Pocher Bugatti T50 Coupé de Ville: a resurrection

[CrazyCrank]

36 minutes ago, krow113 said:

I think you'll find that chain set is plastic rollers. The only one available with metal rollers ,that I can find , is the new MFH Brough chain, now sold separately.

 

I don't think so but cannot be sure....look at the pictures on these links:

- http://www.topstudiohobby.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=26#.WBEJFVSLR9M

- http://www.hiroboy.com/112_Chain_Set_for_Honda_RC211V--product--2360.html

 

[CrazyCrank]

17 minutes ago, sharknose156 said:

Great work CC !!

Thierry hang on strong, you are doing great.

Chains are never easy !  

 

Your work on the brakes is really Bugattiesque to the hilt. 

just take a look back at the great work you have done so far ...

keep performing !

 

 

Many thanks Sam, for your encouragements  and for your dithyrambic comments  

[krow113]

1 hour ago, CrazyCrank said:

 

I don't think so but cannot be sure....look at the pictures on these links:

- http://www.topstudiohobby.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=26#.WBEJFVSLR9M

- http://www.hiroboy.com/112_Chain_Set_for_Honda_RC211V--product--2360.html

 

Yes I was thinking of another set I had for the 211

[Pouln]

Hat off for what you are doing here. Wonderful additions!

Keep it coming, CC

[CrazyCrank]

Thank you very much for your nice words, Pouln

Yes I'll keep it coming.

At the moment, nothing new because a very busy week at my office..

And I'm still waiting for two orders that have gone astray since their shipment....and cannot achieve the braking system wiithout the missing parts.

 

Probably no news until this week-end.

So I'm going to work today on another parts...

Stay tuned, and thanks for watching 

[CrazyCrank]

I'd planned to work on my spare spark plugs and a firewall storage for them, but my fingers have decided to build another thing

 

If you remember, this Bugatti has, as the Mefistofele, the Fiat 806, the Alfa Romeo 2300C and many others, Hartford shock absorbers added  to leaf springs.

On the Bugatti T50, the strength of these shock absorbers can be adjusted directly from the dashboard, using knobs.

There is a Knob on the right, for the front shock absorbers, and one on the left, for the rear shock absorbers.

 

 

 

The adjusting system is not included in the Pocher Kit, except for the knobs "Dufaux et Repusseau"

So I've scratch built it, according to the reference photos.

 

 

I've employed:

 

- 0.7 mm black electrical wire, that I got stripping an USB cable

- M1 brass nuts and washers

- 0.5 mm brass rod

- 1.5 mm brass tube

- 1 mm outer / 0.7 mm inner  gauge brass tube.

- Pliers, sanding bits

- 0.5 mm / 0.8 mm / 1.3 mm drill bits

- Needle files and a Dremel grinding wheel 0.5 mm thick

- CA gel

- NO soldering iron at this scale !

 

 

Step by step

 

1/ Strip an end of the 0.7 electrical wire, over 30 mm, and twist the iron strands to imitate a twisted steel cable (as bike brake cables)

 

 

2/ Take your 1.5 mm brass tube, and drill it bored-through with 0.5 mm drill bit, at 1.5 mm of an end

 

 

3/ Carve a notch on this end, over 3 mm, perpendicular to the axis of 0.5 mm holes, using the Dremel grinding disk, with hands, not on the Dremel tool

 

  

 

4/ Drill two 0.5 mm holes at 1.5 mm  of the end of the notch

 

 

5/ Cut this "connector"  off the tube, and sand it at both end to get a 4.5 mm length

 

  

 

6/ Now, you own theses parts:

 

 

7/ Glue a nut and a washer on the stripped black electrical wire

 

  Sorry, forgotten to take a picture for the washer

 

8/ Take your 0.5 mm brass rod, cut 10 mm. Then thread this rod through the holes of your connector, trapping the lever of the shock absorber. You must verify that the two holes of the connector are placed upward when the lever is put on the shock absorber.

 

  

 

The 0.5 mm will be flatten one end and cutted, then cutted other end, that is flattened too after, to prevent accidental unmounting

 

9/ thread the electrical wire on the "grommet" placed on the external arm of the shock absorber, and glue the washer on it with a micro-drop of CA gel

 

 

10/ thread on the wire a 1 mm piece of 1.00 outer / 0.7 mm inner brass tube, and glue it against the wire near the "grommet"

 

  

 

11/ Thread  the free end of this wire into the connector and make it come out at the lever attached end (it's a fastidious job when the connector is attached on the lever....for the second system, I've attached the connector on the lever AFTER this phase). Then fix  the lever on the disks of the shock absorber.. Adjust the length of the wire and tighten it, then glue with CA gel

Theoretically, you get this:

 

On the right side:

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

On the left side

 

  

 

 

Both sides

 

 

 

12/ The cables of this adjusting system must come to the dashboard. They cross over the leaf springs and under the frame rails, then move into the rails and finally come out through  the rail near the firewall, via holes to be drilled.

