Pocher Rolls Royce Phantom Torpedo

[Breaker]

Fancy letting us know where you live, where the spare key is and when you're popping to the shops next?

[noeyedears]

blimey. its mahoosive

[roymattblack]

Fitting the screen and the dash had me literally tearing my hair out.

There was NO WAY the left side dash fixing screw and the rear view mirror screw wanted to go in.

After almost an hour of cursing and undoing parts, I discovered that a locating lug on the screen was a tad too long – when the body/screen/dash ‘sandwich’ was in place, the screen lug was blocking access to the locating hole in the body. Of course this was invisible when the parts were all held together for screwing. A quick trim of the offending lug sorted it. Once this was done, the dash and screen frame were in alignment, and the mirror screw fitted too.

After that the steering wheel and ancillaries could finally be fitted.

The lights on the windscreen scuttle had to be fitted before the dash was added but they went on very easily. The glasses were tinted yellow/orange as per the real car, using Humbrol clear orange.

The rear bumper bar was fitted next using the supplied brackets, nuts and bolts, as were the rear licence plates and tail lights.

The licence plates were chrome Bare Metal Foiled and the actual plates were fitted. I had to make them myself as the kit doesn’t include any. They were printed on photo paper and were based on images of the real car.

The side supports for the spotlights, located just in front of the doors proved to be another piece of Pocher genius.

They are each held on with two square solid brackets that are attached with screws from the inside of the body.

Now bear in mind that the entire body, doors and dashboard are completely assembled. One screw hole is up behind the dashboard and the other is below the floor level. Fitting the screws could never happen at this stage. The brackets should have been mounted long ago, even before the body tub was attached to the floor and chassis. The only way to attach the brackets was to fit the screws to them, cut off the screw heads and glue the brackets into the holes with cyano. The vertical lamp support rod was dropped in place to make sure the brackets were in proper alignment.

The bonnet (hood) parts now needed attention.

Even taking into account the adjustments suggested in the DVD instructions, the bonnet parts still needed some tweaking.

The rear curvature needed slight filing as the curves didn’t match the scuttle and the overall length was over by around 1.5mm. Not a lot, but enough to prevent it fitting neatly.

The hinges were fitted after the parts were primed and then the whole assembly was tweaked to get the bonnet to fit neatly all round - but that's another story!!!

I've also posted a few pics to try to give a sense of the size of this beast. The green DB7 in one of the pics is a Burago 1/18 model.

Roy.

Edited December 19, 2013 by roymattblack

[Graham77]

This is stunning, have been reading it for a while and am amazed by the intricacy of the kit and the fantastic job you are doing with it. Had a look at the Lamborghini instructions as well and although tempted can't justify the price for the current range but if they considered a Cobra could be very tempted. Excellent way to spend retirement I think. Keep up the good work and the excellent commentary

Graham

[Bengalensis]

I have been following this thread, and I must admit it has sort of changed my mind a bit. Before I have never really been terribly impressed with the Pocher kits I have seen built up. Partly I think because of the builder not having quite the skills needed, and partly because of the shortcomings that the kits actually have.

Your build of this Rolls Royce have changed my mind though, all the way to the point that I'm considering that I may have to get, and build, an Alfa or a Mercedes, just for the fun of building it. Really. I would never have thought that before, I really wouldn't.

Your work looks great and you are really turning around a model that may look impressive in the box, but not always built up, into a really beautiful finished model, and with a very enjoyable build time as well.

The additions like the wood printed decals and their application looks great, as do the floor mats. Even the added Persian rug looks convincing.

I look forward to the continued progress.

[roymattblack]

Wow.... such kind praise from you guys. Many thanks.

Now - Getting the bonnet to fit neatly all round…

Easier said than done.

There are four panels to the bonnet. Two upper halves, one left side and one right side.

All of the panels are hinged with each other and that’s where the problem starts.

At the end of the day, the parts are plastic and very flexible. The hinges are steel and aren’t flexible at all.

I spent a considerable time heating the bonnet tops and twisting them to fit the differing curves of the scuttle/radiator but when the hinges were fixed in place, my ‘twisting’ all but vanished.

The panels no longer fitted.

Also, the panels were fractionally too long, the end curve radii wasn’t the same as on the main body, the side panels had a slight slope to the front vertical, they were also about 2mm too deep to sit flush with the scuttle, the radiator, AND sit flat at the bottom on the chassis…

I spent somewhere in the order of 3-4 hours adjusting, filing, trimming and sanding, as well as more boiling water twisting. This was punctuated with frequent breaks, cans of ‘Stella Cidre’ and a few glasses of Chardonnay to prevent me launching the bonnet out of the back door.

Perseverance paid off however and in the end I had a bonnet that fitted (although I say it myself) pretty well perfectly.

The VERY important horizontal ridge at the upper bonnet sides lines up nicely with the ridge on the main body, and the one on the radiator.

