Snail's pace on the wing trailing edge parts I'm afraid.  I did get the replacement port outboard flap built over the weekend.

So this is how I made the other flaps and the patch.  First, a profile is cut from 0.040 sheet of the piece needed.  Then the leading and side edges are boxed in.  At this point, only the leading edge needs to be the correct height and taper.

https://flic.kr/p/253vwZp][/url]Bakagalas-61 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Next the end pieces are roughly trimmed and then refined to match the airfoil sections of the adjacent pieces.

https://flic.kr/p/253vwPz][/url]Bakagalas-62 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

0.040" intermediate ribs are added to help support the sheeting which will follow.  Again, only the leading edges need to be the correct height.  After the glue dries they are sanded to the correct profile.

https://flic.kr/p/GKLRex][/url]Bakagalas-63 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr)

0.030 sheet is then cut to shape, bent up a bit to help conform to the curvature, then glued down.

https://flic.kr/p/26m4CXu][/url]Bakagalas-64 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The last 0.2" of the trailing edge is left uncovered.  It will be filled in with strip glued down flat to the profile to assure a solid surface which can then be savagely sanded down without risk of sand-through.

https://flic.kr/p/Jhb7y7][/url]Bakagalas-65 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Armornut, I think you have creativity mixed up with being error-prone!  I do this stuff because I keep making mistakes and end up having to fix them.  Like Russian ejector seat manufacturers, I get good at it only because I have to do it a lot!  

Gamera, yeah I'm getting impatient to get the wings done and to move the build forward.  I'm getting tired of sanding ribs and bending/gluing plastic sheet and strips.

https://flic.kr/p/26dKdzQ][/url]Bakagalas-57 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/26dKdqw][/url]Bakagalas-58 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/J9GAJo][/url]Bakagalas-59 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I did skin the outer wing patch last night.  My thumb crushed a section of wing while I was trying to force the twist out, so it got a sheet plastic patch with risers sanded down to set the patch at the same level as the balsa wood substrate.  The "X" is just a reminder that the flap needs to be replaced, and to make sure I don't trash its still good counterpart on the starboard side.  I've done that before - as I mentioned I am error prone!

Tonight I will fill in the trailing edge and start planking the starboard inner flap (that's the curvy one).

Yeah, seems like sometimes it's not as much building as rebuilding stuff. Still you're making great progress. 

  Why oh why can't I be that creative....oh well I really enjoy checking in on this build G, don't rush but I'm looking forward to completion. Keep up the great work sir.

Wing repairs are commencing.  I cut a patch from 0.030" styrene sheet and added tabs along the front and side edges to engage the remaining portion of the original ABS sheet still inside the wing.  Some 0.040" styrene ribs have been glued in place and will be sanded to final shape.

Bakagalas-52 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/GBFygx][/url]Bakagalas-54 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/24UFKUv][/url]Bakagalas-55 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Now that the wing trailing edge is corrected, the outboard flap is out of alignment so a new one must be fabricated.  Will this never end?

Thanks for looking in Lostagain, or shall I call you Eye-Gor?    

Watching Nausicaa for the first time was a real eye-opener for me.  I immediately fell in love with the world that Miyazaki created, and wanted some models really bad!  The Bakagalas was started around 30 years ago with no overall game plan, and it proved to be too much, too soon.

I blame Star Wars (1977, the one and only) for this modeling affliction.  After coming home from the theater on that fateful afternoon in May of 1977, I dug out my box of broken models and tried to build the Falcon and Y-Wing.  Nothing came of either, but it planted the seed of madness that grew into a big, ugly Crazy Tree that thrives to this day!  A strong desire to have models that were unavailable as kits provided the impetus to try new techniques and materials (or was it the smell of rotting Crazy-Fruit on the ground?).  I did scratchbuild some mini Star Wars models, like a Star Destroyer, Falcon, AT-AT, Y-Wing, X-Wings, Snowspeeders, and even a Yoda from Squadron putty and sheet plastic.  I gave most of them away, but this was in the 1980s before digital photography, so no records survive.  I found the Star Destoyer recently, and it is TERRIBLE compared to Bandai's excellent mini Kit.

Then "real robot" anime came along and now it was mecha that I wanted to have.  I built some mini Macross mechs (Spartan, Glaug, and VF-1A Battroid) to use in the Fasa board game "Battledroids", yes Battledroids - take that Lucas! But the only large anime project that was completed was an A.D. Police helicopter from "Bubblegum Crisis".  That turned out to be a decades long build like the Bakagalas for the same reasons.  And that is my modeling saga to date.  I apologize for rambling! 

