Nausicaä with Kai

[LSP_Kevin]

I wasn't going to do a build thread on this kit, but Dan expressed interest in seeing one, so here I am! The kit is by Tsukuda Hobby, and allegedly to 1/20 scale (it seems a little on the small side for that, but it doesn't really matter).
 
The subject is the character Nausicaä, from the Miyazaki film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, riding Kai - a large, oversized chicken. It's one of my favourite Miyazaki films, and I'm so glad to finally be able to obtain one of these kits (even if I did pay too much for it). It's worth noting that the moulds for this series of kits passed to Bandai some time ago, who have since re-released the kits after some clean-up, and apparently moulded them in colour. So, you can still obtain them, they just won't look like this. I'm looking to pick up the others as we go along.
 
Anyway, here's the box:
 

 
The box is disconcertingly small, but the kit itself is very simple, containing only 2 sprues and a fold-out instruction sheet (all in Japanese):
 

 

 

 
I'm hoping to move through this one fairly quickly, and leave all the AMS at the door. It depends on how difficult the paint job becomes, I guess.
 
More soon!
 
Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

After spending the last hour or so cleaning up and gluing parts, I've come to realise that this kit certainly won't be the slap-it-together quickie I'd hoped it would be. The general fit of parts is agricultural, and there are prominent mould seams on most of the major parts. There's a little bit of flash here and there, but part 36 below takes the cake:

 

 

Most of what looks like a sheet or cloak flowing out from the part is actually some rather thick mould seepage, which should fun to remove!

 

Kev

[Guest]

Glad you decided to do a WIP Kev. Will follow. Oh, and good luck with the mystery part.......Harv

[Guest Peterpools]

Kev

Will be following and enjoying your progress.

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[BloorwestSiR]

Nice change of subject Kev. That's one big chunk of flash there. Can it still be called flash when it's that's thick?

 

Carl

[LSP_Kevin]

Suitably inspired, I rewatched the movie last night. I bought the Blu-ray earlier this year, but hadn't even removed it from its shrinkwrap, so I decided now was an opportune time. And I discovered some interesting things I hadn't picked up about the movie before. Firstly, Nausicaä herself doesn't wear any undies! Oh my! But don't panic, it's all very PG.

 

More relevant to this build, however, was getting a look at the colours involved, and this is where things get interesting. Contrary to what you'd expect, Miyazaki's depiction of the colours of things is wildly inconsistent. For example, Kai's beak is shown variously as mustard yellow, a dark beige colour, and occasionally, the bright yellow depicted on the kit box. Nausicaä's colourings vary too, though not quite as much. This gives me the freedom to go with colours I like or have on hand, without worrying too much about fidelity.

 

And this is a good thing, because a model like this is all about the painting, and while it's simple enough, there's still a lot of detail to bring to life. I've looked at a couple of online builds of this kit so far, and have not been impressed. The builders seem to have taken a literal approach, and used cartoony colours applied as if they were painting a house. Even the build on the side of the box looks like that. I'll have to keep looking to see if anybody's taken a more sophisticated approach with it, but I certainly intend to. I want to breath life into it, and not have it look like a Simpsons character.

 

And so, I've now got Nausicaä fully assembled, apart from the additional helmet part (for which I could find no evidence in the movie - must check again!):

 

 

I've included the bottle of Mr. Cement as a size reference. It's also my first time using this product, and I'm pretty pleased with it. I don't think it works any faster than Tamiya Extra Thin, but I think it's a little hotter. I was able to completely eliminate a gap I had at the back of Nausicaä's neck by simply applying more cement and smooshing the parts together. The resultant joins are all very strong indeed.

 

I'm still working on Kai, as that's where most of the gaps and poor-fitting parts are, so some filler will be required. In the meantime, there's probably no reason (other than a lack of time) that I couldn't get some primer on Nausicaä and begin the painting process.

 

Kev

[Thunnus]

Great change-of-pace build!  I love Miyazaki and have built a couple of Bandai kits of Miyazaki subjects... the Gunship from Nausicaa and the Flaptter from Castle in the Sky.  If you liked the movie, you should really read the manga.  Looking forward to seeing Kai and Nausicaa together!

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, John. I'm definitely on the look-out for more kits of Miyazaki subjects. The Nausicaä gunship is from the same range as this kit, but I'm not sure about the Flaptter. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to be excited about a project!

 

Kev

[Guest Peterpools]

Kev

Holy cow - awesome progress and glad it's PG rated.

Thanks for the comparison between the two brands of cements as I've been tinkering with the idea of giving it a go. I can easily see the advantages of using Mr Cement S in certain situations and surely will pick up a bottle or two for use when needed.

Keep 'em coming

Peter

Edited August 14, 2016 by Peterpools

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Peter. For the record, the Nausicaä figure is made up of 8 parts, most of which are butt joints. These needed squaring up with a B@stard file before applying cement. If you were keen, you could drill and pin them, but I'm not about to start making this build any more complicated than it needs to be!

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Dan, and thanks for the suggestions. I considered opening up the sleeves, but there's an awful lot of plastic there, and I think the process would take an awfully long time. And, knowing me, I'd probably screw it up! I'll take a look at your video link and see if I get inspired.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, Maru. No time to work on it today, unfortunately. Hopefully tomorrow!

 

Kev

[Guest Peterpools]

Kev

For sure the fun and enjorment is in the art of painting.

Looking forward to every update.

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[cib2265]

Thanks, John. I'm definitely on the look-out for more kits of Miyazaki subjects. The Nausicaä gunship is from the same range as this kit, but I'm not sure about the Flaptter. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to be excited about a project!

 

Kev

Kev, have you got the Porco Rosso kits? I have the 1/48 Curtiss, the 1/48 Savoia S.21  - both late and early, and have just picked up a Fly 1/48 Macchi M.5 which was in the film as well.

 

Probably one of my all time favourite movies is Miyazaki's swansong, The Wind Rises, and I have the 1/48 Fine Molds A5M prototype as well - its is gorgeous. I'm hoping to do a diorama of their successful test flight.

 

Im also building a kitbashed 1/72 Mamma Auto gang Stranraer/Dornier Do 18 sea pirate plane for Porco Rosso too...

 

Im a huge fan of Miyazaki, huge. You can't help but be moved by all his films, even something as silly as Porco Ross - the dream sequence in particular where Marco is retelling how his friends died and floated off to heaven (which is based on Roald Dahl's short story, They Shall Not Grow Old) almost has me in tears everytime I watch it. 

 

Keep going - love this build!

[LSP_Kevin]

Thanks, mate. I couldn't get into Porco Rosso for some reason, so it remains one of the lesser entries in Miyazaki's canon for me. Admittedly, I've only seen it once, so I should probably give it another go. This is actually my first Miyazaki-themed kit, but I'm definitely looking for others!

 

Kev