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


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I was planning to see how they looked just using the kit materials. If it doesn't look right in scale, then my fallback would be run some fuse wire through the middle and shape it. Alternatives are copper wire and solder. Depends how flexible it needs to be.

best,

M.

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Nose structure all fitted. Decided to paint inside of lower nose section as plain black plastic with moulding marks didn't look special (IMHO)

 

Pocher Lotus 72

 

The Instructions suggest the lower framework is glued (broken line) but the frame has in fact holes for screws and it screw to the front sub-frame fine.

Edited by KeithAnthony
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On 04/02/2023 at 10:40, Dinky said:

How visible is the silver part of the exhaust collector

Enough to justify filling seems and screw holes I think. I used a bit of sprue first in the screw holes and then filler of your choice (the lines are so fine I used VMS Black Thin). Sprayed with Tamiya 'Sparkling Silver' LP-48  Lacquer which is pretty much perfect match.

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Its great to see all these build stages...my kit is expected to arrive next month. Based on the updated instruction pdf that Pocher provided, it looks like the nose cone is engineered to be permanently attached to the frame, that is, the full nose cone cannot be be easily separated from the chassis for display purposes? It seems a shame to hide all that detail at the front end of the car.

 

I am thinking about assembling the nose cone in full as one unit (upper/lower panels and the front wings), but not attaching it to the chassis...it looks like that can be done? I expect to display the car with the cowling removed as well. Wondering if anyone else has thoughts on how the front end of the kit was engineered. Maybe I am missing something as I mentioned I do not have the kit to view...

 

Keep the excellent pics coming!

 

Joe

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Today I have mostly been chattering instead of building, so just these two longitudinal tubes done. But that finishes another page in the instructions, so that's good...

 

longerons-on-1.jpg

 

longerons-on-2.jpg

 

They are glued, but they clip pretty firmly into place without.

 

best,

M.

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13 hours ago, ITRtypeR said:

I am thinking about assembling the nose cone in full as one unit

The upper nose is quite heavy, and drops into place quite securely on its own so doesn't need screw attachment. I think the issue maybe fitting under the front of cockpit cowling as the top has two small locating lugs ( which could be removed) on the back edge which drop into two holes in body.  I will have a play later.

 

I ended up building two Ducati's - one with full bodywork and one naked with detailing.

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On 1/31/2023 at 10:47 PM, cmatthewbacon said:

This bit seemed to work OK, with one small gotcha of my own making. The revised instructions are correct in both part numbers and screw types!

 

right-exhausts.jpg

 

right-exhausts-from-above.jpg

 

right-exhausts-from-below.jpg

 

As you can see above, the exhausts have the assembly sequence numbers cast into the underside, which is a useful additional check. The tabs fixing them to the block are keyed to ensure they only fit one way. Having built a couple of these serpentine exhausts before, it's also helpful to know that the outboard ends form a neat square which will go into the collector junction.

 

both-exhausts.jpg

 

both-exhausts-2.jpg

 

The right screw labels help a lot. I also remembered a school metalwork lesson, and tapped every receiving hole using the screw -- half a turn forward, quarter turn back until it's in -- and lubricated the hole with a tiny dab of wax. It made getting them in during the real assembly a lot easier.

 

heads-on-block.jpg

 

block-from-underneath.jpg

 

from-the-inside.jpg

 

This is the gotcha -- I didn't test assemble, and discovered... although the instructions aren't clear, you need to put the lower section, with pumps, in place in the Y-shaped end moulding first, and then slide each side along and into position before screwing it to the end. That way the tubes mounted on the side at the bottom (Long and Short, as now noted into the instructions) can plug into the appropriate socket on the other parts.

 

Feeling happier about this section now.

 

best,

M.

 

The exhaust flanges on the block should be black as well, but not all the way back to the block, just the first 0.5mm or so (maybe less)

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On 1/31/2023 at 9:10 PM, Smallworld said:

Lotus 72

 

Your left shock is mounted wrong, the protruding cap on the bottom must be outside and not inside. Looks like there is pressure on the shock now, not sure if it impacts the stance

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On 2/5/2023 at 5:15 PM, KeithAnthony said:

Enough to justify filling seems and screw holes I think. I used a bit of sprue first in the screw holes and then filler of your choice (the lines are so fine I used VMS Black Thin). Sprayed with Tamiya 'Sparkling Silver' LP-48  Lacquer which is pretty much perfect match.

 

Thanks I will fill and spray it also

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One straightforward assembly, one not so...

 

oil-radiator-front.jpg

 

oil-radiator-rear.jpg

 

The oil radiator goes together according to the instructions. I fitted the radiator itself last, placing the side cowlings first then the upper pipes, so I could reach both ends of the pipes to fix them in place. The tail light is plain red plastic OOB, so I thought some silver paint was in order.