I used my 0.8 the 1.3 drill bits to dril theses holes, and then it has been easy to install the cables

 

 

13/ Next steps for this adjusting system :

 

a/ install at the back side of the dash the housing of the knob-actuated mechanism that pull or release the cables

 

    

 

b/ Make the same adjusting system for the rear shock absorbers

 

 

 

That's all for now,Gentlemen.

 

 I've spent a lot of time today to prepare a selection of my build pictures to create a gallery that will be published later.

 

Stay tuned if you like, and thank you for watching

Edited November 1, 2016 by CrazyCrank

[sharknose156]

Glad your parcel came through it seems. amazing, this is watchmaking !

 

This Pocher build is mesmerizing. i love the fact that one is in fact rebuilding a small car actually, minus a real combustion chamber and fuel.

i look forward to see a picture where we can see the size of the chassis you are working on.

[CrazyCrank]

10 hours ago, sharknose156 said:

Glad your parcel came through it seems. amazing, this is watchmaking !

 

This Pocher build is mesmerizing. i love the fact that one is in fact rebuilding a small car actually, minus a real combustion chamber and fuel.

i look forward to see a picture where we can see the size of the chassis you are working on.

 

My parcels are lost in the "cloud", so no chain  and no new cable as for now !

 

Thank you for your generous comment !

 

I'm not happy with my build, because I've not found the way to reduce and reproduce the twinkle of my spark plugs 

 

Here is an overview of the chassis, 65 cm long I think...The tiles of the floor are 30 cm square...

 

Edited November 2, 2016 by CrazyCrank

[sharknose156]

Thank you !

[Dr. Fiat]

Awesome detail!  So will your dashboard knob actually put enough tension on the cable to actuate the lever?  This is just incredible....

 

Thanks

 

Darin

[CrazyCrank]

2 hours ago, Dr. Fiat said:

Awesome detail!  So will your dashboard knob actually put enough tension on the cable to actuate the lever?  This is just incredible....

 

Thanks

 

Darin

 

No Darin,  not at all...I'm not so crazy  and overall unable to do so.....but it's possible, difficult but possible 

 

The dashboard knobs won't actuate anything, but I've planned to make them turnable as on the real car

[Dr. Fiat]

Fantastic- well, they surely look functional!!!!  Great job!

[Pouln]

wow, stunning.

thanks a lot for showing us the tension cable setup.

[CrazyCrank]

Thanks a lot, Pouln

You're welcome, it's a pleasure to share with passionate people 

[larchiefeng]

I'm just getting caught up with this build after not seeing it for about a week or so but, wow! The details on the hand brake and chains for the brakes are pretty incredible! It's a shame that the Pocher parts aren't strong enough to support them actually working but, as you pointed out the aesthetics and details over the kit parts are ten times better. There's some seriously great work going on here! 

[CrazyCrank]

1 hour ago, larchiefeng said:

I'm just getting caught up with this build after not seeing it for about a week or so but, wow! The details on the hand brake and chains for the brakes are pretty incredible! It's a shame that the Pocher parts aren't strong enough to support them actually working but, as you pointed out the aesthetics and details over the kit parts are ten times better. There's some seriously great work going on here! 

 

Thank you very much, Larchiefeng, for this nice comment and encouragements

 

Probably the whole system could have been entirely functional, IF i had thought BEFORE building the brake drums that I wanted it to be so !

I should/could  have studied and modified in a better way the Pocher parts (springs, levers etc.) in order my future enhancements allow the system working. But I'd not planned to build them...the idea has occured later !

In fact, I'm pretty crazy and rather confusing.....It's too late now and I don't want to waste time disassembling the whole system, trying to enhance the brake drums, and then reassembling, and furthermore, I've not the certitude to be successfull.

 

At the risk of surprising you and destroying your illusions, I must recognize that I'm still a newbie 

[mbdesignart]

Wow, model engineering at it's finest. Your work is impressive, I'll be keeping an eye on this build.

[CrazyCrank]

29 minutes ago, mbdesignart said:

Wow, model engineering at it's finest. Your work is impressive, I'll be keeping an eye on this build.

 

Thank you for the nice comment, Mbdesignart

[larchiefeng]

15 hours ago, CrazyCrank said:

 

Thank you very much, Larchiefeng, for this nice comment and encouragements

 

Probably the whole system could have been entirely functional, IF i had thought BEFORE building the brake drums that I wanted it to be so !

I should/could  have studied and modified in a better way the Pocher parts (springs, levers etc.) in order my future enhancements allow the system working. But I'd not planned to build them...the idea has occured later !

In fact, I'm pretty crazy and rather confusing.....It's too late now and I don't want to waste time disassembling the whole system, trying to enhance the brake drums, and then reassembling, and furthermore, I've not the certitude to be successfull.

 

At the risk of surprising you and destroying your illusions, I must recognize that I'm still a newbie 

 

Been there done that. Things just sort of evolve as you go through a build as long and involved as these Pochers. When I started the Mercedes, I never thought that it would go anywhere near as far as it wound up. Of course none of the modifications were planned at the beginning. I was hoping to just finish it with a decent paint job but, as you go along you learn things and rethink things over and over again until you realize that you could have done it better with some planning. So, that was one of the things that I learned from that build; plan the build and build the plan. I know I'm taking a long time getting started on my next build but, I'm trying to actually plan the build this time. That's the good thing about modeling; there's always the next build and you take what you learned from one build to the next.

