Fujimi Fiat 500 (C)

[JeroenS]

Hi all, 

 

my sister has a little Fiat 500 that she's very fond of, and I thought it would be a nice idea to build her a model of it. I already saw the Fujimi kit on here a couple of times and it looks rather good so I ordered it a while ago and have just started on it. 

 

The thing is, my sister's car is a 500 C and the kit isn't. I looked for a 500 C kit but couldn't find one (I really hope my search was exhaustive), so I decided to go ahead with the Fujimi kit and see what I could do about the lack of "C" in the kit. 

 

Now, I'll say this beforehand, I'm not going to torture myself and go for a 100% replica of my sister's car. So when done it should look a lot like her car but it's ok (with me, and with her too 😉) that it will almost look the same as hers. I've ordered the correct paint for the body from Zero Paints using the Fiat's colour code so that's covered. 

 

There are a few things in the kit I am going to change (I even thought about making a top down version but deemed it too difficult so I'm not going down that road). 

 

So, obviously the roof needs work. The "C" roof is "thicker", is not smooth and follows the line of the car more closely than the kit's roof. Plus the rear window is much smaller.

 

Sadly, my sister's car has steel rims with hubcaps instead of proper alloy rims, which are included in the kit.

I have already purchased a set of "steelies" but I'm not sure yet how to tackle the hubcaps. Any suggestions are more than welcome of course. 

 

Next up are the front seats which do not match the ones in the kit. The headrests are also not satisfactory.

 

The headrests on the back seats also need adjusting. The difference is too obvious to ignore. The kit is just fitted with a flat disc-like thing.

 

The rest of the interior detail, including side panels, dashboard etc is actually quite good. I will add seatbelts of course, and may come across some more small inconsistencies that I'll be able to fix. 

 

That's all for now, thanks for watching!

 

[Spiny]

Looks like quite a lot of work depending on how much detail you plan on going into. Unfortunately I don't have anything like the experience necessary to offer any advice, but that doesn't mean I won't watch how this one develops.

[nikkita katana]

Can't you talk your sister into getting herself a set of alloys that match the model?

  

[JeroenS]

9 hours ago, nikkita katana said:

Can't you talk your sister into getting herself a set of alloys that match the model?

  

Good idea! I'll just use the rims provided in the kit and see if she takes the hint 🙂 

 

I mean, hubcaps, come on!

[Homerlovesbeer]

Hmmm well if you detail the car with the head rest down that will make it easier. Scribing the seat bottom with lines should at least make that more realistic 

[nikkita katana]

7 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Good idea! I'll just use the rims provided in the kit and see if she takes the hint 🙂 

 

I mean, hubcaps, come on!

I bought a little tube of that liquid plastic that cures with UV light off ebay last year. Turns out, for me, it's most useful for temporarily  fixing chipped nails but could be used to make some sort of round disc and files and smooths off nicely. 

Was only about £3. 

Or maybe rummage through the buttons selection if you have a sewing or tailors shop somewhere near. 

 

Based on my current project I'd probably lop off the headrests and fit them back on with some thinned down 1mm brass tube!!! But that is getting a bit extreme and wouldn't go that far if I didn't already have some tube left over in the scraps box.  

 

 

 

 

[Alan R]

1 hour ago, nikkita katana said:

Based on my current project I'd probably lop off the headrests and fit them back on with some thinned down 1mm brass tube

I built this little gem for my daughter some while back and seriously considered doing just that. To be accurate, I think that the brass would have to be about 0.5 mm diameter. I think that's available. Trying to slim down brass seems like a hiding to nothing...

 

I have the Abarth version to build. I decided that the model wheels look a bit anaemic and the tyres not low-profile enough, so I have some 19" resin wheels and yokohama tyres to put on it. Also, the original model's disc brakes have been used, so I have just ordered some bigger diameter disc brakes from Hiroboy. I think that I might well use brass for the head-rest supports as well....

 

I hope your 500C goes well. I'll be looking in on a regular basis.

 

Cheers, Alan.

[nikkita katana]

I don't have the car to measure but those stems look bigger than 12mm.

0.8mm rod or tube would be equivalent to 19mm. And with small diamond files, micromesh sanding pads and a cordless drill thinning down short pieces is possible. Every 0.1mm removed is 2.4mm difference in scale size.

All a question of how close you want to get.

I'd thin 1mm tube and put 0.5mm rod through it for keeping the shape when you bend it.

But make parts before cutting up any plastic.   

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Hubcaps. Press studs (aka Snap fasteners)

They are available chrome finished and in various sizes,

you'd just need to figure out how to do the black centre piece.

 

[JeroenS]

Thanks all! Pete your press studs idea is a good one! I think I already found some that I can use. I was thinking to use the center piece from the rims in the kit, as this is also the piece that holds the correct decal. 

[JeroenS]

A minor update. I'm currently working on the underside of the car, there's not a whole lot of parts there. I also got some work done on the front seats, chopped the headrests and filled the ... in the seat cushions (I don't know what they're called). I'm just going to leave the seats "flat" as they are now instead of scribing them or anything (I just know I'll not be able to improve them), but I am going to try to create the white bead on the outside of the seats.

 

 

Also, before I could change my mind, I chopped the backseat headrests as well and filled the resulting gaps. From the look of the seats, I think they're telling me they're ok with it 🙂 

 

 

 

On the hubcaps... My sister was here yesterday and she really liked the "alloy" rims that came with the kit and she wanted them on haha.... So that's sorted as well. I had already started out to try and create a hubcap... Well that would have been a bit of a struggle for sure.

