Building the Pocher 1/8 Lotus 72D, Emerson Fittipaldi 1972

[KeithAnthony]

11 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

The lower end of the shock absorber

I fitted 'mine' on inside of hub casting. with fixing head inside also.  and it lines up ok.

[Smallworld]

Thank you Noel,

I have built many kits over the years including the pocher Ducati and Aventador, so not a complete novice! However this kit and its poor instructions has got the better of me along with(dare I say it)advancing years. Just not enjoying it.

Listed on ebay now and seems to be attracting some interest. 

[cmatthewbacon]

Well, my repair to the broken link is holding....so far.

 

 

As you can see, I followed @KeithAnthony s suggestion and refitted the shocks IN the bracket. That way, the fixing on the end of the shock is not pressing on the (as I now know) fragile link at it's thinnest point!

 

 

The link to the anti roll bar will be fitted into the empty bracket at the bottom.

 

 

The next stage involves fitting a couple of bars locating the wheel carriers fore and aft, running from the carriers to brackets at the front of the engine. You can see the screws waiting for them above. The black plate glues on to the engine front, but don't forget to fit the bracket (K-14) connecting to the vertical extension to the engine front first because the screw is inaccessible with the plate in place. The tape is keeping the gear change link from falling out.

 

 

This is what the two brackets look like. Be very careful cutting them from the tree and removing additional nubbins so you end up with all the bits you should have and none you shouldn't. These are the RH side pair.

 

 

This is really unclear in the instructions and, hey-ho, they are wrong as well. The smaller plug on the bracket fits into the lowest/most outboard hole on the plate on the end of the head.

 

 

As you can see, I'd put the screw into that hole, as the instructions show. But put this bracket in place (the cylinder by the tip of the tweezers plugs into a hole in the cylinder head) and it's obvious that the screw goes into the next hole up, which also leaves room for the other bracket to plug into the bottom hole.

 

 

Eventually, you end up with this. I plugged the link (DC-41) onto the lower bracket stub loosely (one end is a loose fit) and then added the top one. You can't access the rear screw easily with the link fitted at the other end. Then I swung the link upward and adjusted the angle of the silver fixing on the suspension link until it would slot into position.

 

 

Which gets me here... I have not fitted the lower links to the wheel carriers yet. They will be the last thing I do when the engine is complete, so I can put it safely to one side and not handle it again after they are on.

 

best,

M.

 

 

[Bengalensis]

@cmatthewbacon You're doing good progress with this one. I really like your improvement on the collectors, the screw together parts early on in the thread didn't impress at all, but your's are turning into something way better!

[brady]

Thanks for all the tips. I'll be looking for a substitute for the very coarsely braided steel hoses that will look more to scale.

[cmatthewbacon]

Maybe too many pictures, but this is quite the milestone. Engine and transmission complete, and half way through the instruction book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than painting the anti-roll bar and links silver and chrome, this is all exactly as the instructions would have it. Now, on with the front end!

 

EDIT -- Note from the future: Those two lower links which stabilise the wheel carrier should not be swinging free as I have left them here, but thread through the exhaust cluster to be parallel to the upper links.

 

best,

M.

 

 

[Noel Smith]

This is going to be one highly detailed and finished model when done.

The Lotus in JPS livery is one of those GP card that seems to stand out from the crowd for appeal.

Probably why Hornby chose it as a Pocher brand subject.

No doubt Model Motorcars will be making after market pieces for it like they do for other Pocher kits before long.

[Kitkent]

Looking very good so far,I can’t stop looking at this! Chris.

[Longueville Jacques]

18 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Maybe too many pictures, but this is quite the milestone. Engine and transmission complete, and half way through the instruction book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than painting the anti-roll bar and links silver and chrome, this is all exactly as the instructions would have it. Now, on with the front end!

 

best,

M.

 

Hi Matthew,

your pictures are really helpful, I went through all the same problems you describe, and I had to struggle. Next time I will wait a couple of days, until your experiences are available. Today I lost like 4 hours struggling with the front end, I glued the half axles #3 and #4 before I tried to mount them in the front chassis. This is not possible, you cannot fit them between the brake pads! Make sure you fit the disks between the pads before gluing the front axles.

Your pictures should be print as an instruction booklet.

Regards,

Jacques

 

[cmatthewbacon]

Thank you, @Longueville Jacques. I'm hoping this thread will become a useful resource for anyone building this kit, and folks can learn from my mistakes!

 

It sounds as though you are working from the instructions in the kit. You'll find it useful to download the revised manual from Pocher here: https://d63oxfkn1m8sf.cloudfront.net/5816/7482/2934/HK114_Lotus_72_Instruction_manual_-_Revised_-_LR.pdf For example, it has a different order of assembly for those front brakes and callipers. It's still not perfectly accurate, but a lot of errors in part numbers and screw types gave been caught, as well as having some more useful assembly diagrams.

