Ghibli: The Castle of Cagliostro (Fiat 500)
The box! It looks big but...
Of course, I'm only using the top from an old push toy and the motorcycle sprue from the box.
Oh, and I'm using the wheels and chassis from a Bandai Ultraman snap kit...
Chassis cut and glued to fit... top, bottom, wheels... I call that a car!
Checking seats and cut the canopy to fit.
Coming together now.
My resin cast of the shell... too hot, too cold and just (about) right. 🙂
The front...
The back...
Cleaned up and side-by-side
One nice thing about having multiple copies is that cutting stuff open is less scary.
Engine cover and roof opened up and interior is in place.
Engine fits!
New shell, opened up the roof, door, engine cover and the headlights.
Wheel wells and dashboard scratched up.
Some new, smaller wheels are in order.
I declare a do-over. I just couldn't get the Fiat 600 to look enough like a 500... so let's try again with a Fiat 500 shell.
Shell trimmed and chassis cut and glued together
Checking the wheel alignment still fits.
Started building out the dash and the engine compartment.
Wheel wells are all enclosed.
Some interior paint down.
Two halves glued in place and epoxy putty used to fill out the trim around the wheels.
Finally, it's mellow yellow!
Hmmm... some scratches...
Still needs a bit of touch up, but the interior looks better against yellow
Scratched up the engine blower
Scratched up the tiny front emblam.
It's on wheels!
Added the hood ornament
Insert the engine. The blower is a bit thick, but oh, well.
I almost forgot this baby needs some windows!
Ok, so cutting out and fitting the windows was TRICKY!
Added the steering wheel, shifter and some cigarettes in the ashtray.
Scale reference
Comments
2 5 September 2017, 00:28
Greg BakerCan you guess? I'll give you a (major) hint... the car is a Fiat 500 (it's even yellow!)
5 September 2017, 00:38
Greg BakerYes indeed! Super easy. Lupin III's Fiat 500 from the Miyazaki-directed Castle of Cagliostro
5 September 2017, 00:43
Greg BakerI was super-stocked to find a cheap (less than $2!) answer to my Fiat 500 scratchbuild shell problem. For a 1970/80s throwaway pull-back toy, the detail is amazing and the size is spot-on accurate (41mm).
5 September 2017, 00:51
Greg BakerAdded up a couple of pics. Did a layout for the seating/engine and chopped up the Kubelwagen soft-top to fit on the Fiat. Also threw together the little motorcycle.
6 September 2017, 22:33
Greg BakerI successfully made a resin cast of the body shell... now I can screw up a few times if necessary. 🙂
9 September 2017, 11:42
Greg BakerThanks Choppa! Some bright spark has pointed out to me that this car is actually a Fiat 600 not a 500... So I'm going to try to do some surgical procedures to try and bring it more in line.
11 September 2017, 06:23
Greg BakerOk... now that the Ponyo submarine is finished, I'm back working on this little project. Finished opening up the shell and accidentally broke the window frame in the process. Luckily that should easy enough to fix. I've got the wheel wells and dashboard in place, so I expect it'll be downhill from here... famous last words.
9 October 2017, 00:09
Greg BakerYes.. indeed they are. I've been struggling a bit with how to deal with that. The problem basically comes down to the fact that a) I'm trying to grind a Fiat 500 out of a Fiat 600 shell and b) the wheel wells aren't quite accurate. The wheels I've got look perfect, but are indeed too big. However, the wheel wells are also too big, so if I get smaller wheels, I have to deal with that problem next. I don't think there's much choice though, so I've started work on plan "b" - sanding down some smallish jeep wheels to remove the treads. However, to extend the wheel well rims... I dunno. Maybe a bit of epoxy putty? That seems the least painful way. Since the shell is resin, I can't just cement some styrene extensions on... and CA glue is less forgiving about trying to fiddle something into place. I'll try a couple of tests before I decide... any suggestions are welcome!
17 October 2017, 00:19
Patrick HagelsteinWhow! That is cool! I like the push toy, ideal for 1/72 dioramas.
17 October 2017, 01:21
Greg BakerRv - I added a new pic of the beginning of plan "b"... smaller wheels!
17 October 2017, 16:17
Greg BakerOk.. I admit it. I just couldn't get the Fiat 600 to look enough like the 500... so I'm declaring a do-over - this time with a real Fiat 500 shell. New master (courtesy of an ancient PEZ toy), new mold and a new resin cast victim. Luckily now I know what I'm doing... yeah right!
16 November 2017, 04:52
Greg BakerI'll be really happy if this one works the way I imagine it. The car is such an iconic piece of the movie and is pretty much adorable besides. I just hope I can do it justice.
8 December 2017, 13:56
Greg BakerFinally got back to this one. A bit of paint down and it looks totally different.
6 March 2018, 14:18
Greg BakerFinally got some yellow paint on the body. All the putty and sanding seems to have paid off. The wheel trim is a bit heavier than reality, but I'm okay with that. The big question is how much to I care about the scratches on the doors... what would Kerry do... hmmm?
12 March 2018, 02:45
Greg BakerStill doing touch ups on the yellow, but I like how the interior looks a LOT better now. The door still has some scratches on it, but I'm begining to care less and less...
14 March 2018, 00:50
Greg BakerHeh... just wait till you see the size of the machine gun that's going in it... THAT will answer your question.😉
14 March 2018, 02:21
Greg BakerWell, she's done. In the end it's not quite how I was hoping it was going to turn out, but I'm satisfied. For a scratch build that started as a 1/72 scale resin cast of a giveaway toy... I'll take it.
18 March 2018, 15:48
Greg BakerBtw... for those who are unfamiliar with this cool little car... Youtube Video
18 March 2018, 16:10
gorbyThat's a tiny, tiny masterpiece. Excellent result, particularly considering what you started with.
18 March 2018, 16:44
Greg BakerThanks mates! I added up another pic to show the scale... just a wee bit over 4cm with the trunk closed. The close up pics really show every blemish, but it looks fine sitting on the shelf with the rest of my growing collection. I'm just proud that I got a bunch of 1/72 scale cigarette butts in the overflowing ashtray on the dash board. 🙂
19 March 2018, 00:00