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Hi all, today I started on the front seats. The back of the seat was missing a little bit of cushion at the bottom end, there was quite a gap and they didn't look at all like the real seats. I think I managed to sculpt a better looking seat cushion, filling in the gap and extending the sides. A fair bit of sanding still needs to be done but I'm quite happy with the results. 

 

 

I finished the door cards, which resemble the actual doors quite well actually. They are one piece and just need painting. 

 

 

 

And lastly I was able to finish the chassis. Nothing too fancy, mostly black with some highlights in metal colours and a bit of a dust wash. It's all brush painted using Vallejo paints. 

 

 

Next up: sanding the seats and fabricating the headrests!

 

Thanks for watching.

[Sabrejet]

Nice work: does anyone do an Abarth conversion for this kit?

[Marco F.]

Fujimi ist offering 2 Abarth versions 

but not the beweist 695 version.

Take a look at hlj.com

Cheers

Marco F.

 

 

 

[Sabrejet]

5 hours ago, Marco F. said:

Fujimi ist offering 2 Abarth versions 

but not the beweist 695 version.

Take a look at hlj.com

Cheers

Marco F.

 

 

 

Nice one: many thanks. A nice present for the wife then!

[JeroenS]

Still working on the front seats. Just a bit more smoothing of the "extensions" of the side and back cushions and they should be good to go. Also, I have refitted one of the headrests using 2 pieces of 0,5 mm brass rod. It looks way better then the solid block of plastic with which the headrest was originally connected to the seat.

I'll say one thing and that is that I'm quite happy with the Optivisors I got a few weeks back 🙂 

 

 

By the way the grey streaks are from a light coat of primer I brushed on to check for "leaks". I am now going to try to fit some 0,2 mm wire to represent the piping on the cushions. I'm curious to see whether I can do that without getting glue all over the seat... 

 

[harveyb258]

Nice work Jeroen.

 

For the seat piping I would suggest using Tamiya X22 clear as the glue. For something as light and fragile as  0,2 wire, this stuff would be perfect for the job. Once it has set, give the seat another clear coat and everything is nicely sealed. Above all, the big advantage is no awkward clean-up of any glue spills!!

[JeroenS]

1 hour ago, harveyb258 said:

For the seat piping I would suggest using Tamiya X22 clear as the glue. For something as light and fragile as  0,2 wire, this stuff would be perfect for the job. Once it has set, give the seat another clear coat and everything is nicely sealed. Above all, the big advantage is no awkward clean-up of any glue spills!!

Thanks Harvey, that is a good tip. If I follow you correctly, would that mean painting the seats and the wire separately, then finally glueing the wire to the completed seat with the X22? Btw I plan to use Vallejo paint on the seats, my guess is that it doesn't much like the Tamiya clear. Could I use Vallejo's varnish instead, you think?

[harveyb258]

I'm not sure about Vallejo as I've never used it, but I shouldn't see why not, tbh. Have a go on a bit of scrap.....you've nothing to lose then

 

[JeroenS]

Will do!

[JeroenS]

I don't have a whole lot to show for this weekend, the small stuff takes the most time. And I did some trials with the piping as well. Turns out that using Tamiya's X22 to fit the piping works brilliantly. Only not on Vallejo paint, as I already expected the X22 eats into the waterbased acrylic quite nicely. Tried to fit the piping using Vallejo's varnish next, but that stuff has no glueing powers at all, it's just too thin. Sooooo.... decision made: I'd really like to add the piping as it's quite obvious on the real seats and it's a nice detail as well. So I'm switching to Tamiya paint for the seats, I have to work out the right colours again but that's ok. I did think about fitting the piping with the X22 before painting the seats with the Vallejo paints, but painting the 0.2 mm wire afterwards is not going to be easy is my guess. I'm going to try it out on my piece of scrap though, who knows. 

 

Anyway, I have 2 finished seats, ready for paint at some point (delivery is in April, I have some time). I fitted the headrests and added some knobs for changing the seat angle. 

 

 

Also, I made a start with the headrests for the back seat. I cut some pieces of tube and filled them with putty, and made a little dimple in them. After a bit of sanding I think I have something to work with. 

 

 

Cutting these bits into the required shape is the next challenge. 

 

Thanks for watching. 

 

[Spiny]

12 hours ago, JeroenS said:

...the small stuff takes the most time.

 

Very true, but often it's the details which complete the picture. And from the looks of it the work on the seats will pay off in the finished product- looks very good. That 0.2mm piping could be interesting - you'll probably find the paint is thicker than the wire when it comes to fitting!

[JeroenS]

Good morning, I soon found that cutting my "bits of headrest" to the desired shape was not working. In the process of shortening the pipe and trying to cut the solid mass to the right shape (which was difficult), the putty with which I filled the pipe came loose. I had to start over, but now I cut and sanded the pipe in the required shape before filling, and that was much easier. A good lesson!

 

 

After filling, "dimpling", drying and some careful sanding I have my headrests. 

 

 

I can now carefully drill the holes for the brass rods that will connect them to the backseat. The putty needs a little more time to fully harden before I do. A little bit of Tamiya's Liquid Surface Primer should smooth them out to their final state before paint. 

 

As for the seats... After doing a trial I found that I should be able to paint the piping after it has been applied to the seats. I am now glueing the 0.2 mm wire to the seats, a small length at a time, allowing the X22 to set before moving on to the next stretch. 

 

 

This will allow me to paint the seat in the Vallejo colours I had planned, and also I don't have to fiddle around with a nicely painted seat, maybe doing some damage to it or something. I will just have to be very patient with the painting of the wire, I'll have to pick a good "zen" day for that 🙂 

 

 

[dbostream]

The wire on the seat looks really good, look forward to the final result.

[harveyb258]

Nice one Jeroen!! A fine bit of piping.