Bandai 1/20 Flaptter from Castle in the Sky

[JKim]

Thanks for the comments guys! The flaptter kit is falling together nicely. The cockpit was painted in different shades of brown. I added a few wires on the floorboards.

Being a snap-together kit, pre-fitting is a bit problematic since fit is so tight. Thankfully, fit is not only tight but accurate as well. Here is the cockpit pieces assembled and inserted into the main body of the Flaptter.

The Flaptter body is pretty simple and is comprised of three main parts (two sides and the bottom) plus a few bits and pieces for detail.

I elected to fair in the two "bumpers" with Mr Surfacer 500.

The Flaptter was preshaded in black...

The upper surfaces are copper while the bottom was done in a home-mixed rusty red finish.

 

[JKim]

Just about finished here! Added the rails and the wing housings to the body.

The wings were outlined lightly in clear yellow and given white tips. The wings snap into the wing housings using a ball/socket arrangement and should be pose-able.

I think that about does it for the Flaptter!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Dam dude, NICE!

 

[Bustedwing]

That looks DEADLY !! Nice paint work !

 

[SANCER]

WOW!!

Muy bello colorido!!

Cheers

LC

 

[klugi]

Very impressive, great job on the metallic paint.

 

[fubar57]

Very, very nice! Love the paint job.

Geo

 

[JKim]

Thanks so much for the kind words! The figure painting was a fun diversion from what I normally do and the kit itself was a fairly simple and quick build. Now I have to hide it for a month since my daughter's birthday is not until March.

Here are some more pictures of the Flaptter. You can't really see it in the photos but the base has been painted Alclad Steel which is a very dark metallic grey with the lettering handpainted in Silver.

 

[SANCER]

It will be a pleasant surprise and a lovely gift for your daughter.
Very well done !!

Felicidades a ambos!!

 

[Lucky13]

Awesome!

 

[JKim]

That was a short and fun build! Anyone interested in seeing a Gunship from "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind"? I've got a kit of this too...

 

[rochie]

First one was fantastic so yes do it !

 

[Wurger]

Smashing...

 

[Shinpachi]

Good choice and work, JKim
As you may know, Miyazaki planes are said all actually flyable.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqPi_n5ru34

 

[Urso11]

Hi there, I'm very new in this and bought this for my first in my recent visit to Japan. Was struggling to find a guide online in English and finally found this! Thank you so much but I have some questions.

After buying this I went to myself, wow this isn't the best to start with for a beginner.

I'm embarrassed to ask but I'll do anyway .

1. Do you need glue to assemble them together? It looks like a snap on but I saw you did cement something together in the first page.
2. What kind of brush did you use? Pictures for comparisons please?
3. How many days did it take you to do this?
4. Any glosses?

You did such a great job up to the fine details of the wings. I hope I'll have your patience!!

Hope to see your reply soon! JKim!!

 

[JKim]

Hi there, I'm very new in this and bought this for my first in my recent visit to Japan. Was struggling to find a guide online in English and finally found this! Thank you so much but I have some questions.

After buying this I went to myself, wow this isn't the best to start with for a beginner.

I'm embarrassed to ask but I'll do anyway .

1. Do you need glue to assemble them together? It looks like a snap on but I saw you did cement something together in the first page.
2. What kind of brush did you use? Pictures for comparisons please?
3. How many days did it take you to do this?
4. Any glosses?

You did such a great job up to the fine details of the wings. I hope I'll have your patience!!

Hope to see your reply soon! JKim!!

Hi Urso! I'm glad you found my build report useful. This was finished a while ago but hopefully I can answer the questions you posted.

1. You do not need glue. It is designed to be a snap together kit but I wanted to build it the same way that I build my WWII subjects so I used glue to get a good union between parts and then finished the seams with putty and sanding as necessary.

2. I'm not very good with a paint brush so I used an airbrush to paint this kit. I believe I used a Paasche Model V but I have since changed to an Iwata HP-C Plus.

3. Based on the post dates, it looks like this build took me a little less than two weeks. Mostly a few hours each day after work and maybe some more time on the weekends. It's a fairly simple kit so it shouldn't take too long.

4. I don't think I used any gloss coat. I primarily use a gloss coat as a base for decals but this kit didn't have any.

This is a very fun and well-designed kit produced by Bandai. I'm sure you will enjoy building it. I also did the Nausicaa Gunship, which is also reported somewhere on this board. Let me know if you have any other questions!