Pocher 1/8 Aventador

[roymattblack]

Terrible pic...

Here's me some years ago with my Green Burns...

Even earlier - with my Strat...

My Burns and 'Old Red' now... Different pickups etc to the mini version)

Edited July 7, 2014 by roymattblack

[Codger]

While I admire your professional accomplishments, I'd kill for that cabinet full of craftsmanship you have.

Thanks for sharing a very interesting life.

[Mencie]

Wow, this will be a treat to follow, pulling up a chair...

[roymattblack]

Many thanks you guys.

On to the engine...

The Aventador engine is a large and impressive piece of engineering and Pocher have captured much of it extremely well.
However, it is a great shame that they have included so little in the way of wiring and plumbing.
I have seen far more detail in this respect in 1/20 scale Tamiya models.
Luckily, being 1/8 scale makes the detailing task relatively easy, although it should not be necessary at the price of the kit.

I’m still awaiting my Aventador DVD so I’m reluctant to start too much on the engine for fear of having to ‘back-track’ to rectify possible errors or to add details.
However, one task needing attention was the silver lettering and lines on the engine top cover.

The kit part has this detail nicely raised and I’ve seen numerous builds on other forums where people have tried painting it, sanding it all off and using bought-in foil lettering and even colouring it with a silver ‘Sharpie’. Some attempts with more success than others.

To me, it seemed logical just to BMF it.

The actual script ‘Lamborghini’ was foiled over closely to the edge of the letters. Burnished hard with a cocktail stick to get the foil into all the nooks and crannies and then sprayed over with satin black.
Once dry, the raised text surface was polished lightly with Micromesh revealing the silver foil.

I contemplated doing the same with the horizontal lines but these were so large (relatively) and clear, I just cut fine BMF strips and foiled each line individually.
After a good burnishing all over, the work was done and I was quite happy with it.

The Carbon Fibred cover and etched badge were then added.

Roy.

Edited July 8, 2014 by roymattblack

[Mencie]

That is sweet, gotta love BMF.

[noeyedears]

any chance of a nice close up of the lettering?

[roymattblack]

any chance of a nice close up of the lettering?

Here we go...

Not the greatest quality pic.

Bear in mind the lettering is about 2mm high lower case....

Roy.

[noeyedears]

Nice job indeed!

[Madhatter]

Great project you have here. If I had the spare capital, I'd buy one too, but at $995au, I think I'll stick to watching you build it.

Does it come in any other color than orange? Would it be a real full on effort to respray it to one of your own choice?

Great tip BTW using the foil. I wouldn't have thought to do that. You've shown me a new great reason to find some of this foil and try it out.

Cheers

MH

[roymattblack]

The kit also comes in white, and Pocher have just announced it will be in red later this year too.

They also do an Aventador roadster kit in matt black or metallic blue.

I wouldn't want to repaint the kit as there are a LOT of parts that would need painting. A few people have done it with varying degrees of success.

I've seen one that was done in yellow - it looked as if it was done (let's be polite) by a 'not-too-experienced' person.......

Roy.

[roymattblack]

Now that the Aventador build DVD has arrived, I’ve found that the order of building just about everything is different to the Pocher instructions.

Having used these DVD’s before, I know well enough that following the instructions within will make good sense as countless alterations and hints are enclosed, making the whole build far smoother and infinitely more detailed.

I had already started on the engine top cover but the DVD begins with the engine cylinder heads.
I’ve followed the order and painted the parts and the umpteen screws, bolts and details on the cam covers as per actual engine photo’s.
I now have two cylinder heads.

The main block was easily painted and assembled using screws (I love Pocher kits!) but before fitting the engine mount on one side, the DVD points out that among many other parts, the starter motor is missing!
The space is there on the block, but there’s no starter motor in the kit!
Easy to scratch build, but a bit of a blunder for Pocher.
The motor was duly fabricated from bits of tube and scrap, painted and fixed to the engine.

Next, the gearbox halves were screwed together and then painted. I chose to do this part in a darker metallic grey as there is already so much ‘aluminium’ colour on and around the engine – I just wanted a bit of variety once the car is complete. Not prototypical, but hey, It’s MY Lambo!

An assortment of small engine ancillaries were attended to – water pump, oil filter, engine mounts, pipe connectors etc. Only little bits, but they all take time to clean up, prime and then paint.
If there’s one thing I have to admit to being a bit OCD about, it’s seam lines!
It does my head in when I see a beautifully built model, and the parts still have seam lines or bits of sprue tabs on them. Each to their own, I know, but I’m not happy until the seams are gone, however small the part.

However…..

