popeye the sailor

I was torn between this version and the version Jay Leno drives. Maybe I will buy that model too once I finish this one.

Craig,
 
I happen to have the exact same kit on my shelves.....waiting. I will watch your assembly with a renewed interest.
 
Yves

What a cool video. Man, that is one lucky dude right there, old Jay Leno. He's like a kid in a candy store with all those cars of his. That Alfa Romeo sounds just awesome! Next spare $500K I get, will have to seriously think about ordering one. 😄 Those tires though....look a little bit on the skinny side but hey, they are scale. Amazing how well Pocher captures all the look of the real car.

If you haven’t seen this before, Jay Leno takes an old Alfa out for a blast in California 
It looks like it would  be so much fun!
 
 
 

Great collection! Love them all, particularly the Bugatti. Maybe the finest looking car ever made, in one man's opinion. The XKE is excellent too.

Oh wow such a great car, congratulations on the purchase, especially if you got a bit of a deal as these go over $1000CAD easily

This enters into a bit of a large scale model car obsession area of mine….
I have, ahem, a few cars at this scale and make of kit. Some parts messes, some full kits, one partly started and two finished but needing refurbishing
This was my last 1/8 car purchased a couple Christmases ago…a bargain for a weathered old beauty

 

and then there are a few others😉😊
Monza


Bugatti


Testarossa


F40

 
Non Pocher 1/8 cars: A few Jag E Types and a Corvette Stingray round out the 1/8 scale stuff


 

 

 
Yes, I am actually  insane. But hard to turn down a bargain when it presents itself.
I got these all before prices zoomed skywards. Would love a Pocher Mercedes and the Porsche911, but the prices are not appropriate anymore.
Ya, so that’s me

Made me feel like lighting up a Lucky Strike again. I blame that on the USMC, $2 a carton back then. 😄

Yep, going thru withdrawals.... Again....

Wow, it's good to log on to ModelShipWorld again. It's been down for a while, 24 hours+, as it appears one of the "ping" stops along the way quit working.

Always wanted to build one, so I'll tag along for this ride.

The kit instructions are little more than a series of exploded view diagrams. Paul Koo’s instructions take you step by step in a logical sequence and also explain how to do things, as well as giving you a heads-up around some fit issues and how to resolve them. He sells a series of instructional CDs for all of the Pocher kits and the CD contains the written instructions, hundreds of instructional photos of the kit being built, and a stack of reference photos of the real cars. They are a very worthwhile investment.
 
PS There’s a link in my signature block to my build of this kit. You may find that helpful too.

Good idea Brother, stock Pocher instructions can be so cryptic they are indecipherable.... Especially on their early kits...

Thanks for the input Grant. I am not aware of the fit issues but will begin by looking up Paul Koo on Ebay. Very interested in the instructions with photos.
 
Regards
Craig

Great to see another of these fantastic models being built. I’m sure that you are aware of some of the fit “issues” with these. If you haven’t already come across him, Paul Koo has produced an excellent set of supplementary instructions that address all of these, along with hundreds of photographs to accompany the “how to” aspects. He also sells replacement parts at very reasonable prices - whatever you are missing, the chances are that Paul will have them. Here’s a link to his eBay store:
 
https://www.ebay.com/str/pocher-philes-forum
 
You can also contact him directly. He is very helpful and easy to deal with. I could not have completed my own version of this kit without Paul’s instructions and replacement parts.
 
Model Motorcars (https://www.modelmotorcars.com/useful-info/favorite-links/) is another great source for “upgraded” parts, but beware - they are not inexpensive, and they are addictive!
 
I look forward to following along with your build.

This Pocher Alfa Romeo Touring Gran Sport was an estate sale find. The engine and transmission was started while most everything else remains sealed in the original bags. Purchasing a kit like this is somewhat risky as there could be parts missing, but as best I could tell, basically everything is there. If anything is missing, it's likely to be small nuts, bolts or washers. It came at a good price as these kits continue to increase in value every time I look at them, year after year. I intend to build this kit but it will be done slowly, deliberately, as and when I feel like it. Not going to rush it and may choose to interrupt progress along the way while other smaller projects are taken on.
I welcome you to join this adventure and please provide input, particularly if you have built one of these yourself.

Great looking model. Congratulations!  

Phew, the Nachtigall is finished .
It was a long journey, which started in 2019 and led to two long pauses in the SOD. Nevertheless, I never questioned my desire to finish this demanding build, because of the fascination of the Nachtigall. It is one of those kits, you simply cannot put aside permanently. There is so much detail provided, especially with the resin parts, which are simply stunning.

Aftermarket bits where used, namely HGW seatbelts, Master brass antler antennas and Yahu instruments, camo masks from LF and marking and stencil masks from 1ManArmy. 

You have to be a bit masochistic for this build, mainly around the canopy glazing, which cost me tons of sweat with all that sawing, sanding, drilling, gluing, painting, decaling and these vulnerable pieces are the focal point of this build and there is no margin for errors.
I expanded my self torture by wanting the canopy opened, which required more surgery.
Speaking about errors, I made some, which I will not point out here. If you read through the build log it's all there. I'm happy with the result, which of course could have been better, but somewhere you have to draw the line.

The kit needed modifications in several areas, mainly to reinforce the landing gear with brass rods for a bit more stability, because the Arado has a hefty weight.
 
Cheers Rob
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, it's somehow strange, how a straightforward design, cross shaped no gimmicks plane got cluttered with tons of equipment.
 
Cheers Rob 

Loads of detail there. Looks great.

I finished decaling the canopy fastener strips, but still have to add more Micro Sol in some places. I used the sawed out clear hatch and decaled the fastener framing in and outside.
Left of the canopy, you can see a hatch for the operators compartment, which was cut and bent from some clear food container. I will add an opening lever later.


 
On the upper fuselage, I added the ring antenna and the Naxos radar with it's clear cupola. The antler radars got also glued together and are awaiting some color.
 

 
Cheers Rob

Thank you for the suggestion, I heard about Solvaset, but don't have any, but other possibly stronger setting agents than Micro Sol. I think the Micro Sol will be sufficient and I will apply several coats first, before switching to hotter agents. I really don't want to damage the clear canopy, there is no respraying, if something goes wrong .
 
Cheers Rob

Thank you Mark, until now everything turned out ok. My major concern in the moment is the front wheel strut. I hope it holds the hefty weight of the Arado.

Cheers Rob

Don't know if you've heard of Solvaset. It's a pretty strong decal setting agent. Some of the older decals were pretty thick and Solvaset helped to get them set on car sides. It's pretty much a last resort. to get decals laying flat.

The canopy is looking great just as it is now.  I hope the rest of the work on it goes well.

What a tragic story, Roger.
If you refer to the parachute on the two Rato starting rockets (Walter HWK 109-500), these will be dropped shortly after the start and the parachutes will be released through a thin rope, which is connected with the wing and opens the parachute when the Rato rockets falls down. They burn only for a short period of ca. 30s, helping the heavy plane to accelerate faster for take off. The Rato's are reusable and drop near the airfield.
The ropes for this mechanism will be added later to my build.
The Arado 234 also has a braking parachute in the aft fuselage, which to my knowledge is released with an explosive charge, pulling out the parachute. This is the strange loop, you can see on my belly pic of the Arado.
 
Cheers Rob