gjdale

Next up are the front wheel plates. These get fitted with the rotating axle hubs and a strange looking metal piece that I have no idea of the name. I forgot to take a pre-assembly picture, but here is what these look like assembled together: The front brake cams then need to be fitted to the wheel plates. Here are the components and pre and post assembly: On the other side of the wheel plates, the front brakes themselves are fitted: If you look closely you will see the spring joining the two brake shoes running over the top of the brake cam. The brakes are supposed to be fully functioning, but the springs are a little too strong and the cam a little too weak. It is supposedly possible to fix this issue, but it is not easy and I’m not going there! The wheel plates are then fitted to the front axle: And here is what the front axle looks like so far: The tie rods, brake linkages and front axle braces are fitted next, with some judicial additional bending of the front axle braces and some extra threading added to them as well: The front axle brake linkages are then added back to the transmission brake levers: And finally, the steering control rod is added back to the control arm on the steering gear box. Again, this needed to have some judicial bending imparted and in this case was inserted from the opposite direction at both ends to that shown in the Pocher manual in order to provide a better fit: The rear axle assembly is next...

Some progress was made last weekend, but I didn't get to update the log until now... The Front Axle The approach to the front axle is the same as for previous sections – ie test fit and adjust where necessary the plastic parts, then disassemble, paint and re-assemble. This is a quite complex assembly. The Pocher instructions are nothing more than an exploded parts view – with no information about the order of assembly. A second page deals with the leaf springs, both front and rear, but these need to be addressed in conjunction with the front and rear axles respectively. In contrast, Paul’s photo essay on the front axle is 96 pages long, with detailed explanations for both parts fit and sequence of assembly, as well as offering alternative methods for some parts to make the fit better and/or easier. Assembly commences with the front dampers. Here are the initial components (there are two lots of these of course): And assembled: They then need to be affixed to the front axle: The front leaf springs are next. Part of the leaf spring shackles were fitted to the main frame in the previous step. Here are the components for one of the rear shackles: And the front leaf springs attached to the front axle: Continued next post...

Happy Birthday Gary and thanks for giving us the present of an update on your lovely work.

That’s looking nice and smooth Chris - should give you a great foundation for that second layer.

Welcome to the forum Rick. Please do start a build log once your kit arrives - this one is on my “bucket list”.

Looking good Spider. I’m only just catching up with your progress. I used the little green tiles on my Victory and then painted them over with copper paint and then lightly sanded the copper paint to allow some of the green to show through, then sealed all with a clear finish. I think it came out okay. You are certainly taking it to the next level by applying copper tape over the top of the tiles.

Welcome to the forum from the Nation’s capital Jii. You’ll find there are quite a number of us Aussies here. Regarding first kits, although I’ve not built one, there are some nice offerings from Vanguard models available that are specifically designed with beginners in mind. There are also a couple of reviews of these kits here on the forum, and a few build logs underway. Although UK based, so postage will take a while in the current COVID environment, they could be worth waiting for. I don’t think you’ll find better sets of instructions anywhere.

Reminds of an Admiral once quoted as saying, “I’ve been in this outfit for 40 years. I’ve seen a lot of changes in that time. And I’ve opposed every single one of them!” Keep up the great work Mods/Admins - I’m sure any minor glitches with the changes will be overcome (or forgotten) in time.

I view cleaning the airbrush much the same way as sharpening a chisel - keep the tool clean/sharp and it will serve you better. Once you get used to stripping down, cleaning and reassembling the airbrush you’ll find it’s not that big a deal and you’ll become very proficient at it - much the same as gaining proficiency (and speed) at sharpening a chisel. If you get lazy about either task, the tool will not perform at it’s best and you’ll end up taking longer over the main task and likely with more re-dos.

I just knew you were going to love the airbrush Bob! Nice job!

He has an ebay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/pocherphilesforum But if you are after a kit, you’re probably better off contacting him direct via email as he doesn’t necessarily put these up on the web. He can usually source particular kits for you as well. If you’re interested I can PM you his email address.

I was assuming you'd already done that bit Bob. Once you've got a nice smooth surface, then the primer doesn't need further sanding.

You'll just need to be prepared to do a little bit of experimentation with air pressure, paint viscosity (ie thinning ratios), and air:paint mix through the brush. It sounds complex, but the only way to really get the hang of it is to just do it. After a while you will "just know" that you've got all the variables right.

