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Fujimi Fiat 500 (C)


JeroenS

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10 hours ago, Spiny said:

That one on the right definitely looks a good match for the pearlescant white of the Fiat 500 - judging by the spoon it's going to look good ont he car.

I sure hope so!

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OK guys, time to see where we are. I'd like to finish the 500C by April 20th. That means 2 weekends and 2 weeks in between. All the time in the world, some might say, but for someone who is easily distracted it's still a bit of a challenge. And I don't want to rush it either. Having said that, there's nothing like a bit of (self-induced) pressure to instill some focus 🙂 

 

I finished the chassis and the interior tub a while ago, this is what I have left:

 

20200207174947-8ec2715f-me.jpg

 

From 12 o'clock: the windows, lights, license plates, wipers, dashboard stuff, dashboard itself, wheels and the body. 

 

And, last but not least, decals and window masking templates. 

 

20200207174947-3ea80abb-me.jpg

 

The clear part for the windows used to be 1 piece but I had to cut out the rear window in order to make the large part fit. My modifications of the rear window altered the inner roof quite a bit. I still have to cut the smaller piece for the rear window to its final shape. To help me mask the windows so I can paint the surrounds, templates are supplied in the kit. Unfortunately, they are paper so they will have to be transferred to masking tape. I'm not looking forward to that. The lights need to be painted, a job which may be a bit tedious. The biggest job still to do is obviously painting the body. And the dash, which is a two-tone affair. Other than that it's mostly odd jobs but still, if you add them up... So I'm planning these for evenings. I'm starting on the body this weekend, the weather looks good so painting should be entirely possible. So, it's in its final stages, I'm looking forward to finishing it. It's always a very good feeling to finish something but generally I have to force myself to finish stuff. So actually I'm more looking forward to having finished it 🙂  Saddle up!

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On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 7:34 PM, JeroenS said:

To help me mask the windows so I can paint the surrounds, templates are supplied in the kit. Unfortunately, they are paper so they will have to be transferred to masking tape. I'm not looking forward to that.

Hi Jeroen. I had the same problem with my 500. What I did was scan the template in, and then using Paint.Net, I reversed the image and printed out that.

I then traced the templates onto baking parchment, I then used Tamiya masking tape to cover the baking parchment, and then cut the templates out. The great beauty of using baking parchment is that it is a bit 'slippery', not enough for the tape not to stick, but enough to allow the tap to come off the parchment without tearing or leaving residue on the tape. It was a fairly simple job to apply the templates to the windows.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Cheers, Alan.

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5 hours ago, JeroenS said:

The white "part 1" is on, I'm happy with it! The little car looks completely different now. 

 

Amazing what a difference paint makes to a model isn't it? This one is starting to look really good now, but you're a much faster worker than me if you can get this finished by the 20th!

 

Keep up the good work!

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Hi guys, in between hiking and watching Tour of Flanders on TV (that's cycling, for those of you who haven't got a clue) I managed to apply part 2 today. I think it's really pretty, especially in lower light conditions. I've tried to take a photo which does the colour justice. I struggled a little with the Zero Paints primer which I find to be a little rough and needs thinning. However, it's very sturdy and after I gave the whole body a very careful wet sanding with 2000 grit the primer was still all there and it was very smooth. The Zero Paints colour is a dream to apply, straight from the jar, as a lot of you already know, but this was my first time. The metal (pearl) flakes of the second part are ever so fine and the body still feels very soft to the touch. I even managed to paint completely dust free 🙂 ... Now, I still have the 1K clear to apply, I'll probably get around to that tomorrow. I've put the Fiat logo's on front and back and they're still drying. 

 

20200207174948-dc1eb17b-me.jpg

 

 

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Yesterday I took a soft cloth and Novus number 2 polish and set out to finish the paint job on the body, after clearcoating it the day before. Here it is in morning sunlight. 

 

20200207175037-db94a84e-me.jpg

 

It's really smooth now. My todo list is getting shorter, but there still are quite a few items left on the list. Next up is painting the roof. After that it's time to paint the black and chrome trim on the body. In the meantime I've also painted dashboard and mirrors, but these need a second colour. 

 

 

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I made a start on the roof. I'm brushing it, thin layers. There's 3 layers on there now, I think I'm about a third of the way in. Vallejo's Carmine Red is just about spot on. 

 

20200207174948-23132c24-me.jpg

 

 

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Superb build, great car! I also am watching various cycling events on TV as I did a lot of that from age 12 to 20, training each day after school, throughout the year just 20 miles! The day off Saturday and club run Sunday 100+ miles. The odd time trial but parents didn't have a car so no road racing which was my favourite! But that was 60+ years ago!

The 500 is looking great, I like the soft top! Keep up the good work.

