{"id":1657,"date":"2006-05-11T16:58:01","date_gmt":"2006-05-12T00:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2009-02-11T17:00:15","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T01:00:15","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-flaptters-from-laputa-castle-in-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-flaptters-from-laputa-castle-in-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Flaptters from Laputa: Castle in the Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

04.28.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts \/ Intro<\/p>\n

\"\"I
\njust got a few of these from R10 after seeing Laputa on CN
\na few weeks back. Excellent movie and great mechanical designs
\nso I had to get a few. Especially since it’s not an expensive
\nkit. Build-wise this is going to be mostly OOB. My original
\nplan was to try and make the wings flap. However there’s just
\nnot enough room withing for me to do what I need to do to
\nmake it work. Also, the rear wings attachment point is too
\nfar back and the inside wall is too thin an area for any mechanisms.<\/p>\n

Paint-wise, I’ll be using Alclad 2 Copper for
\nthe main color. I might lighten it a bit with some Aluminum
\nor Pale Burnt Metal but we’ll see. I’m also debating on painting
\nthe wings with a pale clear yellow similar to the movie. I’ll
\nalso be weathering it to make it look aged and used. Not sure
\nhow I’ll do this over the bare natural metal finish yet.<\/p>\n

So far I’ve cut out nearly all the parts and
\npre-built the kit. Everything goes together very nicely with
\nno huge gaps. This would be a good time to point out that
\nthis is the reengineered version by Bandai. Their parts-fit
\nis almost always perfect. I’ve made little modifications to
\nthe way parts fit together so that I can slide in the dash
\nand grille after painting everything. The bottom of the craft
\nwill be added last (and is one nice large piece) and painted
\nin a matt reddish brown color. The figures are molded pretty
\nnicely and thankfully molded in plastic and not polycap material.
\nWHEW! Below are some pics of my prebuild:<\/p>\n

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04.30.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Paint and Proportions<\/p>\n

While the Flaptter may look like a cool ride,
\nit also looks to be an uncomfortable one. The Flaptter is
\n1\/20 scale and when you add the figures that came with the
\nkit on it looks fine. However, those are figs of children.
\nI took a 1\/20 MaK SAFS pilot and added him to the back and
\nthat’s where the comfort level begins to drop. See pics below.
\nAside from that I am done with the Flaptter to the point of
\nbeing ready for primer. The figures still need a little bit
\nof work… more specifically the girl needs some putty and
\nsculpting work around where here headband\/hair meets the rest
\nof her head.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Paint-wise I’ve decided that pure Alclad 2 copper
\nis going to look too bright and orange. This is based on looking
\nat my bottles of Tamiya copper and bronze. The bronze looks
\nlike a better color, but Alclad 2 doesn’t make bronze. Damn.
\nSo I busted out my Tamiya metallics that are similar in color
\nto my Alclads to get a good shade. Below are the results of
\nmy tests on the bottom of an applesause cup. All colors below
\nare Tamiya Acrylics and amounts are approximate. Titanium
\ngold is very similar to my Pale Burnt Metal Alclad and Gloss
\nblack will be substituted for Alclad 2 Gloss Black in my final
\nmix.<\/p>\n

A: Copper 4 parts + Gloss Black 1 part + Titanium
\nGold 2 parts (best mix)<\/p>\n

B: Copper 4 parts + Gloss Black 3 parts + Titanium Gold 2
\nparts (too dark)<\/p>\n

C: Copper 1 part + Titanium Gold 1 part (too light)<\/p>\n

D: Copper 3 parts + Titanium Gold 1 part (too bright)<\/p>\n

E: Copper 4 parts + Gloss Black 5-7 parts + Titanium Gold
\n2 parts (way too dark)<\/p>\n

F: Titanium Gold Pure<\/p>\n

G: Copper Pure<\/p>\n

H: Gloss Black (pure) and old white glue<\/p>\n

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05.03.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Horse Cart<\/p>\n

One image in the instructions shows a Flaptter
\non a horse-drawn cart as pictured in the Laputa Artbook. I
\ndecided to try this for my second Flaptter. Oh yeah, I’m building
\n2 now… both are primed and painting has begun. Anyway, the
\ncart fits a Flaptter snuggly and is made from bamboo skewers,
\nbalsa, and popscicle sticks. Also used is misc plastic and
\noption parts. It’s held together with 5 minute epoxy. The
\nwheels are made from styrene tube, 2″ PVC slices, bamboo
\nskewers, and thin styrene for the metal rims. Here’s some
\npics:<\/p>\n

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Primed:<\/p>\n

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05.05.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Painted and a little
\nweathered<\/p>\n

After priming the cart with dark gray primer,
\nI drybrushed it first with a sandy-gray, then with white to
\ngive a whitewash look. I left the bed of the cart un-whitewashed
\nto simulate that the paint was worn off from years of use.
\nAfter that dried I gave it a wash of brown. Rust was done
\nwith MIG Pigments.<\/p>\n

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05.06.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Copper!<\/p>\n

It turns out that Alclad copper is darker than
\nthe Tamiya copper. This is great since I didn’t have to mix
\nany other colors into the copper to get the shade I wanted.
\nI sprayed the parts in the Alclad copper first. Then as a
\nweathering step I mixed a bit of steel into the copper and
\nsprayed it as a postshade for a tarnished copper look. I sprayed
\nthis mostly around the vents, but also a little around the
\npanel lines. Then I used silver and copper Rub and Buff and
\nblue oil paint to do more tarnished copper around the vents.
\nPic:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

05.10.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Done Painting<\/p>\n

Painting is done… at least for the Flaptters…
\nthe figures still need painted. Below you can see the pics
\nof the final paint. Next is some minor weathering with MIG
\nPigments for streaks and such.<\/p>\n

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05.11.2006 \u00c2\u00bb Done Weathering<\/p>\n

Here’s some pics of the flaptters with weathering.
\nVarious shades of MIG Pigments were used to streak stains
\nonto the surfaces.<\/p>\n

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