Cato

Thanks Bill. Here's a 'sketch' but with the correct colors and some of the bits hung on:

Thanks Bill - exactly what I was asking. Never was a Krylon fan but the only way I could get the color that was in my head. It's Krylon Indoor / Outdoor gloss lacquer. Here it is on a test door panel with Dupli Dark Toreador Red. Would obviously prefer to shoot one clear over both without damage. The acrylic clear isn't bad and is on here now. It did take a decent polish up to 12,000 grit.

No exact answer in the search here and I'm considering going with a chemical mis-match. Has anyone used the Testors over Duplicolor and Krylon lacquer colors? Is it mild like Tamiya lacquers? I get good results with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic over them but want a one-step clear with no polishing cloths.

Masking testing... This was a test to find the best materials and techniques to get a perfect color break line on the body sides of my Rolls. The test dummy was door #1 seen above. I did not fill and smooth the surface beyond 400 grit for prime. The colors are not rubbed out or cleared. I only wanted to get a clean color separation, not perfect paint. After all, this is not the door going on the car. The four fenders and trunk are perfect in the dark red and cleared, needing only final polishing cloths before assembly. Decided to shoot the brighter color first which is the lower. So first I shot the whole door with Duplicolor gray prime. After appropriate dry time (true for all the spraying steps to come) I masked the upper with first, a strip of yellow Tammy tape across the curve. I then cut a clean edge with new scalpel blade. Then masked the remainder of the upper with Friskit Paper. Shot Krylon White Prime on lower (3 coats), sanded to 600 and shot the Krylon Sweet Cream. Disclaimer; I am believer in using paints by the same manufacturer but Krylon had the color I wanted, not Dupicolor. After 2 days dry time, I removed upper masking. Found an immediate mistake; the hot Krylon overspray caused the Friskit to deposit its adhesive on the gray prime. Easily removed with Goo Gone and Isopropyl. Moral; remove masks sooner but the Kry does take longer than the Dupli to set up. Next, I masked with the Tammy 3mm curve tape shown, right at the edge of the break line. It takes the curve beautifully. Below that, I cut and taped (on the 3mm tape and on the door back) a sheet of tin foil. I then sanded the upper with 600 and reprimed with gray Dupli. I wipe all my primers with 70% Iso after sanding and before color. Then came 3 coats of Dupli dark Toreador Red, again all with adequate dry spells in about 100 degree heat. That's it. I removed the mask, this time within 2 hours of the last coat. No print through or marring with a razor edge. So this is the first real hint of where it's going with the color combinations. I found three coats of the Cream match the wheels exactly and three coats of the red match the fenders and trunk exactly. So a lot learned and I can't emphasize enough taking the extra time to test.

I have a gift for screwing things up FIRST, then figuring them out after, Tim.

Thanks Bob. In hindsight, trimming the sides of the floor pan (which the body rocker panels attach to) by 2mm per side would have taken the flair out of the lower body. That would make the doors flatter on their skins and not needing a twist. I'll know to look for that on my next RR...

To clarify... I've been asked about the 'twisting' of the door skin with brass tubing. Here is why and how it comes out. The reason is to get the upper front corner of the door to mate with the cowl so the latch can engage it. I was doing this by heat-bending the original Pocher door but with much thicker plastic and the natural pinch-in of the body, found it impossible through much trial and error. I realize that many Rolls builders never have this problem but don't know why. My many body modifications were not effecting this area. Here is the door seen from the top. The front is at the left and the curve at the bottom is evident. A big improvement is that the door top is now near perfectly straight (with a pronounced curve at the bottom) and the interior panel will lie flat. A big change from the bent Pocher. Seen from the front edge,the latch area is at the top. Note how it tips inward compared to the bottom. Also the compound curvature of the whole bottom door edge is evident compared to the straighter top edge.

Thanks Scott. Maybe a bit small for 1/8 scale but loads of doo-dads there in 5gm bag...

Very cool gadget making Scott. Nice idea and collection of watch parts. Did you buy them as a collection of parts commercially or collect them at home over the years?