Thanks for the friendly kick in the pants Chuck! 😀 Although my replacement parts all arrived safely a few weeks ago, I have been so absorbed in my non-ship project that I haven't gotten around to re-starting this one yet. I have been studiously reading others build logs though, and will re-start this one soon.....I promise.......I just need to get a round tuit. 😉

Just catching up with this build Bod - you’re doing a great job! Can’t wait to see the hull after you finish painting it. I hope your airbrush practice has been successful and has given you some confidence for this job. You’ll be amazed at just how nicely the airbrush can lay down paint.

If you’ve used a modelling type primer (eg Vallejo), I wouldn’t be sanding at all before applying main paint. When you use it, you’ll see just show smooth a surface it provides.

If you are using an airbrush Bob, why not use it for the primer as well? If you are using Vallejo paints, their primers are also very good. I have found that thinning them 3 parts paint to 1 part (Vallejo) thinner works pretty well. Although acrylic paints don’t have the “nasties” in them, they are still atomising the paint, so lung protection is always a good call.

Glad to see you haven’t given up on this one OC.

Sherline do have a quick change tool post in their accessory range. https://www.sherline.com/product/2250-quick-change-tool-post-and-three-holders/

Congratulations on completing a really fine model Eric. She looks magnificent.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments and likes. Yves - not sure about the original wire colouring. I copied this from another model but there is likely some “artistic licence” as the colours need to be done in pairs due to the way they are fixed to the model. The Pocher kit has them all the same colour. I just wanted to use some different colours to add interest. Also, I forgot to mention that the headlights on this model will be working. There is some preliminary wiring for this soldered to the back of the dashboard. The “switch” to turn them on will be the insertion of a key in the centre dash dial. In the photos you may be able to see some of the wiring (red and yellow) making its way from the dash down to each side of the firewall. One each of these pairs will go the right and left headlights, while a third set will lead to the battery box (which will be hidden but accessible). BobG - yes, these kits are expensive and you need to be careful when buying. I strongly recommend contacting Paul Koo directly if you are seriously interested. Despite the wildly varying prices on eBay, Paul will charge you a “fair” price for whichever kit (and they do vary depending on the kit) and he will do a complete inventory for you if the kit is already opened (he does get some “factory sealed” kits occasionally - I’ve just bought a factory sealed Mercedes kit from him). He will also be able to provide you any missing parts - even factory sealed kits are known to have parts missing. He also provided me with the replacement cam covers for this Alfa model after I stuffed up the originals. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with Paul - he is extremely knowledgeable, very helpful, prompt in his responses to queries, fair, and above all - HONEST. (Usual disclaimer - no affiliation, just a very satisfied customer).

Thanks for all the kind comments and for all of the 'likes' as well. The replacement Cam covers finally arrived. After painting they were fitted to the Engine Head and two decals applied. These are aftermarket replacements for the stickers provided in the kit. Here is the assembled Engine Head – I have yet to fit the ignition wiring, which will be left until much later in the build as the Engine Head is still removable at this stage. The firewall was also painted and then re-assembled with the modified wiring arrangement: Once the remainder of the Main Frame had been painted, it too was reassembled – a relatively easy job thanks to all the test fitting and adjustment previously completed: The Dashboard The Dashboard presents no particular problems, although I opted to dress up the provided plastic piece a bit by making a real wood dashboard veneer using the plastic part as a template and some 1/64” thick walnut I had in my stash. Again, I replaced most of the kit provided instrument faces with aftermarket decals from Model Motorcars. While the decals look a lot better, they are very fragile and I think just about all of them broke in at least one place while fitting them. Not sure if it was my technique at fault, or the very, very thin decal material. Anyway, I managed to get the pieces re-aligned with a minimum of colourful language! Here is where we are at to date:

I definitely agree with everything Mike has said about Sherline. Although I’m in Australia, I bought mine through Mike’s Tools in the US - good prices, great service. The only thing I would add is think about what you want to do with the machine/s. I personally think I get more use out of my mill than I do the lathe, although I do use them both. There is an option to buy a combination mill/lathe set-up from Sherline, but I would counsel against that in favour of two separate machines for slightly greater initial expense - otherwise you’ll invariably be set up for the opposite of the machine you need at the time! As MIke said, accessories are likely to cost you more than the basic machines but you can add these as and when you have a specific need. Sherline do offer some very good package deals with the basic accessories - and you can buy these packages through somewhere like Mike’s Tools as well. (No affiliation here, just a very satisfied customer).

Nice work Chris - that looks to be a pretty good first layer of planking. A significant milestone in the build- congratulations! You’ll find the second layer of planking much, much easier.

Looks like an interesting build. I’ll pull up a chair too.