Topolino AA/FA Build

The body for this conversion came from a Brumm model of a Fiat Topolino. Thank you Biggie's Toy Collectibles
for the great deal on the Fiat donor car. Disassembly is very easy. Just a few screws hold things together. The windshield pops right out and so does the grill.

 The first step in the conversion process is to cut out the roof to turn the Topolino into a cabriolet First I masked the roof to mark the cutout.

 Then I made the cut with a rotary tool and filed the opening to the correct shape.

 

The hood louvers are filed down and sanded.

 The fenders and running board are removed using a rotary tool, files, and sandpaper.

 The body is sanded...

 ...and sanded some more until I get the smooth look I'm going for.

 The donor car for the chassis is a GMP Swamp Rat 1b. The front suspension is attached by a single screw. The fuel tank is attached with two small rivets under the tank. Thanks to cashmule for accepting my offer on the Swamp Rat.

Once the suspension and tank are removed the frame is cut using a rotary tool and the steering arm is shortened. The rear wheels are removed and relocated behind the seat. I had to notch the chassis slightly with a file to correctly position the rear axle. A rear pumpkin was made from spare parts.

The front suspension and fuel tank are permanently attached and the flame graphics removed with non-acetone nail polish remover

Down tubes were added to the frame (the original rear support was removed for body clearance).

 

Body supports are made from plastic bar stock...

 ...and glued to the inside of the body.

 The drag chute was scratch-built using Milliput. The cable is a piece of soldering wick.

The body fits nicely on the frame.

The windshield required some modification to remove the wipers, trim and mirror. The first step was to remove most of the material with a hobby knife.

Then the clear plastic was sanded in steps starting with 600 grit and progressing through 12000 grit. 

Still a long way to go!

The final polishing was done with Flitz Polish and the piece was dipped in Future acrylic floor coating.

I like to try out different graphic ideas using image manipulation (GIMP) before printing the decals. Here is one idea...

...and here is the one I decided to use. As above, this is a digital rendition of the final conversion done in GIMP. The color is more accurate on this one.

The car is painted with Red Pepper Krylon Fusion paint/primer. I've gotten good results with this product.

The body now sitting properly and ready for graphics.

And this is the finished model.

The background is just a printed backdrop that I GIMP'ed together. It's a work in progress.