The oil system (or in the case of the kit, - lack of!)

Believe it or not, this kit has NO oil system!
Yes, it has a filter, and one oil cooler tucked away in one rear corner.
There are two more coolers – MISSING.
An worst of all, NO oil lines, even though at this scale, the pipes are around 3.5mm thick!
Also, there are about 5 -6 of them, two of them very long, and they are pretty prominent.
All have to be scratch made.

Now I know that at £500 for a kit, this is unforgivable. But if you are into ‘Pochers’ (or any huge car kit) scratch building is part of the fun – making something that is impressive, even more so.

The missing pipes are just the right size to cannibalise from an old USB ‘phone cable.
Strip out the centre core, feed some wire in, and you have nice bendy pipes.
Strangely, Pocher have included two of the three fittings for the pipes on the oil filter mounting, but nowhere else. They were easily drilled in the various locations for future connection.
The oil filter is missing a very nice ‘UFI’ filter logo label, so I made one of my own in ‘Page Plus’ and printed it onto decal paper. The supplied battery decals happen to be about 2mm too big so these were scanned, reduced and re-printed for future use at the same time.

Roy.

Edited July 11, 2014 by roymattblack

[shood23]

This isn't ment as it may sound but this engine looks very bare compared to your rolls and i get where you are coming from completely when it comes to seem lines

[Codger]

Although much less part count, I see where this is becoming similar to the classics. Glaring and senseless omissions by Pocher that the fastidious and thorough modeler must do himself.

Almost makes the classic's prices seem less off-putting.

I said 'almost'...

[roymattblack]

This isn't ment as it may sound but this engine looks very bare compared to your rolls and i get where you are coming from completely when it comes to seem lines

It is very bare at the mo', but I've literally only just started on the engine.

There is a TON more to build, but even so, Pocher have left out a lot of detail that I'll be 'attempting' to add.

Roy.

[fredben]

Looks like your going to be busy over the weekend Roy. There is a lot of work to do on that engine. Enjoying following this build.

[Rocketcrazee]

Hi Roy

I have been following this thread and its good too see another car in the garage taking shape

Found this on the web not sure if you have seen it

http://www.lambocars.com/configurator/lamboconfigurator_rfppbjadn06bbhaccfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa6aaaaaaa.html

Just an idea

Phil

[roymattblack]

Hi Roy

I have been following this thread and its good too see another car in the garage taking shape

Found this on the web not sure if you have seen it

http://www.lambocars.com/configurator/lamboconfigurator_rfppbjadn06bbhaccfaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa6aaaaaaa.html

Just an idea

Phil

That Gulf colour scheme somehow looks a bit familiar................

Roy.

[roymattblack]

The engine is looking a bit busier now......

Once the pipes, hose clips and the decal were sorted, the filter was mounted to the engine.

Next to be attended to were the fittings around the front of the engine (which faces rear – confusing)

It transpires that for no apparent reason Pocher have fitted the hose connectors on the power steering pump facing in the wrong directions.
Although only very small parts, if they are left alone, then any added hoses – which have to be scratch built anyway – will be pointing the wrong way and therefore difficult to route correctly.
The small plastic fittings had to be cut off, drilled and re-fitted pointing the right way, using small wire ‘studs’ for secure fixing. The ends of the fittings also had to be drilled to accept the pipe connections later on.
None of this would be known without the superb DVD from Paul Koo.

The air conditioning compressor was next to need tweaking.
As with the other parts, there are no pipes or anything in the kit. More scratch building.

Pipe fitting holes were drilled and pins inserted to attach the hoses. These were made from an old small-gauge audio cable with the inner core stripped out. Hose clips are simple thin bands of aluminium tape. Solder wire was inserted into the hoses so they could be formed into the shapes needed.
Parts of the hoses have foil heat shielding on the actual car so this was easily done by wrapping baking foil around the hose – ‘dull’ side out. It was fixed in place with a thin run of cyano adhesive down the join ends.

There should also be a fuel line filter/cooler but – it’s missing…….
Easily made from plastic tubing painted according to Lambo references and again connected via shielded hoses. Other fuel lines will attach to the filter later on so fixing holes were drilled in advance.

Finally the 'belt' assembly was attached to the engine.

Roy.

[Codger]

Man that looks good.

It's a shame that the uninformed (without the Koo CD or serious reference) can build this car with such glaring errors and omissions to the knowledgeable viewer. That alone would contribute to the 'big diecast' slam.

How much would the kit cost if Pocher did all the engineering and covered all the bases??

