Codger

Just what you needed - extra depth and detail. You are already plunging through the sub-atomic level. The photos look like reassembly photos after an engine tear-down. Scale tools scattered about would be the only way to add more 'realism'. Be sure to 'do no harm' when adding more top end parts and wiring - a very difficult task.

Work continues... I confess I'm having difficulty making a cohesive build story for you to follow because David sends lot of photos but scant descriptions of the work. He also (as many of us do) moves to different areas of the build at various times. There are NO instruction sheets for this type advanced work. I'll start with the hood sides and nose area because that is where the the change to a Spezial Roadster is very obvious and very structural. Here new longer side panels are fashioned with elongated vents due to the engine set back. The exhausts exit in different places now. At top is a stock panel. Part of the off-sequence work is the fashioning of brass trim around the vents. Note that Cox does not make brass parts and glue them to the car. Instead he drills each piece and inserts mounting 'pins' of minute brass rod. Then drills the body panel - getting exact locations is black magic to me. Then each parts is filed, polished and final chrome plated in batches. Large 'fin' in center is rear deck trim. A trim strip for the hood side edge: Speaking of the hood, .015" brass sheet is the choice material which he bends on a brake and test fits repeatedly: A very crafty trick seen here for the first time is how David has perfectly folding hood top panels. He taught me this and my Rolls benefited. An 0-80 or 00-90 bolt has a brass tube soldered (horizontally) to the hex on what will be the back end of the hood. A similar operation is done for the front. The brass tubes must be just large enough to accept the pin of the piano hinge. Then holes are drilled in upper radiator and top of the cowl in the correct locations. The bolts are threaded in when the locations are correct and adjustable up or down to level the hood tops. A nut can be used under the body to hold the adjustment. I differed slightly on my Rolls by making the front pivot vertical with the hood pin bent 90 degrees to enter it. This made it easy to slide in the rear pivot and drop in the front - for easy removal: - Glad that's over. Clearly seen here is that the radiator is now well behind the front wheel centerline. Much different than the stock kit: I think that now David is showing us that a new wider headlight bar needs to be fashioned. The mock-ups are endless: As preview to whats coming, here is the signature feature of a Cox Benz model; beautiful brass/chrome body trim. He has an amazing touch for cutting and bending sheet stock in graceful, tapered forms. All the molded on body trim has been sanded off. These must also curve around the bulges in fenders and body. All get pinned in place. This client will be very happy. Indeed, this is the fourth or fifth Pocher classic he has commissioned from David. I'll be back with more after a long nap.. C

Rich, were it mine, I'd put the springs on my belt sander and take them down 3mm's at a time, trying as I go. This gives you a flat mating edge atop the spring like factory. That looks like 10+mm's above the tire. et both sides even. If you don't have a belt sander, try your neighbors or a local wood working shop. Yes adjust the shocks as you note.

Tip - while mocking up the panels, run Tammy tape on the mating edges so as not to scuff.... Keep us posted this is getting exciting.

Binks, your skill with 1:1 lacquers is professional. Lovely build in factory colors. The TorqThrusts are the perfect period accessory. The only nit I can pick for your next one is to concentrate on chassis ride height before the spraying starts. Vettes of any generation don't sit that high over the tires.

Your book is only partially right - it's a fantastic result. Ron you have truly raised the bar on what the standard is for a museum kit-built (as opposed to a scratchbuilt) replica. Sadly your great camera work still can't capture the subtle realism you slavishly put in your finishes. It does capture the myriad tiny fasteners/springs/plumbing that the original has though. What a model we'll see at completion...

I'll pass on your compliments Roy. Yes he does. I now have some pix of the insanity he does on these making 23 (I think) of the fender and running board chrome strips. Exquisite fine thin brass shapes that get chromed. I will try to outline the additional trouble spots he reveals in the assembly phase but he has done a ton of work on the trim, brass hood tops and custom made hood side vents and pipes. I think just to get it overwith.... More soon...

Good I'm glad you felt same as me. Wish I could see it in the fles -errr-al-u-minium. Mate, psych's only give up if you're out of money...

My thoughts...? Brilliant. I'd like a bit of sheen on the block castings, just a hint but that's me. You will need an optometrist and psychiatrist when finished. Those are my thoughts.