So anyway, last night I noticed the port wing trailing edge was warped, so it was cut away, revealing embarrassing construction techniques.  It looks like the warp was a result of bad construction, not 25 years of storage.  I'll use the same method of building the flaps to patch the wing.  Photos will follow later as I still cannot figure how to post pics from my phone.

As Ozzy Osbourne sang "All aboard-ha-ha-ha!"

Hooley Dooley Real G!!

Just got on the crazy bus, loving where you have been in your long trip.

Loved Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, made the Bandai Gunship a few years back for the Hollywood GB, but your scratchbuild work here is monumental. The Bakagalas was one of my favourite from the movie and the manga comic.

The profiling work on those flaps was a great lesson in technique, and watching the development and set up of the flaps was great. I will keep watching this with interest.

Oh wow, still coming along great! Looking forward to more updates. 

Ha ha Rinny, you are too kind! The recessed rivets were made using a compass point and done by eye (when I had 20/20 vision).  If you look closely, you will see that they are most certainly not even nor straight!  OK my cover is blown, I admit it!    There was very little aftermarket in the 1980s, so most things were DIY.

This project is a labor of love, which is why I have pulled it off the Shelf of Doom and set my mind to completing it.  I learn lots of new things when working on a project such as this (translation: I make stuff up as I go along), and so the knowlege gained is put to good use on future builds.  From the Shelf of Doom.  But this is the  biggest SoD project I have.  Honest.  

Btw...totally blown away and overwhelmed by the coolness of this project and level of skill. I saw you used the Archer rivets, but I thought the recessed ones looked amazing already. I understand the concept behind the Archer rivets, but would love to know more about how you create a such a wonderfully perfect recessed rivets.

Real G

Oh Peter Pan, yousa breenga thats lousy Jarjar!  He no welcome here! 

Not having much bench time, but I have been working on the fin assemblies.  One support strut has been fitted with base plates.  Things have gone better than I was expecting, as fitting the struts to the curved fuselage was not too diffcult.

https://flic.kr/p/ELm1de][/url]Bakagalas-11 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/24nkCeJ][/url]Bakagalas-12 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

But I realized the fins needed to have their rudders fitted to ensure proper fit into the jig assembly, so some sheet plastic was stacked and glued together.  The inner two sheets' mating surfaces were colored with pencil lead to provide a centerline reference during the shaping process.  I have used permanent marker for this previously, but it gets messy with the liquid glue.

https://flic.kr/p/23sWNxQ][/url]Bakagalas-13 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/23sWNom][/url]Bakagalas-14 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/24tNjFh][/url]Bakagalas-15 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The plan is to finish the fins as close to 100% as possible to get a morale boost.  Then the wings will be tackled, followed by the landing gear sponsons.  By that time I should be in the swing to make the faceted canopy and all the little bits like the gun ports.

The glue is drying while I am at work today.  Can't wait to get home and crack on with sanding the rudders!

 

 

Total noob question, so I hope you'll have some grace with me, but as a budding scratch builder, I'd love to understand. How did you accomplish such wonderful rivets???

Thanks Armornut!  I sheeted the outboard flaps last night, so I will start planking the inboards tonight.  I am aiming to complete the wing (flying surfaces, wing tips, skin sheeting) before the end of the month.

Keep it up Real G, seeing the drawings gives me a better perspective of what your going for. Man that is COOL.

I have not been able to work on anything the past week or so, but I did get in some bench time last night.  The port inboard flap has been planked and rough sanded, and the resulting gullwing contours are pleasing.

https://flic.kr/p/HTfRmm][/url]Bakagalas-46 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The starboard flaps finally got their formers and were rough sanded.  A little more refinement to their contours, then planking will follow.  It's happening a little faster compared to the port side, because now I know how to tackle the task.

https://flic.kr/p/2621LCi][/url]Bakagalas-48 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The Eduard 1/72 Ju-88 resin wheels I mentioned earlier were checked against the drawings I made, and they are an exact match in size!  No skill or foresight involved here though, just dumb luck.

https://flic.kr/p/24Eqpip][/url]Bakagalas-49 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I wanted to have some larger wheels mixed in, as the landing gear sponsons are bigger in the middle.  So 1/48 Eduard resin Bf-110 wheels will be used.  Luckily, the wheels have similar tire and hub styles so they match nicely.  Again, dumb luck that it worked out.  Gotta love German WW II balloon tires!

https://flic.kr/p/24EqoY6][/url]Bakagalas-50 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Anyway, I'm getting tired of all this flappery, so I hope to get them done quickly and move on to the ailerons and wingtips.  These will be easy compared to those wavy inboard flaps!  Oh yeah, I still have to vacform the exterior skins for the flaps.

