larchiefeng

So, I just got home and I had to tell you that, it was almost as if Big prophesied what was going to happen. I pulled up to my hobby shop, the only one for 20 miles around, and there was a big "Going out of Business" sign in the window! Unfortunately, all the good stuff had long been picked over and only a couple of things that I needed were there. Another hobby shop has fallen victim to the internet!

Sounds like you scored a pretty good deal!! Buying all the little odd bits and pieces for scratch building adds up over time.

Nice attention to detail Pascal! I know that these are pretty small parts and then to make them actually work is probably more than I would be able to do! Your Pocher F40 truly is just a platform and a starting point for this build which, really is a one of a kind! Great work so far, I can't wait to see this one get finished. But, it's a fun build to watch as it comes together.

Good idea, I don't know why I didn't think about using the drill. I still think that the short side leaves what is cut off too short for the hose ends. By the time you factor in the width of the kerf there's not a lot of brass tube left. I'm going to pick up some supplies tomorrow and I'll be getting some extra brass tube and rod. I have a small tube cutter that will cut 3/16" tube so I should be able to get exactly what I want for the length of braided end parts. Having the tube will come in handy for the rest of the hoses that will need to be made. Maybe these T10 and T11 ferrules will come in handy for something else down the road.

Thanks Big, I hadn't really looked that close and it's really not very apparent in the instructions or pictures; fortunately, it was easy to remove. Looking at the instructions this whole pipe assembly is brass color but, I'm pretty sure it has more to it than that. Before I go any further with it I'm going to have to go to the DVD and look at the real car for reference. So, for now it will have to wait for a short while. I also started making the braided pressure hoses which aren't really that hard but cutting down the brass parts they give you were a PIA. The instructions show making the cut on the short side which wouldn't leave enough tubing for the braid solder and each end of the fittings to glue onto. So, I cut two pieces off the long section and filed them down to about 4.5mm. After doing that, I decided that this wasn't going to work for me going forward as it's just too time consuming. The larger tubing sections are actually 3/16" OD brass tube and the smaller ones are 1/8" OD brass tube. So, I'm just going to buy the different size brass tubes I need to make the rest of the pressure hoses. It's going to be easier to cut 3-5mm lengths of tubing off of a long piece that I can hold onto and control. Eventually this section will all connect together and make an assembly of these pieces but, for now, I'm just leaving the hose too long until I get the ends painted and the one end connected to the longer piece and attached to the transaxle. I'll finish the other end when I attach it to the engine. Thanks for the kind words guys. I think everyone makes a good point about the F40 kits. I bought and built this kit back in 1993 and it was a fun kit to build back then. I thought that I had really done something special when it was done. I also bought my Mercedes in 1996 and, I got as far as the frame and engine. I soon discovered that, it was too much for my skill set. I put it back in the box and didn't pull it out until 2015 when, I finished it here on the forum. I learned a lot about Pochers in general over the two years it took to finish it. I guess it's really a matter of perspective when you look at or judge kits. Whether it's viewed through a lens of years or experience it's bound to be perceived differently by different people. More later when I get some of this figured out.

After the whole photo bucket debacle I decided that I wasn't going to let that happen to me again. I set up a blog and I still use Postimage or another service to just resize my pictures to 480 x 640 and then I save the smaller format pictures to another file on my computer. From there I just upload whatever pictures I want to my blog. When I post to my thread I just copy the link from my blog to the thread. This way if something happens to the photo hosting site nothing happens to my pictures. It takes an extra step or two but, worth it.

Codger said that Postimage has posted a work around

I agree with Harvey, a great jig. Knowing how to make jigs and is as much a part of making things from scratch as the actual scratch building itself. There's nothing like coming up with a jig to hold your work in place so you can have your hands free to do the actual work! I have to make jigs all the time when I'm doing woodworking and it looks like you also have some woodworking equipment as well. Your shop, looks like you have a good place that's large enough to do your work and with the necessary tools to accomplish your vision.

Before, you decide to start making new end caps for the car, you might think about sanding paint down where you have the deformed area caused by the glue on the styrene. Then, do a light skim coat of Bondo over the entire flat area where it shows through. I like using Bondo 801 and go a bit easier on the hardener than called for. Mix it so, it's a light pink in color. This will give you a longer working time before it hardens. The Bondo will not shrink or crack like Squadron or other putties do over time. Doing the skim coat and sanding it, once or twice would probably be easier and faster than fabricating two new end caps. Other than the reaction of the glue on the plastic these really look good. It's just a thought and a way to try and salvage them before making new ones.

I use the same stand to hold things when I solder too. Good luck.

Which brackets? I broke four of the eight little tabs off of the D28 brackets and had to re solder them back on a while ago. Not the easiest fix I've ever done

Thanks Greg. Go back to post 340 on page 14 here and you can see exactly how I did it. I soldered the 1 mm brass rods in place with the bracket in a vise and used a piece of cardboard to keep them aligned. Step 10 calls for them to be 23 mm long but, I made them about 26 mm long. I figured that I could always cut them down to fit whatever goes on top of them. I didn't want them to be too short after everything was already assembled. I can see that in the pictures above it appears that they are slightly tilted forward but, not all the transmission sections are glued together yet so they look like that. Even if there's a slight bend, these rods are only 1 mm in diameter so, they're easily bent. Also, most all of this is going to be hidden underneath the exhaust system so, not critical except in the in progress pictures.

Just a quick update tonight. I managed to get a complete layer of grease and grime weathering on the transmission/transaxle case today. Not all of the pieces of the transaxle are glued together so, there might be a picture or two where the brass bracket looks slightly off. Then, just for fun I screwed the engine to it for contrast between the weathering started on the case to the engine which just has a coat of silver leaf on it. I haven't done anything more than glue a few of the pieces together on the engine. It's probably going to need some gap filling and holes drilled etc. After that, I set the assembly into the rear frame with the body attached to see how it was coming together. With just one coat of grease and grime and nothing else. With engine attached Everything in the frame and body Tomorrow, I need to finish the file work on the body cuts around the shock towers and, do some wet sanding and a clear coat on the body where the blemish is on the roof. Then, some matte black on the back section of the body that, will come in contact with the frame area. I'll also need to review where I'm at, in the steps, since I've been doing steps 10-15 simultaneously. I'll need to finish everything that pertains to the transaxle and then get going on the engine parts of those steps. There will be some more weathering to the case and then it's a lot of engine work for a while.

Yeah pretty much a pencil lead. It can be used ground up or in the pencil to highlight sort like dry brushing to highlight raised detail. Maybe on the ribs of the case or the Ferrari name stamped on the rear of the case. Or ground up and rubbed on, you kinda just have to play with it to get the look you want. I used the grease and grime just for depth in the low spots not necessarily because I wanted it all greasy; it is a Ferrari after all. I don't know how it will end up but we'll see. Like I said a few posts ago, I got it on too heavy and had to brush most of it off with white spirits. I painted the engine and transmission Tamiya silver leaf and then I clear coated it all before doing the weathering. The white spirits won't affect the clear coat and I could clean most of the weathering off without messing it up if I didn't like it.

I'm experimenting with some different things but, on the case I'm using AK grease and grime but, I will probably play around with some graphite and maybe some rub and buff on it as well before I'm done.