Jeremy, great looking work so far and novel idea to open the block. Great to have a new Pocher classic build appear. If you look at my pinned Rolls Royce thread at top of this page, you will find on the last page or two that I am posting a 540K build by Dave Cox. I tell of many of the advanced techniques he uses and what the kit trouble spots are. More will be coming to its completion. Great to see your car here./C

I'm late to this party but brilliance all over the place! Pascal, for the great catch of the incorrect fitting. I understand Ron's mania to get it correct - in keeping with his approach to the whole build. Great. Then there's the brilliance of Ron's thoroughness and finally his unreal skills of finish. I would have thought the rotors to have a brilliant sheen as cut metal from use. But I have seen many exactly in that 'heavy iron' gray, like GT-40's. Brake ducts just right. Hope all this goodness visible under the wing but if not we can enjoy it here. Thanks Mr Ron !

Delicious Poul....

Sad that they learned how to do weird things on the earlier cars. Like the Rolls cowl to body sides joins. It seems my country men didn't learn from earlier mistakes. Like the body tooling guys didn't compare notes with the chassis guys. But they did get many areas artfully beautiful.

And thanks to you John for taking time to write some thoughts on the work. I had always thought that Pocher Benz kits were superior to RR, FIAT and Alfas because they came after. But here Cox reveals they had some pretty poor engineering as models. Of course he has surmounted all the negative issues which is why I try to present his work. I know there will be 'pretty' pix near the end of assembly.

Here we go... Far from a step-by-step but more than enough info for prospective builders to see clearly what's involved. I am at a disadvantage explaining some things because I never built one of these, only the Rolls and Alfa. but I'll let Dave start off: 'I am using a K-90 Rumble Seat Mercedes-Benz to build a 500K long tail Spezial Roadster. Because the kit comes with an accurate 500 engine (which is correct for the earlier roadster (K-91) and K-74 cabriolet), the heavy lifting is just relocating the engine and radiator and shortening the body to accommodate the set-back engine. ' I have learned that David had previously built this car for his customer and now the customer returned it to get the above named changes. Plus big additions like all the real chrome trim on these lavish cars - which you will see. The beginning of the engine set back: Note the rear engine mount is now in a wider part of the frame: David solves this easily with a filler block as the frame and crossmember are metal: The engine gets all the usual delicious Cox upgrades and styrene sheet is used to make the cowl deeper. Remember the body is shortened and set back: Here the body has been cut apart at the w'screen area and a splice inserted to make it wider. Also the body length was shortened with cuts at the door area of the rocker panels. David had some bad words for Pocher at this point. You can see the the forward body 'legs' protruding from the main body are floating - they aren't attached to the frame. Also Pocher provides NO way to attach the body rear to the chassis - it too floats. He solves that with about a 1" block of wood to tie both together: A mock-up with the fenders and deck as David received them. The horrible gap in the front apron will be filled with a hand-formed copper sheet - because it's softer than brass. The doors had been previously cut with a diagonal slice down their center. Note the top edge at the dash; it will get a filler piece: Here the body gets sheet reinforcement under the weak door area: That's a start for us but work has continued for David. New hood top (brass) and side panels need be made because the vents and exhaust pipes are further back. I'm getting detailed photos of how he fabricates the numerous chrome-on-brass trim strips. I'm told a really hard job is the headlight spreader bar. A MMC chrome windshield will be coming. This will be an expensive baby on the shelf. More soon...

Larry, as Poul requests below, please post your Alfa here. Loved your RR and miss your work and stunning professional upholstery. The airplane guys have had you long enough ! Come back ! C

You get excellent results - you cheater!

I see you have lost no skills in your extended absence. The parts and sheer number of them are impressive. I shall search high and low to find that scoundrel that has bedeviled you with harassment ! Meantime, can you explain the plating process you are using for the bright parts?

-and I forgot to add. What Ron is doing is the most difficult type of finish to replicate - nearly new and lightly used castings. It's far easier to make leaky, grungy messes with washes and powders to simulate neglect and hard use.

You've nailed virtually all of it. Especially like the block and I'd go easy towards the bronze. It's very like the snaps I've seen of engines not in the car. I've said before - this is a clinic. Wish I could do my own all over again using these methods. But all my engine-out references show painted, greasy old lumps. Quite a difference from the subtle methods used here. Now I'd enlarge that hole in the flywheel end, fill the block with sand, adding the one element this realism lacks - weight. MFH engines have this charming feature....