I have seen numerous built models of the Rolls, and rarely does this part work out properly.

Yes, a bit of self-trumpet-blowing, but I’m chuffed to bits with this bit as during the assembly of the bonnet I was quite convinced it would never fit.

I have noticed there's a slight downward bend in the upper central hinge and I'll attend to that.

Painting next…

Roy.

[bentwaters81tfw]

Roy I can see you being offered a job down at Goodwood before long!

[roymattblack]

Roy I can see you being offered a job down at Goodwood before long!

I would imagine working on a real car would be less of a headache at times! (Although an enjoyable headache - mostly...)

Roy.

[Breaker]

You've made some good progress on this one! I'm looking forward to you finishing it... So you can start on the Lambo

[roymattblack]

After a layer of gloss black, the bonnet (hood) was sprayed Halfords chrome silver to match the wings. (Fenders)

I couldn’t completely remove the downward curve to the upper centre of the bonnet without risking cracking the panels or breaking the hinges off so I glued two rigid steel bars inside the bonnet near the central hinge and clamped the whole thing together while the glue dried.

Nice straight bonnet and the steel bars don’t show even when the bonnet is opened.

The bonnet was then put away to dry fully, and also to prevent unwanted finger marks while the car and lights are still being worked on. It will be fitted at the very end, along with the lovely little cast and plated ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’.

Next was to begin assembling the multitude of lights.

I began with the spotlights near the doors. The brackets are supplied as flat steel parts that must be bent to shape and then fixed with tiny nuts and bolts. Not a problem but as usual, fiddly if you don’t have 1/8 scale fingers. The lamp glasses have the three point star moulded in and this was covered in BMF instead of painting them.

The main headlamp assembly was equally straight forward except the lamps work and the thin wires from the bulbs have to be fed down the vertical lamp tubes to go through the chassis which was surprisingly awkward.

Although the car is now looking fairly complete, I still have the operating convertible roof to attend to at some point. Everything I’ve read about it tells me that to make it work, means that when it’s in the ‘up’ position, it looks awful, and saggy.

We’ll see…

Roy.

[PocherPete]

Hello Roy,

Following your build with interest - keep up the great work - stop for Christmas lunch though!!

I am not sure if you are going to have the headlights working but the Pocher bulbs work for just a small period of time (if at all!!)

I have used LED's instead and they work really well.

They are often used in model railway setups and I have bought from a guy on eBay who is still selling them there- Item number 360478715861 if they are of interest to you.

Peter

[roymattblack]

Hello Pete.

Many thanks for that. LED's it will be!

Roy.

[hootch732]

I'm lost for words about this build, awesome just doesn't cut it really. Did ebay Posher, way way way out of my price range, keep up the good word

[roymattblack]

Hope you all had a good Christmas......

I've eaten loads of Turkey, mince pies so now it's time to start on the Rolls..... (Groan...)

The front bumper and number plate were added next – another feat of digital dexterity – and the main lamps were assembled, minus the actual bulbs. The kit bulbs have been dumped and 3mm LED’s substituted as it seems that the Pocher bulbs are notorious for having a very short life.

As yet they haven’t arrived so the lamps are assembled and in but the glasses and front rings aren’t attached.

The spare wheel covers were painted primer/black/silver and the outer band of chrome added using strips of a thick self-adhesive mirror foil I happened to have in my bits box. The kit does not provide these bands even though there is a moulded recess to fit them and they are very prominent on the real car. It looks as if Pocher was going to include them in the kit but never did.

The wheel covers are a very tight fit over each wheel and three narrow raised ridges inside each cover had to be trimmed away. As supplied, there was a real risk of damaging the wheel and at worst, pushing the spokes out if the covers were ever tried to be removed.

Once all this was attended to, it was also apparent that there was no way the spare wheels could be fitted to the supports as per the instructions.

Each spare wheel hub is supposed to fit over a horizontal bar protruding from the wheel supports on the body and then locked in place with a chromed fixing lug, but the wheel also needs to drop into a large recess in the front wheel arch.

There is no way of doing this without bending the horizontal bar upwards a great deal, risking damage to the chassis rails. Even trying this made no difference, as the now-angled bar wouldn’t go through the horizontal wheel hub, once the wheel is located in the wheel arch recess.

The only solution was to superglue the nut from the inner end of the horizontal bar to the spare wheel support on the chassis, and screw the entire bar into it, through the hub from the outside of the wheel. This way, the bar is no longer ‘fixed’ to the car with the chromed fixing lug on the outside being the removable part, as it is in the instructions.

The chromed lug was glued to the bar and the whole thing was made to be removable.

A fiddly and not entirely satisfactory solution but at least it works, and the spare wheels can be ‘fairly’ easily removed by unscrewing the chromed lug, thereby taking out the horizontal bar with it.

I’ve started to clean up and paint the convertible roof frame parts and the ‘canvas’ has been ironed to remove 30-odd years’ worth of creases…

Roy.

