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Pocher F40 with Autograph transkit upgrade challenge build


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Just a quick update tonight. I managed to get a complete layer of grease and grime weathering on the transmission/transaxle case today. Not all of the pieces of the transaxle are glued together so, there might be a picture or two where the brass bracket looks slightly off. Then, just for fun I screwed the engine to it for contrast between the weathering started on the case to the engine which just has a coat of silver leaf on it. I haven't done anything more than glue a few of the pieces together on the engine. It's probably going to need some gap filling and holes drilled etc. After that, I set the assembly into the rear frame with the body attached to see how it was coming together. 

 

With just one coat of grease and grime and nothing else.

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With engine attached

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Everything in the frame and body

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Tomorrow, I need to finish the file work on the body cuts around the shock towers and, do some wet sanding and a clear coat on the body where the blemish is on the roof. Then, some matte black on the back section of the body that, will come in contact with the frame area. I'll also need to review where I'm at, in the steps, since I've been doing steps 10-15 simultaneously. I'll need to finish everything that pertains to the transaxle and then get going on the engine parts of those steps. There will be some more weathering to the case and then it's a lot of engine work for a while.

 

 

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Looking good. Was meaning to ask about the 2 brass rods towards rear. Are those soldered in? Autograph instructions can be pretty vague. I haven’t done a gong with that yet cuz I wasn’t sure what the finished height should be. Did you just butt them to the transmission and solder them?

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Thanks Greg. Go back to post 340 on page 14 here and you can see exactly how I did it. I soldered the 1 mm brass rods in place with the bracket in a vise and used a piece of cardboard to keep them aligned. Step 10 calls for them to be 23 mm long but, I made them about 26 mm long. I figured that I could always cut them down to fit whatever goes on top of them. I didn't want them to be too short after everything was already assembled. I can see that in the pictures above it appears that they are slightly tilted forward but, not all the transmission sections are glued together yet so they look like that. Even if there's a slight bend, these rods are only 1 mm in diameter so, they're easily bent. Also, most all of this is going to be hidden underneath the exhaust system so, not critical except in the in progress pictures.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is making great watching: the changes you've made really highlight how poor the original Pocher kit is. We used to think these were top-notch but they haven't aged well. Still you've shown that a silk purse is still possible. :yes:

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4 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

This is making great watching: the changes you've made really highlight how poor the original Pocher kit is. We used to think these were top-notch but they haven't aged well. Still you've shown that a silk purse is still possible. :yes:

I think it's quite the contrary. Back in the eighties a Pocher F40 was available for around 250 euros (216 pound sterling). The kit wasn't meant for modellers. It can be assembled without glue nor paint. You have to compare it to the 1/18 Bburago F40, which was at that time the only alternative. The BBurago was available for around 75 euros, but it looks like a poor detailed Matchbox next to it's big Pocher brother.

 

As far as modellers are concerned, the kit was (and stilll is)  a great base for adding details, aftermarket or scratchbuild. AND it is still a very nice kit for someone that has never build (assembled) a big scale model.

 

Basically it was a GREAT kit. The only thing that went wrong is that Pocher went bankrupt and the prices have gone up to very silly levels.

 

The Hornby / Pocher Lambo's are now available for 3 times the price of the original F40, but they look no where near 3 times as good as the venerable F40 kit.

 

Just my 2 cents ^_^

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Don't want to get into a shizzle storm, but my recollections were specifically about the Alfa Monza, which in my young modeller's days (mid-70s) was definitely considered a top-notch kit, irrespective of the need for glue. It was expensive too. Hadn't heard of Bburago kits (diecasts yes) until much later. Those Monzas now look soft on detail and as mentioned, haven't aged well.

 

But it doesn't seem to stop people doing some exceptional stuff with them. Ditto the F40 modelled here.

 

And we're back on topic too!

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On 4/17/2018 at 9:27 AM, BigN69 said:

Before you get too far you will have to remove that bracket on the right side of transmission to attach the oil cooler hose thing. Bolts go in from the back.

Thanks Big, I hadn't really looked that close and it's really not very apparent in the instructions or pictures; fortunately, it was easy to remove. 

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Looking at the instructions this whole pipe assembly is brass color but, I'm pretty sure it has more to it than that. Before I go any further with it I'm going to have to go to the DVD and look at the real car for reference. So, for now it will have to wait for a short while.

 

I also started making the braided pressure hoses which aren't really that hard but cutting down the brass parts they give you were a PIA. The instructions show making the cut on the short side which wouldn't leave enough tubing for the braid solder and each end of the fittings to glue onto. So, I cut two pieces off the long section and filed them down to about 4.5mm. After doing that, I decided that this wasn't going to work for me going forward as it's just too time consuming. The larger tubing sections are actually 3/16" OD brass tube and the smaller ones are 1/8" OD brass tube. So, I'm just going to buy the different size brass tubes I need to make the rest of the pressure hoses. It's going to be easier to cut 3-5mm lengths of tubing off of a long piece that I can hold onto and control. 

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Eventually this section will all connect together and make an assembly of these pieces but, for now, I'm just leaving the hose too long until I get the ends painted and the one end connected to the longer piece and attached to the transaxle. I'll finish the other end when I attach it to the engine.

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Thanks for the kind words guys. I think everyone makes a good point about the F40 kits. I bought and built this kit back in 1993 and it was a fun kit to build back then. I thought that I had really done something special when it was done. I also bought my Mercedes  in 1996 and, I got as far as the frame and engine. I soon discovered that, it was too much for my skill set.  I put it back in the box and didn't pull it out until 2015 when, I finished it here on the forum. I learned a lot about Pochers in general over the two years it took to finish it. I guess it's really a matter of perspective when you look at or judge kits. Whether it's viewed through a lens of years or experience it's bound to be perceived differently by different people. 

 

More later when I get some of this figured out.

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Good idea, I don't know why I didn't think about using the drill. I still think that the short side leaves what is cut off too short for the hose ends. By the time you factor in the width of the kerf there's not a lot of brass tube left. I'm going to pick up some supplies tomorrow and I'll be getting some extra brass tube and rod. I have a small tube cutter that will cut 3/16" tube so I should be able to get exactly what I want for the length of braided end parts. Having the tube will come in handy for the rest of the hoses that will need to be made. Maybe these T10 and T11 ferrules will come in handy for something else down the road.

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About 10 years ago my younger brother was working at a hobby shop that failed. He told me to show up on sale day and I loaded up a basket with files, blades. Dremel stuff... you name it. A whole basket of goodies... for 10 bucks. Also got ALL the painting and paint supplies. Also full bins of of brass, aluminum and stainless. And all of the Plastruct styrene and other plastics. So I’m pretty well supplied forever.

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So, I just got home and I had to tell you that, it was almost as if Big prophesied what was going to happen. I pulled up to my hobby shop, the only one for 20 miles around, and there was a big "Going out of Business" sign in the window! Unfortunately, all the good stuff had long been picked over and only a couple of things that I needed were there. Another hobby shop has fallen victim to the internet!

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  • 2 months later...

Hey guys, I just thought that I would pop in here and give you an update on the build. I haven't abandoned the build or working on the F-40, although it seems like from the lack of posts. After being retired for the last five years, I have recently gone back to work at a full time 40-50 hour a week job. Needless to say this has really put a crimp in my modeling time. It's so much harder to try and find any spare time to do anything after working all week. It's been a heck of an adjustment to go back after being off work from an injury over the last few years and being less active, to going all the time. I'm not complaining, too much anyway but, I hope to be able to find some time in the future to resume the build. For now, I'm just allowing myself the luxury of watching Formula 1.

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