 

 

This is the tub (DCA-3) The arrows show where the 6 screws holding the sides on go (I've screwed them in to tap the holes). The four pins (circled) go into towers inside the cast side pieces. I had to clean casting seams off three of the four of them to get a clean fit. I recommend doing one side at a time, and tightening the middle screw on each side before the ends. It may take a good squeeze to get the holes in the side piece and tub lined up.

 

 

It may only be eight pieces, but it's a sizeable assembly!

 

 

First sight of that iconic logo and colour scheme! Now, if anyone has any ideas on what to use to clean off the slight residue left here and there by the protective film without damaging the paintwork, I'm all ears.... WD-40? @KeithAnthony have you cleaned yours up yet? Or did you not have any marks...?

 

best,

M.

[KeithAnthony]

13 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

have you cleaned yours up yet?

I used a car polish (Autoglym Resin Polish) which has a light cleaning action, but not that satisfactory. Forever fighting finger marks. The side pods have some shading which doesn't come off but also doesn't show to badly. Would have to rate paint finish on side pods as poor - all other panels are fine, both metal and plastic.. IPA might be ok as cleaner.

[cmatthewbacon]

OK.... now I have questions!

 

Just working on the complicated bit of plumbing on the top deck behind the cockpit. I have figured out that the exclamation marks in triangles connect to other diagrams in the instruction which also have triangles. I think. (Man, how hard would it have been to letter the triangles to show which other one they referenced?) I can see that the tube from the turret (K-13) at the rear left edge of the deck connects to the spigot under the front of the right hand cylinder head (M-28). But where the heck is DCB-17, which is where the heftier tube running from the coloured connectors on the right hand side of the deck terminates, apparently? Searching the PDF for DCB-17 only brings up that one reference!

 

And that got me looking and checking. I have one tube from the front of the electronics box (N1-4) on top of the engine hanging loose out of the front end between the heads (you can see it in the pictures above). Where does that go? I can't see it being fixed anywhere in the instructions, and it doesn't have a connecting point called out in the section where it gets put in place (Page 19, diag 2). Secondly, when are you supposed to wire the distributor main connection? It very much looks as though you just join the spigot on the back of the electronics box to the centre point in the distributor, but again I can't see that actually shown in the instructions.

 

@KeithAnthony.... sorry to bug you again, but have you already figured this out?

 

best,

M.

[Schummie]

Some work in progress from the Netherlands. This forum already helped me avoiding trouble. Thank you all.

 

First the front and back of the engine treated with the acid method.

 

 

Removing the paint from the gearbox parts.

 

 

 

And also the exhaust manifolds.

 

 

And after the acid treatment, but befor polishing.

 

 

 

 

 

For the rust in the vent holes of the brake disks, I experimented with real rust. I put water on steel whool and leave it a night. Then press on the steelwhool.

 

 

 

After treating the disk wit this. I like the result.

 

 

 

Then start putting together the engine.

 

 

 

Connecting the manifolds.

 

 

 

 

 

Adding the heads, sides, and rear engine part. The camcovers look a bit strange here, but that's the flash of the camera.

 

 

 

 

And preparing the plastic part for filling the holes and airbrushing in aluminium, silver or chrome.

 

 

And removing the pant from the aft break callipers. Will get some further treatment.

 

 

 

[cmatthewbacon]

Answered a couple of my own questions, eventually!

 

 

best,

M.

[brady]

I just finished highlighting in blue all the changes I noticed in the corrected manual and updated it here http://scaleautoworks.com/assets/HK114LotusInstructionsRevised.pdf.

I prefer to work with a paper manual and the updated PDF Pocher provided is fairly low resolution so this will let us use both to best effect.

If you notice anything I missed shoot me a message and I'll add it.

With a little luck I'll finally get to start my build tonight.

[brady]

On 2/20/2023 at 2:42 AM, Noel Smith said:

No doubt Model Motorcars will be making after market pieces for it like they do for other Pocher kits before long.

Model Motorcars doesn't do much for the recent kits besides a great selection of scale hardware (but their stuff for the Classic kits is phenomenal).

Paul Koo and possibly Autograph will be the ones to watch for aftermarket goodies for this kit.

[Noel Smith]

Smallworld,  if you were not enjoying it then selling it on is quite understandable, given that you are an experienced modeller.

[KeithAnthony]

13 hours ago, Schummie said:

and rear engine part.

It is interesting how we interpret things different,y. You have done a great job, but I was happy with standard finish on cam covers. However, I did spend some time getting rid of join lines on cylindrical oil filter housing, by assembling off engine and fitting as a complete unit. 

[Schummie]

14 minutes ago, KeithAnthony said:

It is interesting how we interpret things different,y. You have done a great job, but I was happy with standard finish on cam covers. However, I did spend some time getting rid of join lines on cylindrical oil filter housing, by assembling off engine and fitting as a complete unit. 

I did see that, however in the proces of fitting I forgot to do that. Luckily the seams are not too visible from the side vieuw.

The collector from the manifolds to the exhaust, there I follow you again.

Some of these “improvements” , do not kost anything but time. Like sanding the break disks. Others can be quite exensive, like the micro bolts.

It’s also a bit of  personal “tast” thing as this kit is very nice and detailed OOB.