Thanks for looking in Robert!  Yeah those bug wings are still a "thought in progress".  The bug models for sale at the Ghibli Museum had wings that seemed real, but I could not figure out where they could source such large wings.  If they were real, the donor insect must have been scary huge!

Good lordy, it's almost Friday already. I'd better get back to work!

Real G, fantastic work!  I just found this thread and read through, thank you so much for sharing the pix of this project.  You are doing the Miyazaki designs proud.  Truly, it is a mystery that models based on his movies aren't more prolific...

One thought (reading about the 'thopter wings') is that they could be drawn as a grahic on the computer, then printed on transparency film in a laser jet printer, braced with thin wire if necessary.  I seem to recall them being flat... I use the open-source office suite OpenOffice.org, 'Draw' tool to create vector-based graphics which can be sized with no loss of fidelity.

I look forward to further developments!

Regards, Robert

Nino - No problemo!  The Bakagalas is from the Miyazaki film "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind" (Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa).  Do NOT watch "Warriors of the Wind", as it is a lobotomized version that had all the meaning of the story cut away.  Avoid avoid!

Steve - Hee hee, the poison is working...

Ok G, now, I'm intrested in doing some scratching myself thanks to you. I just need to come up with some crazy idea for something and dig into my parts and balsa boxes LOL.

Real G,

    You are being watched. It is beautiful work.   I have limited experience and poor understanding of Scratch building and detailed Sketching. My comments would be quite juvenile and of no material value here. I suspect many other folks are in that same overloaded boat with me.

     No previous comments means we are overwhelmed with your Project and Problem solving. Keep at it.

  So, where might I find the old TV show(s) that you model is based on?

  Nino.

Armornut,

Yes... I like solving problems I make.  It's a hobby of mine.   

Ok now I'm really liking it. You guys that can put thought to action....my hats off. Can't stop looking.

Again, very cool!

Thanks Gamera and Armornut for the comments!

Poky progress due to work and feeling lousy last couple of weeks, but work continues on the flaps.

https://flic.kr/p/25GN9Pg][/url]Bakagalas-44 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The lower surface got planked this weekend, but not much else was done.  Gaps and uneven areas will be filled in with stretched sprue and thin plastic strip.  I favor this technique over putty as there is no shrinkage and the material cuts and sands the same as the plastic part.

https://flic.kr/p/22WShcU][/url]Bakagalas-45 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I have sourced some Eduard 1/72 Ju-88 and 1/48 Bf-110 wheels for the project.  Though differing in scale, they look very similar so I think they will work well.  That was another stumbling block long ago - there were no resin wheels readily available back in the 1980s.  Although the anime artwork appears to show the wheels all the same size, I decided to make the central wheels bigger, ala Me-323.

Anyway, I am getting anxious to finish the control surfaces so that I can move on to other areas that need attention.

WOW, went back to the start of the thread, holy smokes what a cool project. I wouldn't do a cool project, but you sir have this thing in the bag. Glad I started from the beginning 'cause it is cool. Bus driver this stop is mine but I will need a ride home.

Well, there may be only one passenger on the crazy bus but I'm enjoying the ride. 

Thanks Gamera, but it's no biggie as I'm primarily using this thread to motivate myself to keep pushing ahead.

Those curvy flaps are now being addressed.  This was one of the stumbling blocks I ran into many years ago that contributed to shelving the project.  I resorted to plank and frame with 0.030" sheet - it's a primitive method but I know it works.

https://flic.kr/p/FMBTED][/url]Bakagalas-40 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/HmL8Ld][/url]Bakagalas-41 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/248z84Z][/url]Bakagalas-42 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/HmL8ch][/url]Bakagalas-43 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I realise the photos are crummy, but my phone camera has difficulty focusing on all white things.

The flaps will receive a second skin to incorporate details, but they will need to be vac-formed so that they are one piece.  Stay tuned as Wily E. Coyote concocts an elaborate plan to tackle this problem.  Actually, I have already concocted it; I'm just waiting for the package from ACME.  

I wish more people would comment here, what you're doing is really cool G!

Work has been slow, but I managed to start the starboard flap sections.

https://flic.kr/p/HhpsBW][/url]Bakagalas-37 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/22EgjMQ][/url]Bakagalas-38 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Once the support ribbing is in place, they will all get sanded to final shape and get sheeted over.  After that, the ailerons and wingtips need to get done, but they are simple compared to those wiggly inboard flaps!

Real G

No probelmo Gamera!  But you do realize that the bus driver is crazy?  

 

This passenger ain't exactly stable..... 

I paid my toll... FULL SPEED TO CRAZYVILLE!!! 

Real G

Oh Peter Pan, yousa breenga thats lousy Jarjar!  He no welcome here!  ...

Sorry you feel that way about my friend.