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A BIG Rolls Royce


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More springs; the rear suspenders ready to go on:

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The final alignment setting:

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Sorry I don't have any 'dead ahead' shots because the 35mm camera lens makes them almost fish-eye out, but they are straight with about 1/2 degree positive camber. Further, the wheels steer smoothly without bind and rotate freely so I can zoom it on the rug and make noises... :banghead:

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Questions, comments or curses welcomed. :o

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lol , aftermarket parts for a kit that already costs hundreds, gotta love this crazy hobby :evil_laugh: this certainly looks the buisiness and your enginneering skills are impressive too (as is your patience and range of swear words i should imagine) .

gotta go with those lovely white walls too.

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Eyedears is right-it's nuts to spend.

But in my defense, the parts eliminate the Pocher blacksmith stamped steel bits and lend a quality air to the display. To me, it sort of takes the 'Taiwan-look' out when you look very closely. Of course the overall view masks some of this but I will mirror-base it to reveal some of the hard work. Further, this is probably my bucket-list model as limiting vision may make it my last. So I'm throwing everything (skills and resources) I've got at it.

Another frivolous bit from MMC. This improves the steering linkage with a more scale-like bit. This simple arm in bronze connects the steering gearbox to the long steering link that runs to the arm on the right brake backing plate. Installation alters the way the arm connects to the link:

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Pocher's arm goes through the top of the link into a hole in it. MMC's attaches to the side of it (scale-like) into the hole. Thus the link end must be 90 degrees to the way Pocher wants. Therefore two Pocher parts must be modified.

First, the shaft exiting the steering box (seen above) must be threaded on its end for a 2mm nut. If you buy the arm, Marvin at MMC will do this for you 'no charge' on his company lathe. Comes out perfect.

Next is the long plastic link. It must be cut (gulp again), and one end rotated 90 deg. and reattached. The MMC instructions say to drill each end and insert music wire for strength. More sweaty moments. How to get holes indexed to each other correctly with my Flintstone tools?? :frantic:

Here is the steering link before modification. The cut:

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The new orientation:

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To drill even close to concentric, I clamped it to a vee block and pin-vised away:

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Realizing that my razor saw has a .015" kerf, I cut a scrap of .015" sheet, drilled and put in place so the arm would again be its correct length:

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Joined with CA, and mocked in place. Note the now-threaded steering shaft at top:

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All joined with paint, graphite for sheen and a bit of 'wear weathering':

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This one will be easily seen when all dressed-a small but interesting (to me) detail that elevates my meager skills:

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I share some of this tedious stuff in the hope that some of you will be inspired to pick up your fave Pocher classic and jump in with me. Especially those of you with some in stash (AHemmmmm Mr. Mattblack...). Surely there are superior modellers to me here who can knock this out of the park with less struggling than me.

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Fast-forward to today; a little fun break from the head-banging. Color on the first wheel; which shall it be??

The white side is on the inside and just playing 'dress-up' on the chassis. The cream can be seen in contrast to the maroon. Likes? Dislikes??

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hard to tell the real colour from the pics, it looks more desert yellow than cream on my monitor. remember, its your baby, you have final say , ( i do love the white wall tyres though :bounce: )

And you a right to throw everything you can at the model. a kit like this deserves the full treatment!

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hard to tell the real colour from the pics, it looks more desert yellow than cream on my monitor. remember, its your baby, you have final say , ( i do love the white wall tyres though :bounce: )

You're correct about the monitors and colors. In the daylight in person it's a tad brighter and 'creamy'. These snaps look to have a faint blueish cast to them on my screen.

Thanks for weighing-in. The verdict is still being deliberated-one day I like white, the next the black.

I AM glad I decided on paint for the wheels.

If I get nuts and paint a fender in the maroon, THEN we can come to a decision...

I needed a break from fiddling with engine bits. :chair:

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Another flashback to catch you all up a bit. Here's the grille / radiator assembly being made and fit into place.

It's fairly straightforward and provided no turmoil for a change:

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The front tray shows the deep maroon that the fenders and upper hood / body will be.

A major concern is getting it as plumb and square and dead vertical as can be so it meets the hood with no gaps.:

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After some fussing and relieving, I got what I wanted. The brace rod I showed you earlier will now be used for fine adjustment without being under tension:

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Never leaving well enough alone, my radiator has the requisite old car coolant leaks. The engine and gearbox (which I'm doing now between wheel painting) too will show 'use' such as this but I will not overdo it. I can be criticized for combining gleaming hardware with rusty mufflers, pipes and fluid stains. It's all part of the 'artwork' vs realism I'm trying to combine, but probably not too well. Pro or con opinions welcomed:

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Good morning! Here's a bit more 'catch up' but much closer to where I am now.

Working the engine with lots of sanding and test fitting. Then tried the gearbox connection to the block and just took off on the transmission tangent.

A word to hopeful builders of this kit; you can avoid building a lot of guts that you can't see and would be wobbly in operation. You can also ditch a lot of screws and glue stuff together-better fitting and more sturdy.

I wound up building the whole crank and now I'm sorry. You can easily connect the front 2 crank throws and clamp them in the main journal bearing inserts. Just make the brass crank snout a slip fit as Koo advises. This eliminates the the rest of the crank, rods, pistons and flywheel-all unneeded to have the trans mate to the block. In the cylinder head, I avoided the whole valvetrain. No one will be playing with this toy.

Here's some filling on the block and trans. I prefer micro balloons in CA for the relatively minor seams but first, I 'vee' each half to give the filler more surface area.

For the larger and irregular gaps I love 1:1 Bondo 2 part glazing putty. Cures fast, sands to a feather and sticks like mad.

