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

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

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

Greg Baker
Yay! That's correct!

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

Choppa Nutta
yep

Greg Baker
Ok... stay tuned.😉

Greg Baker
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
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