Fiat Abarth 500

My GF has become interested in the Abarth 500, so I thought i'd secretly build her a model of one. She goes to bed earlier than me, so i've been sneakily working on it after she's asleep.

It'll be mostly stock, I just plan to add some seatbelts and some small PE bits from a hobby design set, plus some aftermarket wheels, also from hobby design. You can see why it needs new wheels in the pics below.

Here's the kit i'm using.
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/abarthbox.jpg

Overall shot of my progress so far. I have some other parts that have been primered, but not worth showing really.
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/01.jpg

The wheels in the kit are supposed to be the optional 17" wheels, but they're horribly tiny and narrow. They make the car look like a sissy car.. so I got the proper wheels from ebay. They are slightly too wide to fit into the chassis without some modification though. The tires are from an old wheel set from another kit that I didn't use.

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/02.jpg

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/03.jpg

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/04.jpg

Fujimi dropped the ball on the wheels and tyres but otherwise this is a nice kit which goes together well.

Fujimi dropped the ball on the wheels and tyres but otherwise this is a nice kit which goes together well.

Yeah, it's pretty simple, but seems pretty nice so far.

So, with the addition of the bigger wheels, the stock brakes look comically tiny. So, I whipped out this old photoetch brake set that was in one of my drawers. Gonna have some stopping power on this little rocket.

stock
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/brakesTiny.jpg

aftermarket
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/brakesbig.jpg

More progress

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/05.jpg

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/06.jpg

It took me around an hour to mask these stupid stripes and gloss part on the dash.
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/07.jpg

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/08.jpg

Still have to fill in the black on the side vents, and clean up a little of the red that bled out of the tape.
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/09.jpg

Good progress.

I painted the body..

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/10.jpg

but when I was buffing out some dust spots, I went through the paint on the hood. Masking the body to repaint the hood. :(

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/14.jpg

Shit happens… But your paintjob is excellent, great job :)

I'm still having troubles with the body paint, but the interior is done.

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/interior.jpg

Not a huge update, but it's something..

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/decals.jpg

Keep them coming! Really interested in this build you have.
Cheers!

Keep them coming! Really interested in this build you have.
Cheers!

Thanks for the encouragement.

This is really turning into a nightmare project for me. After the decals everything was looking good, then I thought.. "I should clear coat it so I can polish/wax over the decals" I should've just polished around them because when I sprayed the clear, i got bits of dust in it everywhere. Then I tried polishing out some of the dust and ended up with micro scratches as well as one spot where I went all the way through. AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!

I'm really not having fun anymore.. but i'm not the type to give up, so it'll get finished.. somehow.

Honestly, of it weren't for the decals, I'd strip the body and start over.. Ugh

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/fuckinghell.jpg

Hey, an update. Finally got the body looking ok. It's not perfect, but with a coat of wax it should be all good. Back on schedule. Mirrors to do, then the stuff that attaches to the body. Should be smooth sailing from here (fingers crossed)

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/abarthshiny.jpg

I like it.

Cant wait to see it sitting on those beautiful Red wheels!! Very Very Nice!!!

Beautiful!!!

Hey guys. Been awhile since my last update, but i'm still working on this. Life gets busy..

It's almost there. Bare metal foil on some bits, the emblems are mostly on. I still have to put the mirrors on and a few other tweaks. The wheels aren't fitting as i'd like, so I need to modify their mounts a little. Other than that...

I'll be glad when this nightmare is over. I've had all sorts of problems with paint. First on the body, then the mirrors. Normally i'd strip the paint and start over, but because of the body decals, that wasn't really an option. But the home stretch is in sight finally!

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/front.jpg
http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/back.jpg

body on the chassis, with the wheels just stuck on temporarily. The back tires have too much poke so I need to fix that.

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/abarth.jpg

OMG! I FINISHED IT!

"real" pics coming soon. Crappy cell phone pic for proof of finishing it..

http://bhop73.com/models/abarth/finishTease.jpg

Congrats for finishing it despite your issues.

It all worked out in the end :D

She will love it!

Thanks for the emotional support guys. :D I put up the finished pics in the completed gallery. Feel free to check them out.