I’m posting my mods just for inspiration to fellow builders, as I get ideas and solutions from other builders here.

The “acid” mods certainly is not for everyone, as it can be quite risky.  For your health, for it is very toxic, but also on the metal you use it on.

Anyhow, I learn a lot from experienced builders like you, to improve my building skills. 
This is my first Pocher kit, and I do like it, apart from the manual and some little things which I think is part of the hobby.

Thanks and regards,

Eric

 

 

 

 

[KeithAnthony]

Finished for now. Have not fitted mirrors yet as I do not like seem line and have yet to be convinced what colour to paint them. That said, OOB colour of mirrors doesn't match anything. Have enjoyed the build and hopefully they will do a version in Gold Leaf colours (red,white and gold).

 

 

(Just noticed cockpit cowl seems to have popped up at front - I have not glued as it holds quite well when clipped in.)

Edited February 22 by KeithAnthony

[Longueville Jacques]

Hallo Keith,

You did finish the whole car! I am only half-way. So far I had some disappointments, as I mentioned before, I missed the torsion springs and then also the lack of movement in the suspension altogether. But now I also realise that the steering function will not work, not only is it very difficult to get the steering rack (DC-42) sliding (It seems to me that the diameter of the brake disks interferes with the steering rack) but a more serious problem is the fact, that the front wheels can only roll in a straight line because there is no cardan joint in the braking axles (DC-47). This means that the wheels can only turn in sideways when the stubs on the joint are in a vertical position. (sorry for my awkward explanation - english is not my first language). If I want some steering in the front axle I suppose I will have to cut these stubs on the DC-47's. Is there a better way?

Thanks for all the formidable pictures in this thread!

Jacques

[Malc2]

Wow, well done Keith, you are first across the line!!

It looks great, the mirrors should be gold by the way.

 

Malc.

 

[PaulP]

18 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

OK.... now I have questions!

 

Just working on the complicated bit of plumbing on the top deck behind the cockpit. I have figured out that the exclamation marks in triangles connect to other diagrams in the instruction which also have triangles. I think. (Man, how hard would it have been to letter the triangles to show which other one they referenced?) I can see that the tube from the turret (K-13) at the rear left edge of the deck connects to the spigot under the front of the right hand cylinder head (M-28). But where the heck is DCB-17, which is where the heftier tube running from the coloured connectors on the right hand side of the deck terminates, apparently? Searching the PDF for DCB-17 only brings up that one reference!

 

And that got me looking and checking. I have one tube from the front of the electronics box (N1-4) on top of the engine hanging loose out of the front end between the heads (you can see it in the pictures above). Where does that go? I can't see it being fixed anywhere in the instructions, and it doesn't have a connecting point called out in the section where it gets put in place (Page 19, diag 2). Secondly, when are you supposed to wire the distributor main connection? It very much looks as though you just join the spigot on the back of the electronics box to the centre point in the distributor, but again I can't see that actually shown in the instructions.

 

@KeithAnthony.... sorry to bug you again, but have you already figured this out?

 

best,

M.

I can help you with the King lead question. The manual does actually show it connecting to the distributor on page 16 section 1 and then the end of the coil (M20) in section 2 on the same page.

 

On the real car at rear of the electronic  box it is actually a fairly standard coil.

 

I hate to tell you guys this as I know many of you are way past this section:

 

However as Pocher show the fuel injection lines and ignition leads the engine would never run!

 

A Cosworth DFV has a 1 8 3 6 4 5 2 7 firing sequence and the distributor and injection pump rotate anti clockwise looking forward. 

 

The cylinders are  looking forward again:     5         1

                                                                      6         2

                                                                      7         3

                                                                      8         4

 

The exhaust pipes are actually em bossed correctly with the cylinder numbers close to were they fix to the head.

 

All this means that the numbering for the fuel lines and ignition leads is totally wrong!

 

I have assumed that Pocher have got Number 1 position correct and worked from there. I can post a scan of the correct number sequences if anybody would like it.

 

A big thank you for all the information on this forum. I am a lapsed modeller, now 66 and not done any serious modelling since my late teens.

 

I do have a big interest in motor sport and classic cars and was at Brands Hatch with ny Dad in 1972, Paddock Hill grandstand to see Emmo win. 

 

That is the background of why I am building the model, which is great fun and quite an engineering challange at times!

 

Oh and I am stil working on where the lead off the front of the electronics box goes!!

Edited February 22 by PaulP

[ITRtypeR]

2 hours ago, KeithAnthony said:

Finished for now. Have not fitted mirrors yet as I do not like seem line and have yet to be convinced what colour to paint them. That said, OOB colour of mirrors doesn't match anything. Have enjoyed the build and hopefully they will do a version in Gold Leaf colours (red,white and gold).

 

 

Congrats! Looks really good!

[KeithAnthony]

1 hour ago, Malc2 said:

should be gold by the way.

Yep - they are pre-painted gold in kit, but have a mould line that needs sanding out before repainting. It is finding the correct shade of gold I am stuck on.