The Castafiore Emerald (Peugeot 403)

Greg Baker
There aren't a lot of options for vehicles from this Tintin album (since it's basically a "mystery in a locked room" story). However, I think the most iconic is the Peugeot 403 taxi that finally delivers the Milanese Nightengale away from Marlinspike Hall (aka Moulinsart). The base is the shell from an old Peugeot 403 plastic toy. Pretty rough, but some resin casts will give me a few swings at this one. There will be a roofrack added and the trunk will be opened, but I'm debating if I should try to open one (or more) of the doors as well. Any opinions?

Spanjaard
if you have several ones to try, is worth trying to open the doors, certainly.

John Thomas
Hey Greg, were do you fine these little cars? Great casting job also

Greg Baker
Thanks John. The little cars are just old PEZ-type plastic toys that I found on eBay. It takes a bit of checking to make sure they're actually 1/72 scale since a lot of them are actually 1/87 or 1/64 scale. Once I have the shell though, I do a resin cast and then scratch build the chassis and interior details.

John Thomas
Very nice

Calvin Gifford
Great job!

Martin Oostrom
Very nice Greg. Said it before: love your work

Greg Baker
Thanks Calvin and Martin! I finally got the shell to sit properly on the chassis, so it's starting to come together now.

Greg Baker
We're into the home stretch on this one now. Got the front grill made and installed. Had a little trouble with the headlights, but chances were not good that they would get better so I stopped playing with them while I was only a bit behind. Basically just finishing up the scratched up luggage/rack.

John Thomas
Hey Greg, Have you tried to light up your little cars? That would be cool, like your Big Bugs

Greg Baker
Thanks for the suggestion, John. I'm not sure I have the patience to try and light up one of these little cars. This one is now done, but the final steps to install the windows nearly destroyed the whole project. I had to repaint the shell 3 times because I kep buggering up the install and the paint around the windows was a mess. It was very difficult to get the front and rear windows to be just the right size/shape to fit snuggly and allow for the relatively serious curve.

Once they were in, everything else just came together. I suppose I should be glad since I was able to fix up some of the issues with the headlights in the process. In the end, I'm quite happy. It actually does look like a 1/72 scale Peugeot 403 to me.

Es-haq Khosravi
Lovely!

Greg Baker
Thanks Es-haq!

Spanjaard
it looks really good Greg, certainly

CaptGPF
I just love your Tin Tin dioramas! Sent them to my family!

Greg Baker
Thanks CaptGPF! If you'd like to check them ALL out, you can read more about them on my blog - strobez.ca/wp/index...1-72-scale-projects/

I'm trying not to over-spam Scalemates at the moment, but wanted to update my Collections here. There's more to come!

CaptGPF
Definitely sending them that link! thanks Greg!

Rando
Greg I just have to say what you do is really unique and amazing, I looked through your planned treatment for Area 88 and it'll be really cool to see how that turns out.

Greg Baker
Hope they enjoy it, CaptGPF!

Rando - Thanks. Yeah, I've neglected the Area 88 plans for a little while, but I seem to naturally bounce back and forth between them... usually when I get a bit frustrated by one for a while. 😉