Edited by PatW
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Hi all, I'm spending all available time on the little Fiat, I really want to see this one finished by Saturday. However, I'm not rushing it, just spending a lot of time on it, and we'll see if it's enough. So, last weekend, I started out by tackling the window masking by using Alan's method. It worked well, with the baking parchment. It was a very fussy job though, and I spent hours on it before I was satisfied. I found it quite difficult to get the tape to match the areas which need masking in a satisfying manner. 

 

20200207174948-9b49b463-me.jpg

 

Finally, after much hassle (it must have been my meagre "fussing" skills) I had all the tape where I wanted it. Did make some scratches in the plastic on the way though. 

 

20200207174949-b6c1bed9-me.jpg 

 

After I took this pic I spent some time to make sure all the creases were gone and the tape stuck really well. Then I painted the insides black. Because it was cold last Saturday I painted inside which meant I used the brush. When it looked good from the outside and it was dry I took off the masking tape and ... found that the paint bled through on numerous places. I was not happy at that point. Removing the paint didn't make the clear parts look any better. Time for a deep breath. Well, I still have the donor kit soooo... I got a "fresh" part and freehanded the paint. First black for the outside, then off-white for the inside. I took most of the day but I'm now OK with it. Wipers are also on. 

 

20200207174950-3b3afd78-me.jpg 

 

Sunday, I spent the afternoon finishing the roof. It just needs the break light, which I still need to make.

 

20200207174949-639cd59a-me.jpg

 

The body is now ready for the black and chrome trim. Also, I painted various items like the grill, lights and number plates. I had done dashboard and mirrors earlier, spraying them body colour. 

 

Tonight I applied the second colour on the dash, it's the black grey that's also in the rest of the interior. I freehanded (sorry if that's not a word, by the way) this one too, it's tricky but I don't have a lot of faith in my masking abilities. I never know what's happening beneath the tape and once I take it off it's usually too late 🙂 

 

20200207174949-ff7343f0-me.jpg 

 

I'm happy with it, even with the zoom in this photo. It needs a little bit of detailing, and then the steering wheel and shifter can be glued on. I think tomorrow is for the body... it has to happen eventually but I'm a little scared to start because it's looking so nice now and I don't want to **** it up. 

 

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Hi, my todo list became a bit shorter again tonight. I didn't paint the body but instead I finished painting the dash (and if you don't zoom in too much it looks ok). Attached the steering wheel and shifter, and then it was finally time to mount the dash into the interior, completing the tub. Always a big step 🙂 

 

I already took some photo's with a half decent camera. 

 

20200207175033-09cba154-me.jpg 

 

20200207174952-4d86ccec-me.jpg 

 

Wheels are on... 

 

20200207174952-825e9c73-me.jpg 

 

And it's starting to look like a car... (phone camera again)

 

20200207174950-abddd881-me.jpg

 

To be continued, thanks for looking in.

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Tonight, just the window surrounds, but it took me 2 hours... I'm calling it a night 🙂 

 

20200207174950-65f0b30f-me.jpg

 

2 evenings and a good chunk of Saturday to finish... It just might happen. 

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Work got a little in the way tonight so I didn't have that much time but despite that, I was still able to get the lights and grill glued in, and chrome all the stuff that needed "chroming". I used the Molotow Chrome 1 millimeter marker (that's about 3/64 of an inch by the way, for those of you who find that easier to work with 😉) and I managed to keep the chrome away from places where it shouldn't be. Some minor touch ups are required but I can do that with Vallejo's Metal Colour Chrome. There are spots that you just cannot reach with the marker's tip, and a couple of spots are a little rough but that will straighten out with the Vallejo which flows really well. 

 

20200207174951-26c8cb9f-me.jpg 

 

20200207174951-86f6ce62-me.jpg 

 

The fit of the front light units is not particularly good. There's a noticeable gap, mostly at the bottom of the large round unit. However, there's no way to improve the fit. My guess is that once the clear parts are in place the gaps will be less visible. 

 

Applying the chrome was really the last item on the list that I was a little apprehensive about. I now feel that I should be able to make my deadline, providing nothing goes terribly wrong.

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Hi Jeroen,

 

That's a spectacular little motor. 

If it wasn't for the fact that I have embarked on a pretty big project (More details soon...), I'd break out my 500 Abarth, and start on  it.

 

Cheers, Alan.

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Hi all, this will be my final WIP update on the little Fiat. Left for tomorrow: putting the numbers on the number plates (fiddly), glueing on all the clear parts for the lights, plus the side mirrors. Then all that's left is mounting the body on the chassis while trying not to break anything (more)... Tonight, when I put the windows in, the fit was not yet snug and I gave it just the tiniest 6'4, 200 pound nudge 🙄.... Well, in my mind at least. But a small crack appeared in the windshield anyway. I admit I did break a sweat but just for a minute there... It's not too bad and if this is the last thing going wrong I can live with it. 

 

20200207174951-ba7665df-me.jpg

 

Thank you for following this build and for the helpful comments and encouragements. I learned a lot from this build and it was good fun. Thanks for looking in.

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