triumphfan Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Awesome. Really enjoying this build, thanks. The dashboard is really very nice. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Master-class building and problem solving. Another clinic conducted by Mr. Roy. The dash is both brilliant and beautiful-decals work great when neat and cleared! I'm surprised you used the Pocher cables and not your beloved wound guitar strings!-I've used them in the past. Yes, many similarities between Pocher classics. The sweaty installation of shackle U-bolts and the too-wacky camber requiring major surgery on the uprights and kingpins. A nasty and tedious surprise on my Rolls, compounded by the assembly of MMC's PE spring sets. You did fine work on getting the Pocher springs to look natural and neat. Always a treat viewing your work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamme Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 It's really a master class build. Fantastic. Congrats, Jamme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) A small update.... I continued scribing the moulded seat lines to finally remove them from the body.Trying to cover them adequately with thin leather was never going to work very well while they were fixed to the main tub. Eventually after much aching fingers, the seats were cut free, and the edges cleaned up.They also needed reducing in size around the edges by about 1mm to allow the leather to wrap around, and still let the seats fit back inside the body. As previously mentioned, I did try using the kit supplied leather but it was cut too accurately, allowing no ‘spare’ material for wrapping around the seat edges. New leather it will be, and I ordered blue to make a change from the numerous other built ‘Spiders’ in existence….Another advantage of using different leather was that there would be enough to allow me to cut the seats into separate pieces, and wrap each part individually, making much more realistic seats in the end. – I hope! The suppliers I use for my leather are sending me several different shades of blue as samples so I can pick a blue that looks right.The trouble is, I’m now going to have to remove my interior carpet and fit blue in there too. Roy. Edited October 10, 2014 by roymattblack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxfriend Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi Roy, Have you considered making up new seats from balsa wood as I did on my ongoing Sedanca? I am more than willing to share the way that I carried this out with you. Us Pocher nuts must stick together!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Funnily enough, I did consider it. PM me with any useful info please........ Many thanks. Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi Roy, Have you considered making up new seats from balsa wood as I did on my ongoing Sedanca? I am more than willing to share the way that I carried this out with you. Us Pocher nuts must stick together!! I am considering balsa also as I won't use the Pocher junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxfriend Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi again, Looking at the photo's of your seats it is pretty obvious that it is going to be more difficult than the Sedanca as they were molded as part of the body, but not impossible! I can draw a diagram and instructions to the way I would tackle it. Is there any way on here that I can e-mail this to you? That is once I have worked it out of course!! Larry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi again, Looking at the photo's of your seats it is pretty obvious that it is going to be more difficult than the Sedanca as they were molded as part of the body, but not impossible! I can draw a diagram and instructions to the way I would tackle it. Is there any way on here that I can e-mail this to you? That is once I have worked it out of course!! Larry. PM sent...... Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noeyedears Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 real leather seats, carpet, remaking seats out of wood YOU ARE ALL MAD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 real leather seats, carpet, remaking seats out of wood YOU ARE ALL MAD! Yes....... It's called 'Pocheritis'......... Build one, and you'll have it for life. Roy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PocherPete Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Then there is "acute pocheritis" This is when you have built your Pocher kits and decide you have not built them well enough so you strip them and build them again. You are then recommended to a mental institution and your "keep" is paid for by your wife. I know I am still suffering from the acute version after 23 years!! I only hope it is not too contagious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Then there is "acute pocheritis" This is when you have built your Pocher kits and decide you have not built them well enough so you strip them and build them again. You are then recommended to a mental institution and your "keep" is paid for by your wife. I know I am still suffering from the acute version after 23 years!! I only hope it is not too contagious! Are you a mind reader???? I've looked at a few bits on my Phantom Torpedo, with a vague thought of doing it again........ The GREAT advantage of Pocher kits - (or DIS advantage...) You can take them apart! Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Ehhh-not on my bucket to-do list boys. Pete-seems as though you may have some work to show us-OK? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PocherPete Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I spend more time now taking the models apart for spare parts than putting them together so my workroom is full of some built models, some half built models and checked Kits ready for others so I don't get the time I would need to build now! However, I do enjoy seeing what you guys are doing to your kits- makes me know my efforts are worthwhile! I always point buyers of the kits I sell to your threads as they can then see how you can make the Pocher kits from good ones to great ones. Keep up the fantastic work. Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 (edited) Many thanks Pete - and everyone else... The rear axle and brakes was assembled much the same as the front. I cleaned up and painted all of the parts, but I don’t intend going potty on interior details here. It will never be seen, even by me. Once I’ve built my Pocher models, I rarely (never) take the wheels off and open up the brakes to look inside! The suspension parts needed fairly major attention as they didn’t fit as per the instructions – another Pocher blunder.Thankfully the DVD explains how to correct it all. The fuel tank was assembled next - probably the worst fitting parts I’ve come across in a kit. The two halves needed serious sanding smooth on the mating faces, and they still didn’t line up anywhere. In the end, I got the top and bottom of the tank in line and ignored the sides. Once it was dry, sanded, primed and painted, I fabricated new tank sides from aluminium sheet.Much nicer and again, a bit of finish and texture variety.The assorted pipes and wired were added fairly easily. At this point the oil cooler pipes were also fitted after altering them to suit the re-located engine/gearbox. Now the car chassis is looking pretty well sorted. Bodywork next….. BTW.... For anyone wondering - the multitude of plastic boxes with numbers on are the assorted metal parts and fixings for the kit. There are 15 of them in all, some containing 3 or 4 different 'sets' of parts, and some with over 200 minuscule parts in! Roy. Edited October 13, 2014 by roymattblack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noeyedears Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 seems that pochers are designed by an alcoholic. when he is sober he turns out some of the best kits there are, but then while doing so he occasionally get a bit....merry... and things stop fitting or disappear completely. Just as well there a ppl with the patience to put it all right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 A few updated pictures. The brown carpet has now gone to make way for the blue interior. Roy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Nice radiator / cowl / engine fitment. Have you mocked-in any of the hood and body panels yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rishi Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 If Pocher made the engine with CI and alloys, sparkplugs, pressurized fuel system. This engine could be running. Well it just my imagination. Then model engineering will come into effect. Does this model have any parking brake opreation linked to service brakes. All your 1:12 builds are masterpieces. Too much patience required. Regards, Rishikesh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Many thanks for the kind words. The foot brake 'works' - in theory. The linkages are all there and operate. However, due to the inadequacies of the plastic and metal parts, by the time the movement reaches the brake shoes from the pedal, there isn't enough travel to actually operate them more than a tiny amount. I have no doubt that with a lot of time and parts improvement they would work correctly, if not very efficiently. Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamme Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Fantastic job. Congrats, Jamme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) Off we go again... Possibly to some purist’s disgust, I decided from the absolute outset to dispense with the horrible ‘fan-tail’ on the car. Not only is it utterly hideous, almost every ‘real’ car I Googled does NOT have this grim apparition on the rear end. (You might have gathered I’m not keen on it…) With any Pocher classic kit it is not only wise to test fit all the body parts before painting them – it’s imperative. It almost goes without saying that a LOT of adjusting and fiddling will be needed before paint is even considered…. The mounting holes in the body were filled and sanded smooth in preparation for the first coats of base primer after test fitting and checking that the body/chassis mounting points all line up correctly. It’s strange that as I’m building this model, I keep looking at the Rolls Royce Phantom and thinking how SMALL this Alfa really is.Side-by-side, it almost seems like a 1/12 model although I know it is 1/8.Either the Rolls Royce was a HUGE car, or the Alfa was really small. Probably a combination of both. With the main tub temporarily fitted, I attached the long sweeping wings (fenders) and found – as expected – they ‘fit where they touch’.Apparently it is known in Pocher circles that the Alfa’s have the worst fitting bodywork of all the kits.A good deal of trimming, filing and re-drilling of new mounting points is required to get the tread plate area straight along the side of the car.The Pocher designers seem to have forgotten there are things such as bolt heads in the way preventing two parts mating flat. I've posted a few pictures below to show the gap - anywhere from 3mm-8mm - between the running boards and the body.The mounting screws at the bottom edge of the body shouldn't be visible.This will be sorted. Somehow. Next, the nose shroud was fitted – or rather, not fitted.It was badly warped.One jug of near boiling water later, a bit of twisting, and I had a lovely straight part again.However – IT HAD SHRUNK! I kid you not. The whole part had shrunk by around 10% meaning it did not fit in any respect on the body. Disaster!!! More hot water, stretching, pulling, tugging…It made no difference. The nose shroud had definitely shrunk. This was confirmed when I tried to fit the chromed metal front grille. It had fitted perfectly before.Now it overhung the sides all round by about 1.5mm. After a few glugs of Chardonnay and a handful of choice words, I sent a pleading email to Peter at Pocherparts. (He’s also a member here…) My saviour!!! He has a spare!!! Roy. Edited October 16, 2014 by roymattblack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) Keep up the good struggle! I'm glad you ditched the spine tail. It will make your model almost unique against the dozens of OOB -built Spyders. So will the separated and perfectly upholstered seats. Now, did you reconcile the fenders? Planning to section them? EDIT: Also glad you sourced the nose; can't live with a smaller part. Edited October 16, 2014 by Codger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) With the odd-shaped fenders...... (wings to us over here) I'm going to try re-shaping them with a hair dryer.Apparently it works on Pocher 'old' plastics. I'm going to heat the 'bends' at each end of the tread plates and bend the actual wings (fenders) downwards by about 5mm.This will raise the treadplate by that amount, so I'll have to drill new mounting points. Similarly, I hope to alter the curve on the front and rear wings (fenders) by heating and gently bending and shaping.This way, the mounting points 'should' still be in the correct places. Final 'tweaking' will be with a file, filler and sanding...... Roy. Edited October 16, 2014 by roymattblack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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