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