks okay.
![Album image #8 Album image #8](/albums/img/1/2/9/361129-26441-90-720.jpg)
A bit more sanding and the front pods are glued on. Started on the cockpit.
![Album image #9 Album image #9](/albums/img/1/3/1/361131-26441-58-720.jpg)
Cockpit taking shape. A bit of wing for the floor and some scratch built instrument panels.
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/1/3/0/361130-26441-83-720.jpg)
And now for the putty... lots of putty.
![Album image #11 Album image #11](/albums/img/4/4/7/361447-26441-10-720.jpg)
I only used half this kit for my Tintin sub project... hmmm...
![Album image #12 Album image #12](/albums/img/4/4/6/361446-26441-54-720.jpg)
Bingo! I can use this for the underside!
![Album image #13 Album image #13](/albums/img/4/4/8/361448-26441-35-720.jpg)
First, a bit of surgery...
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/4/4/9/361449-26441-36-720.jpg)
Yeah... not quite 100% perfect... but you can't be too choosey in a kit-bash, right?
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/4/5/0/361450-26441-22-720.jpg)
From the side it looks good.
![Album image #16 Album image #16](/albums/img/4/5/1/361451-26441-82-720.jpg)
The bottom looks good too...
![Album image #17 Album image #17](/albums/img/4/5/2/361452-26441-70-720.jpg)
Hmmm... the front's not quite right, but there's not much I can do about that.
![Album image #18 Album image #18](/albums/img/4/5/3/361453-26441-43-720.jpg)
Covered the gaps with some styrene.
![Album image #19 Album image #19](/albums/img/4/5/4/361454-26441-14-720.jpg)
Ok... I can live with that.
![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/4/5/5/361455-26441-36-720.jpg)
The side still looks okay.
![Album image #21 Album image #21](/albums/img/4/5/6/361456-26441-26-720.jpg)
A bit of filing to shape, and it looks okay.
![Album image #22 Album image #22](/albums/img/4/5/7/361457-26441-45-720.jpg)
The cockpit is looking pretty good.
![Album image #23 Album image #23](/albums/img/4/5/8/361458-26441-97-720.jpg)
Alright then... let's dive back into the putty!
![Album image #24 Album image #24](/albums/img/8/6/2/361862-26441-21-720.jpg)
Drilled some holes for the hand rails and test fit.
![Album image #25 Album image #25](/albums/img/8/5/9/361859-26441-31-720.jpg)
Okay. Now to get started on the wings... using a bit of sprue and some 1/144 missiles.
![Album image #26 Album image #26](/albums/img/8/6/0/361860-26441-20-720.jpg)
Sprue cut to size and notched.
![Album image #27 Album image #27](/albums/img/8/6/1/361861-26441-81-720.jpg)
Okay, the joints are in place.
![Album image #28 Album image #28](/albums/img/8/6/3/361863-26441-82-720.jpg)
Added some handrail anchor at the top.
![Album image #29 Album image #29](/albums/img/8/6/4/361864-26441-56-720.jpg)
The missile tips should work alright to attach the wings.
![Album image #30 Album image #30](/albums/img/8/6/5/361865-26441-23-720.jpg)
Couldn't resist test fitting the canopy (another leftover from my Tintin submarine build).
![Album image #31 Album image #31](/albums/img/2/0/7/364207-26441-56-720.jpg)
Ok. Added a bit of detail to the cockpit.
![Album image #32 Album image #32](/albums/img/0/2/9/365029-26441-81-720.jpg)
The panel lines needed a "do-over", so I'm attempting some repairs.
![Album image #33 Album image #33](/albums/img/7/3/7/368737-26441-87-720.jpg)
![Album image #34 Album image #34](/albums/img/7/3/8/368738-26441-72-720.jpg)
![Album image #35 Album image #35](/albums/img/7/3/9/368739-26441-33-720.jpg)
![Album image #36 Album image #36](/albums/img/7/4/0/368740-26441-37-720.jpg)
![Album image #37 Album image #37](/albums/img/7/4/1/368741-26441-16-720.jpg)
![Album image #38 Album image #38](/albums/img/9/4/5/368945-26441-54-720.jpg)
![Album image #39 Album image #39](/albums/img/9/4/6/368946-26441-58-720.jpg)
![Album image #40 Album image #40](/albums/img/9/4/7/368947-26441-52-720.jpg)
![Album image #41 Album image #41](/albums/img/9/4/8/368948-26441-36-720.jpg)
![Album image #42 Album image #42](/albums/img/9/4/9/368949-26441-62-720.jpg)
![Album image #43 Album image #43](/albums/img/9/5/0/368950-26441-63-720.jpg)
![Album image #44 Album image #44](/albums/img/9/5/1/368951-26441-20-720.jpg)
![Album image #45 Album image #45](/albums/img/9/5/2/368952-26441-49-720.jpg)
![Album image #46 Album image #46](/albums/img/9/5/3/368953-26441-15-720.jpg)
![Album image #47 Album image #47](/albums/img/2/2/0/397220-26441-30-720.jpg)
![Album image #48 Album image #48](/albums/img/2/2/1/397221-26441-83-720.jpg)
![Album image #49 Album image #49](/albums/img/2/2/2/397222-26441-26-720.jpg)
![Album image #50 Album image #50](/albums/img/2/2/3/397223-26441-79-720.jpg)
![Album image #51 Album image #51](/albums/img/2/2/4/397224-26441-77-720.jpg)
![Album image #52 Album image #52](/albums/img/2/2/5/397225-26441-73-720.jpg)
![Album image #53 Album image #53](/albums/img/2/2/6/397226-26441-85-720.jpg)
![Album image #54 Album image #54](/albums/img/2/2/7/397227-26441-30-720.jpg)
Comentarii
8 July 2017, 15:32
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Well, it's not Tintin... but it's a similar kitbash to create a sci-if machine..😉
9 July 2017, 14:52
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Added a few more images after some sanding and scratch building was complete. I confess, the second Spad XIII fuselage was a false trail to throw you off the scent. It's starting to take shape now though... I think it should be almost recognizable to those who've seen it before.😉
10 July 2017, 15:23
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
I'm still thinking on how best to adapt/fabricate the underside though. That might be tricky.