An absolute clinic on finishes and techniques. Already unmatched realism awaiting only aging and patina. More updates a welcomed idea Ron. Carry on !

My eyes glazed over seeing your Lindberg coupe. I immediately imagined it in 1/8 scale, sitting next to my Pocher Rolls. A wonderful dream. Your builds, paint aside, are very neat. Ever consider disassembly and paint stripping? Then a nice spray finish...

...sounds like you have one on the bench.... And where is a certain Alfa you've kept from US?

Pocher Benz by Dave Cox... As promised, here is the beginning of a different Pocher classic than the Rolls Royce-heavy content previously. Pocher had created a baffling array of these Benz models of the '30's and I am far less familiar with them than my Rolls. So I asked David some basic questions to clarify for all of us - he would know. In several places I reprint what he wrote me verbatim so as not to cause error. Here is a presentation of the original cars and as you'll see, MB produced many variations on this car's theme: "The 500k was a range of Mercedes straight eight cars. The K stood for kompressor or supercharged. Among the body styles were cabriolets ( A,B,C, D designations indicated the configuration of side windows. Cabriolet A had a single door window; Cabriolet B had a door window and a small window behind it; C had four doors, so the window behind the front door was a door window; cabriolet D had four doors plus a quarter window behind the rear door.). There were two roadsters offered, one on a short chassis (Kurtz) and one on a long chassis. The long chassis had a set-back radiator and engine and exposed side pipes. These were called Spezial roadsters because they were, and they first became available in 1935 with 5 liter engines.. Early cars had shorter tails, later cars had extended tails to accommodate spare wheels in the bodywork instead of spare wheels mounted a behind the body." "There were two Mercedes engine series, the 500 and the 540, both designating displacement, and unfortunately there is some overlap. There are some long-tail 500’s (a handful) but most are 540’s and were available in late 1936. As far as I know, there were no short tail 540s. 500 =5.0 liters. 540=5.4 liters. K= kompressor. (Not to be confused with “Kurtz” which means short wheelbase). The three rumble seat cars have 500 engines but are listed erroneously as 540K’s. Nor are they roadsters because they have roll-up windows in the doors. The only ‘fact’ is the ‘rumble seat’ designation." Oh, oh -I'm baffled already; setback engine, short tailed, long tailed, with windows, without, 5 liter, 5.4, long chassis, short body and engines that could be spread across several of them. OK but which of the Pocher kits are which and what about their quality? They came after Rolls and are they better? "The prototype cabriolet A that Pocher represented with the K 74 is a one-off cabriolet A with Spezial roadster details (leather covered dashboard, V’ed windshield, exposed exhaust). Mercedes listed this car as a Spezial Cabriolet, but the designation is hand written on the build sheet and may be simply “spezial”. The engine for this car is not set back, but the V’ed windshield appears to be unique for cabriolets." K-74 Cabriolet four seats (black with top); K-80 red plastic version K-82-90 Roadster, Rumble Seat Roadster, white, red, maroon two seats no top K-91 'true roadster' plastic wheels, tan and brown, fewer metal pieces, famously sold for $99 by Model Expo. "K-91 is best, but doesn’t come with the metal spoke wire wheels, and the cabriolet, while accurate, has all the shortcomings of the rumble seat cars. Metal sub-frame, wonky door fit, some lovely castings, some disgraceful castings, diabolical wire wheels, rear of body is totally unsupported . I am thinking a C+ is about right, with a bit added for the wonderful suspensions. Take some off for the old-timey tin windshield frame and Dufus profile, add a bit for the wonderful subject and nice dashboard. Call it a B-." He ought to know right? THIS model: "The kit I am using is definitely a K-90, the True Roadster is a K-91." The version he is building is a 540K Rumble-seat Roadster. OK lads, class is over. But there could be a snap quiz at any time so be prepared. But I promise there will be pictures of work in progress (some) and surely final pretty stuff. I have only a few right now at the molecular level but more will come. This one is definitely getting scads of chrome (real) trim and many of the standard Cox features. It has already had an engine set back, body shortening and other heinous acts performed on it and I have some of that. More to come...

Great link mate! Just what he needs (.25 mm) right on front page.