[noeyedears]

bu

How much would the kit cost if Pocher did all the engineering and covered all the bases??

maybe but there does seem to be an awful lot missing from the lump on this one, I would be a tad disappointed for the money, Im not sure id have the skill or patience to put it all right. ill leave that to you chaps and stick to something simpler and cheaper.

[roymattblack]

I have to say that as much as I'm enjoying the build, and I REALLY DO enjoy the scratching, it's pretty poor that such large details are missing.

It's not as if we're talking 'little bits of wiring' either.

This model is BIG.

The engine/transmission is 220mm (or 9") long!

The oil lines are 3.5mm thick, and several are 300mm long.

This is BIG STUFF.

And there are lots of them missing.

Actually, they are ALL missing.

Built OOB, the engine does look impressive as there are lots of bits to it.

Built WITH the 'missing bits' - well, time will tell.

As I said though, I'm enjoying it so far.

Roy.

[Codger]

... and we are as well. Keep us entertained.

[roymattblack]

Plug leads and wiring loom.

The kit comes with a nice rubbery top wiring harness, with attached plug leads and caps.
I’ve already mentioned my pet aversion to seam lines and this part has them in spades!
Strangely though, on every build thread I’ve seen on this kit, on various different forums, nobody does anything about it.
The builder seems to spend and age adding details and goodness knows whatever else, and then just fixes the harness to the engine, out of the box!

It took me literally a few seconds to discover that the seam lines in the rubber respond to a dragged blade in just the same way as plastic parts.
A few minutes later and I had a harness with (almost) no seam lines. Admittedly, a few are nigh on impossible to deal with as the rubber is so ‘wobbly’ in your hands but even so I was far happier than if I had just left the harness ‘as-is’.
A few dots of cyano later and the top wiring was in place.

It was now time to add a few of the engine ancillaries that will be closed in or partially hidden by future assembly.

I started with the water pump and the first job was to cut off the ridiculous ‘scaffold tube’ shaft from the kit part.
It’s about twice the thickness it should be. It was replaced with a piece of brass tube before painting and fitting to the lower engine block. Even my new shaft is still a tad too thick but it’s a definite improvement on the kit part.

Other small parts were cleaned up, painted and fitted and then a second and third smaller pieces of upper wiring were added.
I printed and fitted my own small Lamborghini tags to the upper pipework, as per Lambo reference.

One end of an upper fuel line is supposed to feed in to the side of the engine block – according to the instructions….
That would be a bit like attaching an oil line to the passenger seat!

Totally ridiculous – totally wrong.

In reality, the line in question feeds above the alternator and goes into the fuel filter at the rear.
The return line has to be scratch made and fitted to the other hole already drilled in the (scratch made) filter. Both lines are fixed to the alternator for support and to be secure.

The next task at last confirmed for me that this kit is a ‘genuine’ Pocher.

The exhaust components don’t fit together!

If assembled as per the instructions, the six ports on each side which need to be straight and in line, are completely stepped in two banks of three. There is no way they would ever fit to the engine.
The fixing pins had to be cut off and the exhaust header parts were glued in place as straight as possible. Even then, they are still stepped apart by around 5mm.
The only solution was to cut 2/3 of the way through the main exhausts and bend the parts until all the headers were in line. A bead of glue was then run into the saw cuts.
Once dry, sanded and painted all should look ok.

No pics of the exhaust bits yet...

Roy.

Edited July 15, 2014 by roymattblack

[noeyedears]

Glad to see your customary attention to detail working. I knew this would be good :-)

[roymattblack]

A small update today...

Those of you who read my Rolls Torpedo build will recall the Marks and Sparks ‘Autograph’ jacket that was sacrificed in the name of the Pocher Soft-top……

I kept the remnants and used a strip of the fabric sprayed silver to replicate the muffler bandage around part of the exhaust – again as per Lambo reference pics. I’ve seen a few other builds that have added this heat shield material and in many cases the weave is far too coarse – almost to the point of being 1:1.
The jacket material has a nice ‘grain’ that looks about right.
I looked at several real engine pics and the amount of heat shield – and on a few cars there was none at all – varies from a small piece around the thick part of the exhaust, to almost all of the rear half of the exhaust.
To make matters easier for application, I went for the smaller heat shield option.

After some of the exhaust clamp parts were BMF’d, the exhausts were glued in place.
The large rear muffler was left off at this stage so that further detail could be added to the engine.

Lots more wiring was added using Lambo reference, genuine wiring diagrams and the excellent DVD.
There is still a ton of wiring and more pipework to add, but I’m starting to suffer from ‘pipe-itis’ from all this close up work, so it’s time to go and mow the lawn or play trains in the garden….

Roy.