 

left-bracket.jpg

 

After a quick trial fit I decided you couldn't fit both brackets and then put the tank in place, so I began with the left hand one. It needs to be clicked into hole in the back of the transmission flange at the lower end of the bracket, and then screwed in place.

 

tank-on-1.jpg


i-D9kbSWN.jpg

Then the nose of the tank fits onto a pin at the top of the bracket, and the pin on the tank slides forwards into the mount on the silver cross-piece.

 

right-bracket.jpg

 

This one is a bit more fun, and took some "encouraging", It's vital to get the pin onto the bottom of the bracket fully home in the transmission flange, then the pin on the bracket into the tank nose. This one I think works best if you put the screw in last with some forward pressure on the bracket to line up the holes. It's pretty well-fitting though, when you think about how many parts have to be in the right place to end up with the hole in the bracket over the waiting pre-tapped hole in the transmission. On this side, there is a hole instead of the pin at the fitment to the silver transverse frame.

 

right-side-fixings.jpg

 

Into which fits the T-handle arrowed. This should help make sense of the previous photo as well, showing the fixing points.

 

tank-on-left-side.jpg

 

Left side finished with ?battery? cables in place. The only potential gotcha (which got me) is that the longer cable to the rear of battery goes _through_ the silver frame, not over the top. I'll need to check my references and see if the battery needs some detail painting and dirtying up...

 

front-view-oil-radiator-and-transmission

 

You can see that cable run here. Also, the numbering on the instructions is a little confusing, though the picture is right: the larger-diameter hose coupling goes on the right-hand side (left looking rearwards in this picture) and the smaller one on the other side.

 

best,

M.

 

 

 

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17 hours ago, Dinky said:

Your left shock is mounted wrong, the protruding cap on the bottom must be outside and not inside. Looks like there is pressure on the shock now, not sure if it impacts the stance

Actually shock is correct but I used a different screw so looks different and in fact will need changing before mounting to the ‘tub’ because it prevents assembly fitting flush. Thanks anyway…

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This feels like progress:

 

suspension-arm-1.jpg

 

Upper suspension arm and clutch in place at the end of the top crossbeam. I found the easiest method was to attach the lower (silver) link to the triangular arm, then turn the whole assembly upside down and attach the other end of the link to the suspension arm by the torsion bar and finally fold the whole thing into place between the crossbeam and the bar linking to the clutch plate (DC-44) with the pre-threaded long screw F right through both and home into the crossbeam.

 

suspension-arm-2.jpg

 

A clearer view of DC-44, the stabilising bar, in place. The picture in the instructions is really hopeless for determining the orientation and which end is which. The end on the clutch plate is the sturdier loop that is the same fore and aft of the bar. The top end on the suspension arm juts slightly forward from the bar and is a bit slimmer. As @KeithAnthony mentioned above, you need to fit both bars, parts DC-44, to the clutch housing plate DCA-2 before attaching it to anything else, otherwise you can't get the screws in.

 

engine-and-transmission-1.jpg

 

engine-and-transmission-2-XL.jpg

 

Halfway through page 14 of 41, so I guess I'm about 1/3 of the way in! This is a hefty chunk of metal, as well...

 

best,

M.

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Well now having watched the Hornby episode it's clear why the instructions are bad - you never let the engineer write the documentation! Whether it's coding or model kits it's a bad idea as they are always biased by their knowledge and experience  - I know my docs are terrible! :D

 

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I've just watched it myself. The model is without doubt really well-done piece of engineering, and Clive Chapman seemed genuinely impressed, and moved, when he saw the 1/8 Lotus 72 for the first time. There's even a segment in the programme, though, where  the in-house model builder calls out a mistake in the instructions, which you would have thought would concentrate the mind on getting them right for the release. I was also surprised to discover it was all done in house at Hornby in Margate, so the Airfix instruction guys are literally a few metres away from George, the designer of the model if he'd needed any advice. I guess Hornby knows their clientele are likely experienced modellers, but still, let's try not to make it harder for them than it already is...

 

best,

M.

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35 minutes ago, Smallworld said:

Programme was not conclusive but you would have thought the kit would have been test assembled but an experienced modeller before marketing.

Oh, I think it was clear: it WAS assembled by an experienced modeller before going on sale. I think that's the point. It was assembled by Hornby's "in-house" and extremely expert model builder, working 8 hours a day for a couple of weeks. What they SHOULD have done is have it assembled by someone in the middle rank of their potential purchasers, with Hornby's expert model builder standing by to help them figure out what to do next when they ran into a problem, and THAT should have been the basis of the instructions...

 

BTW, if anyone from Hornby is reading this, I volunteer to be the "Average Joe"... 😜

 

best,

M.

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