[Codger]

1 hour ago, larchiefeng said:

 

I never thought that it would go anywhere near as far as it wound up. Of course none of the modifications were planned at the beginning. I was hoping to just finish it with a decent paint job but, as you go along you learn things and rethink things over and over again until you realize that you could have done it better with some planning. So, that was one of the things that I learned from that build; plan the build and build the plan. I know I'm taking a long time getting started on my next build but, I'm trying to actually plan the build this time. That's the good thing about modeling; there's always the next build and you take what you learned from one build to the next.

Truer words never spoken. A factor that fosters plan changes and increases toil and detail is the exposure we have to the ideas and techniques of others seen on sites such as this. That was a major factor in showing me how far these things can go towards improvement and challenged me to stretch my envelope. The influence of others is a good (if expensive) thing.

Good fun if you have the temperament and patience for it. Right now if I'm correct there is not one large scale build being conducted strictly by the instruction sheet. Indeed, several are being scratch built or very near to it.

[Roy vd M.]

Recent build progress in this thread has been incredible (yet again), I must say you Pocher builders are truly dedicated. I've been reading through the first few pages of Codger's Rolls Royce thread and both your hunger and strive for perfect finishes is as astonishing as it is instantly recognizable. It may be true that Pocher builders encourage each other to always go one step further. Well, I'm still to read Roy's threads and have been warned that they are just as awe-inspiring. Great forum. 

 

To inform the folks who have been waiting about fuel tank gauge info:

 

A month and a half ago I advised @CrazyCrank to contact Lauman museum in The Hague to ask his question about the fuel tank gauge. Is it there? Could you make a photo? Could you send it to me? I explained what it was for, a modeller's passion and not the average model... one that will have thousands of working and studying hours in it. 

 

CrazyCrank sent an e-mail. No reaction... a few weeks later I attempted myself. After all, I had recommended the museum as being (as was my impression at the time) friendly and probably willing to help. I wrote a very polite e-mail, asking if they could please help my model building friend. Weeks passed, no reaction. Not even an e-mail confirming receipt. Then I wrote a second e-mail, saying that in a few days I'd visit Duinrell attraction park near The Hague the following weekend. If it were more convenient for them, I said, I could visit the museum and make the photo myself. It's really a matter of 5 minutes for them... and they have this car, one of two survivors worldwide. 5 minutes for thousands of hours! Again my e-mail was very friendly, describing my hope for their cooperation. No reaction whatsoever.

 

A few days ago I mailed them once more. Again friendly, but this time informing them that in my view it is quite impolite to not even send an answer. The least thing they could have done is reply "We don't fulfill requests like yours, sorry. We hope to see you in Louwman museum soon. Bye". That would have been an answer, at least, and acceptable to me, be it a pity for CrazyCrank. 

 

And as you have come to expect, no answer. 

 

Today I was in The Hague but unfortunately I did not find the time to visit them. I'd have loved to speak to the communications mNfwe. I might try to phone him / her anyway, warning him that their mail replying department employee has died or, if still alive, has failed to bother about answering the mails sent to him / her. The museum has a good reputation and is one of the largest and oldest car museums worldwide, but their communications is... well, just absent. 

 

Perhaps to be continued, perhaps not. Meanwhile CrazyCrank had found an example fuel gauge on a contemporain Bugatti model, so he'll start scratching it from that source. Unfortunate but this is sometimes how businesses and people are. 

[CrazyCrank]

Received my TopStudio 1:12 scale bike chain today evening, left my office at 10 PM, so, just had a glance on this set

 

Wow, much more impressive than the Hiroboy's one

All is metal machined, included the rolls

 A photo-etched set is provided to build the mounting jig, and you need a hammer (little) to build this chain !

 

Some photos..

 

Links:

 

 

Rolls

 

 

Together

 

 

Jig set

 

 

 

Still not received my new steel cable, but I can now try to progress with the brake system build

 

Stay tuned if you like, and thanks for watching  and criticizing 

 

 

[Mpfiend]

Very nice work Thierry, the new chain set looks much nicer,  wonder if they do a 1/9 kit that could be used on the MFH Brough SS100 kit?

 

Regards

 

Keith.

[CrazyCrank]

54 minutes ago, Mpfiend said:

Very nice work Thierry, the new chain set looks much nicer,  wonder if they do a 1/9 kit that could be used on the MFH Brough SS100 kit?

 

Regards

 

Keith.

 

At the moment, only found a 1:9 scale  universal kit from Hiro Factory, with metal photo-etched links, and plastic rolls, but it seems easier to build  than mine, using another jig, and the resukt looks nicer and more realistic: http://www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=50237

If can help .....

 

Regards

CC

[sharknose156]

Good luck with the chain, very interesting for the Mef. as well. will watch closely. Better luck with this one !