[roymattblack]

Drat!..... A problem!!!

After ironing the creases from the roof material, it became instantly obvious that the pre-cut fabric was totally out of symmetry. This meant the supplied roof ‘canvas’ couldn’t be used.

No matter where the roof frame (which will eventually be cut into separate pieces and painted) was laid for alignment with one part of the fabric, the other three sides were completely wrong. Not only was the material cut in a kind of ‘diamond’ shape instead of a parallel rectangle, the rear window aperture was not central and was also crooked, one end being higher than the other. I tried steaming and stretching the material in opposing directions but it made no difference. Even the ‘wing’ flaps that would become the rear side panels were different shapes and in different places on each side.

The only solution will be to find some similar (or better) material and make my own roof template that actually fits, before cutting the fabric out. It was sheer luck that I hadn’t cut the roof frame parts apart yet as they will be needed ‘assembled’ as supplied to make my template.

A very frustrating situation, as this holds up any further work on the almost completed model.

Roy.

[noeyedears]

after all the engineering that went into producing the model, they cant cut a bit of cloth right!

[triumphfan]

What a disappointment. I was looking forward to seeing how you could make the roof look anything like good. The built example I have seen had a nasty saggy roof.

This is going to be tricky. Have the doll's house brigade got anything suitable I wonder?

[roymattblack]

Yes, very frustrating, particularly as we have 'New year' to contend with, delaying me going on the search for material.

I too have seen the 'saggy-roof' syndrome this kit suffers with and I'm not yet sure how to solve it, but I'm determined that a baggy lid isn't going to let my car down....

However.............

Roy (In hope!)

[roymattblack]

A bit more...

In the meantime, the replacement LED lamps arrived. The actual LED’s were too small to fit in the lamp housings but this was easily rectified by sliding them into short lengths of black rubber tube which made them a nice tight and neat fit. The wires are then fed down through the lamp bowl and support tubes, through the chassis and out underneath the car, to be wired up and strapped neatly in place later on. Before any of this was done, the LED’s were tested to make sure they work!

The headlamps have nicely detailed and ribbed inner reflector bowls, metal three-point stars and very clear ‘glasses’, all held in with tight chromed outer bezels. I was very pleased with the end result as I always think that one of the parts of any model car that gives away the fact it IS a model, are the headlights, and in this case, they really do look real.

Wiring the lights to the dashboard switch and then routing the wires to the battery which will go in the boot (trunk) will necessitate turning the car upside down once again – something I’m very reluctant to do at this stage although I can see no alternative.

Peter at ‘Pocherparts.com’ has very kindly searched to see if he has a spare canvas top and even though he hasn’t got one at present, he has very kindly made a full size template from a ‘good one’ from one of his stock of kits, and sent it to me. Now all I need to do is get some appropriate fabric.

The model is looking very ‘complete’ now but I still estimate a few weeks more work.

BTW.... The last pic makes the front bumper look crooked - it isn't - it's the awkward angle I was holding the camera.

Roy.

Edited January 1, 2014 by roymattblack

[thinkbig]

Hello Roy,

for the material of the top, I'd recommend some silk. It is rather thinner, than the kit provided cotton fabric and makes it easier to replicate a folding top. A pocket handkerchief can make it. The silky shine can be brushed with some flat varnish.

Cheers

Michael

[roymattblack]

Just a very quick update...

After nail-bitingly putting the Rolls upside down, the wiring was sorted and tucked away.
The battery is in the boot (trunk) of the car.

To turn the lights on, you have to turn the little ignition key which works, but is incredibly awkward to get at being under and behind the right hand side of the steering wheel!

Excuse the naff picture of the lights being on, but I turned off the camera flash and just held the camera.

Some better pics later on.

Roy.

[bap1609]

been following this post from the beginning. excellent work Roy.

the lights look really great, white size led's have you used?

[roymattblack]

been following this post from the beginning. excellent work Roy.

the lights look really great, white size led's have you used?

Many thanks for the kind words.

The lights are white 3mm 9v LEDS wired to a 9v battery in the boot. They are surprisingly bright and in my 'cave', they actually cast beams on the facing wall!

Roy.

[bap1609]

Many thanks for the kind words.The lights are white 3mm 9v LEDS wired to a 9v battery in the boot. They are surprisingly bright and in my 'cave', they actually cast beams on the facing wall! Roy.

Hi Roy

Have you wired up all the lights or just the headlights?

[roymattblack]

Only the headlights.

They are the only ones in the kit with the facility to do so. The others could be wired up but it would be a difficult task at this stage due to wiring access etc without the wires showing, being visible under the car and so on.

If I was building the car again, I would make a proper wiring loom for all the lights, switches, battery etc and fit the loom at the beginning of the chassis build up.

I will certainly bear it in mind when I build the Mercedes and the Alfa.

Roy.