Needless to say , the Pocher parts had horrible joins and seams. This happens to be the trans but the crankcase was just as bad:

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Rough fit of the trans. Note the pink is cured Bondo on the crank case bottom. Every surface needed leveling. You've got to be creative about your sanding tools. Many areas are tiny, narrow nooks to slather putty into and then need to sand nearly all away. Riffler files are a big help in these tight places. I also cut 2mm wide and 6" long strips of 220 grit and used it shoe-shine style in tight spots:

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Trans top side. I know, NO ONE will see this part trapped under the floorboards but I'm OCD about filling every lousy seam-seen or not :mental: :

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You can also snip off and sand flush all those standing posts on the deck (I did after this shot); they do nothing except make the cylinder barrels hard to fit flush. Sand the deck dead flat and the the flanges on the barrels locate them just swell:

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The trans top side after several hours of sanding and filling, in Tammy primer. All those access panels and end caps are to be screwed on but I got much better fits by sanding to death and gluing:

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Trans bottom. At least you'll see a bit of this in the mirror:

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A detail of the oil pan; I didn't like the cast-on oil pipe that came so I removed it:

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Made a 3 dimensional one, not accurate but close, out of soldier, styrene and PE rivets. Shoot me purists but it was fun. Gotta put the rib back on the pan:

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Working the cylinder cases, head and valve cover now. Some different finish ideas will be revealed. Hope you come back. :welcome:

Edited by Codger
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Looking really good so far.

Brings back a few annoying memories of my Phantom.

Mind you, as you are pointing out to everyone, building a Pocher classic car isn't like any other model car you've ever built.

It isn't so much a kit, as a project.

Keep it coming.

Roy.

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Pardon my glacial pace for updates but work has been steadily continuing. No one is clamoring for it anyway. :frantic:

Here are some engine bits and tips. After completing this stage of prep on these parts, I shifted to perfecting the front fender fit and installing the additional screw attachments Koo recommends. Then yesterday (beautiful weather in the garage) after sanding and masking, I primed and shot two color coats-very exciting seeing color and ups the incentive quotient. Color sanded last night and will resume topcoat and clear with sanding between. Then I'll get back to heavy engine assembly and detail.

Here are the major bits after prep. That step drill is a great tool (hand held) for enlarging large holes like in the crankcase for the cylinder barrels. They come long and skinny and short and wide- get both they are a huge help. The deck has been shaved of locators-much better fit without them:

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The test fit. I actually trimmed it a bit thinner after this. A word about finishes. The crankcase will be an Alclad aluminum but distressed a bit with oil sweat and dust. I wanted to avoid the black paint upper engine bits. After sanding the seams and clean-up, I noticed that the black plastic became a very dark, warm gray. Using cotton swabs, I scrubbed all the cylinder case and head with lacquer thinner, which made the gray very uniform. Perfect for what would have been a black painted block faded by heat cycles. Some graphite rubbed on the edges and plates will add use effect. It's subtle but I like it. I also didn't paint the valve cover. I sanded with 4000 grit to get the scuffs out then polished with Novus. Gave me a very scale like, thin finish with good sheen but not high gloss clear. Pics of that as I progress:

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Thanks Gents-appreciate the kind words.

Regarding finish; I've done a similar but slightly different thing on the fender under sides. Hitting a run of humid, rainy weather so painting held up. I finished the fender bottoms then masked them for the top color. So now I've got to leave the Friskit and tape on longer than I wanted...

Will post that asap.

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Executive decision has been made; BLACKWALL TIRES!

Sneak peek here; though I loved the whitewalls as beautiful pieces of casting, I got maroon in place and that sealed the deal for me. Apologies to the whitewall lovers.

Here's completed wheel with valve stem and new rubber.

Flame away or hugs and kisses welcomed :fuyou_2::thumbsup: :

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Tips and observations...

With a detailed build of any Pocher, you must paint parts then assemble them-many parts. The cliche is true; you make sub-assemblies that are models in themselves, then combine to make the whole.

I find myself going down the rabbit hole with this more than any other model I've done. I just can't leave well enough alone. I'm amazed and depressed how much effort and time I'm putting into near invisible stuff when complete. Yes, 'it's the journey not the arrival'-another cliche that fits here.

Well I made a model of the chassis and now doing same with the engine. I keep trying to visualize what I'll end up with but keep telling myself it will come right in the end (gulp!).

I just spent about 3 days, wiring the generator and altering the magneto housing to match reference and detailing the rag joints in a non-Pocher manner. Today I've been detail painting (already did the basic blacks and aluminum) and 'aging' the parts to get that in-use look.

One trick I tried was using BMF on the retaining straps, rather than silver paint or Alclad. But not good enough. I came in with acrylic washes on the edges of every thing in browns, black, yellow and ivory-all very washed-not strong color. I rub the BMF with 4000 grit to tone it doen a bit. To make you BMF 'pop', (either what I'm doing or say a windshield frame) run a black/brown wash on the edge. If you've done too much, you can 'erase' it with a clean wet brush. Work to get the effect you're after. it truly adds dimension to finely cast parts.

While playing artist, I did the spark plugs in yellow / ivory (hate bright white on an 'in-use' object), the freeze plates on the block with a ring of rust and dried coolant, The exhaust ports with a khaki / gray blend to show heat and blow-by, the intake ports on the head to match the manifold and touched every bolt with a rust / gray or graphite smear to show use and mild neglect and rubbed edges. It's all very subtle and a lot of it may not even photo well but I'll try. Yes-I'm nuts. :banghead:

Taking the mania further, the fan and pulleys got the treatment. Love to hear or see your ideas and don't be afraid to post your photos in my thread. Pictures when I stop twitching...

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Beautiful! Can barely wait to see some more of it. :popcorn:

You made the right choice in loosing the white tyre walls, it looks more realistic without them. :yahoo:

Edited by Humbrol007
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