10 July 2017, 23:12
![](/profiles/img/11091-s.jpg)
I worry for your sanity! I will watch until the guys with the white coats take you away 🙂
10 July 2017, 23:32
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Yeah, I'm worried a bit already. After a bit of scrounging, I decided to use the Me163B that was part of the kit I used on my Tintin shark submarine as the donor for the base. Not a 100% perfect fit... but about as close as I can expect. Lots more glueing, filing and putty... but the basic shape is more or less complete. New pics added.
11 July 2017, 15:08
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
New pics added. If you don't know what this is by now..l then you don't know what it is.😉
13 July 2017, 16:37
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Gah! Trying to scribe panel lines and add rivets and I punched through a soft patch of putty. Looks like some repairs are needed.
23 July 2017, 00:05
![](/profiles/img/15629-913-s.jpg)
I recognise it, it's the ornithopter charriot the "pirates" use in Castle in the Sky
though to be fair I needed to remind myself which film it was 🙂
At first I was thinking "maybe the Gunship from Nausicaa ?"
Great work again Greg !! 🙂
[img1]
23 July 2017, 10:30
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Yes indeed! It's the Flapter from Laputa Castle In The Sky. I kept looking at a cut up bit of a Spad XIII and couldn't help but notice how similar it looked. At first I was just going to do an approximation of it... but after I started, I tried to make it as close as possible. It's not quite right, but about as close as you're (well, I'm) going to get from a scratch build.
24 July 2017, 04:49
![](/profiles/img/15629-913-s.jpg)
I think your use of shapes and the way you've combined them is really clever 🙂
24 July 2017, 06:08
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Thanks! It's not easy to just scrounge areound, but you usually dine something to do the trick!
24 July 2017, 17:00
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
There we go... more or less finished. I just need to make a few little touch ups here and there, but the Flapter is basically done. Fun stuff!
3 August 2017, 17:00
![](/profiles/img/15629-913-s.jpg)
Love it !!
inspired to create something like this too, maybe the gunship from Nausicaa ? 🙂
3 August 2017, 17:16
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Thanks for the comments guys! It was a fun little project. If I had a "do-over" I might have done it a bit differently (or at least the "right" way the first time), but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the result considering it was scratched together from an already cut up bit of a Spad XIII fuselage and the underside of a "useless" 1/100 Me163B kit that was just an extra part of a kit I'd already used on another project. I'm going to finish up the stand and I think I might give the wings a coat of the Tamiya "smoke" clear acrylic so that they don't disappear quite so completely.
4 August 2017, 05:19
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Choppa Nutta - There's already a 1/72 Bandai kit for the Nausicaa gunship, so that would just be a glutton for punishment in my opinion. That being said though, the Pejite gunship that Asbel flies... now THAT has some promise. There are some useful drawings available online to help you get started...
4 August 2017, 05:22
![](/profiles/img/15629-913-s.jpg)
ah so, didn't know that Greg 🙂
but I like a challenge plus I'd prefer it in a larger scale 😄
and yes, Asbel of Pejite's gunship is also very cool too as are the Corvettes, the Dorok cargo ships and the cute flying cauldrons too, in fact pretty much all of the designs in Nausicaa are amazing 🙂
4 August 2017, 09:06
![](/profiles/img/15629-913-s.jpg)
Hey Greg, look what I found 😄
very tempted !! 😄
scalemates.com/kits/1005767-..08-1200-moewe-with-nausicaae
4 August 2017, 10:44
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Yeah, me too. I used that kit as a reference. I prefer 1/72 scale generally, but that one and the similar 1/20 Flapter from Laputa tempt me a great deal. There are also Laputa robot kits, a couple other Nausicaa kits, a Tiger Moth... lots of temptation.
4 August 2017, 23:44
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Is it bad that I picked up a 1/72 Sturmtiger Assault Mortar kit yesterday because I thought "geez, that looks like the one from Nausicaa...". Uh, oh.😉
10 August 2017, 00:30
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Heh! Thanks Antonio. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out actually. The only thing I'd have done different would have been to trim back the length of the fuselage. It's just a tiny bit too long. Oh, well...
22 August 2017, 15:00
![](/profiles/img/26441-134-s.jpg)
Thanks John! That's means a lot coming from a scratch builder like you!
23 August 2017, 16:15
![](/profiles/img/13680-285-s.jpg)
Greg, your scratch building skills have serviced you well. I don't know much about your little Ghibli projects but from what I have seen they are really fantastic. Looking forward to future projects
23 August 2017, 17:55
![](/profiles/img/15629-913-s.jpg)
The Flapter body would be good as a quad copter you ride like a chariot
you could even make the blade protectors look like insect wings 🙂
23 August 2017, 18:06
Album info
A little kit-bashed scratch-build of the "Flapter" used by the Dora gang of pirates in Laputa: Castle in the Sky. I had a sliced up bit of a failed Academy 1/72 Spad XIII lying about in my spare "odds and ends" box and it struck me how much it looked like a Laputa Flapter. Add the bottom from a 1/100 Me162 Komet (Tamiya) and a lot of sanding, and voila!