Ironically, you're the guy that gave me the reference material this one was in, 26 - GYD.

This is a test, suggested by Dave Ambrose. It may resolve the problem mentioned above. Well, thanks AGAIN to Dave, it worked. EDIT: Except for the scrunched-up image...

Waste not / want not. Having door #1 (remember 'Let's Make A Deal'??) sitting in the scrap pile for unsuccessful ideas, I decided to get ahead and try my masking technique for the all-important color sweep. So I scuffed it, primed it gray, masked it and shot white primer on the lower. After that the cream color seen here. I'm not going for concours paint here, just making sure I get a clean edge then I'll mask the cream and shoot the dark red above. Door number 2 is my honey right now and I hope I can carry out the rest of the steps to make it operational. Then do it all again for the driver's side door...............

Here is the complete fit including the belt line, taken from the first door. All the bits are playing nice with each other. The door bottom edge is flush with the body contour as is the leading edge with the cowl. Again, no friction or tape is holding this closed. This is its new natural state. Careful assembly of the inner panel will be needed to not build-in a warp. One more post after this with a surprise. The hard work of Dave Ambrose has allowed me to at least post these shots but there are obviously more gremlins in my site software. I will communicate with Dave about this in the hopes he can help me and any others suffering zany maladies like this.

Here is where all the secrets are; the back side of the door. Sedanca and Ambassador builders, this is for you, but it may apply to other types of Pocher doors if you follow the premise. The top arrow at the 12:00 position shows how the door got thinner; the latch was sunken into the door skin. This is the big change from the first door. The door main skin is .030 thick and a slot was cut for the latch (not shown); Outboard of that is the .020 cladding for the color sweep. So the latch slides inside the .030 and is retained by the .020 on the outside and the vent window frame. This work made the door .030 thinner than the first one. The arrows at 3. 6 and 9:00 positions show a frame made of 1/8" square plastic rod, shaved down to mate with the 3/32" brass tubing. This gives the door edges a finished surface and a bit more strength. The real secret is at the 4 downward pointing arrows; that lower rectangular tube is twisted from that point forward. The twist forces the door skin inward at the top front - the latch area. Keeps the top of the door from having a big bow in it like the Pocher door. Better to attach the upholstered inner panel. Note the door is wide open and the hinges are completely free without binding. The next post will show the overall look.

Sorry all, still having site difficulties. Wishing to continue text under the above photo, the screen would not let me. I'll add post after post to get this story out. Here you can see the vent window frame in the correct position with just a soft clamp. Not it is nearlt flush to the cowl windshield post and situated the way Phantoms had them. Note the nothing is holding the door shut; it fits the opening perfectly and the latch area (the hole is for the outside handle) is resting in the ideal with no tension. Me happy man:

Proof of concept - maybe... Well all, I've been threatening to get the doors figured out and I may be on to something here. A brief recap; the highly modified Pocher door could not be made to fit due to the body contours it had to mate with. Decision was made to scratch build another, That was better but the main problem continued to be getting the upper (latch) area to meet flush with the cowl with no tension. Plus the thickness of the total door with window frames was unacceptable. In for a penny and with a few improvements in mind I made a second, which you see here. MUCH more to my liking. The fit everywhere is dead flush. I learned the method to get the contours right AND get a thinner door package.

Happy VD to you too Bruce and thanks for nice words. I have been working on the door situation between crises but it's been trial and error stuff. No shiny stuff to show but will soon post door progress - there's finally been some. C

I don't believe so Harry. But he did say he knows others are having the 404 problem and the vanishing replies. The MCM site is behind 2 or 3 updates and he's been working to remedy that. So apparently Dave has his hands full of problems but mine was a new and perplexing problem which he solved. We tried the MCM site from Internet Explorer and the toolbar came up perfectly on my screen. I never knew it had such buttons on it before I saw it on IE. That tipped him to look at how the MCM site 'reads' my browser and he found it reads it like a tablet - so I got the different toolbar. He is now investigating why that is so. He is very aware of the bigger question my problem may indicate. I still don't have the full tool bar with the 'strike-out' icon and such, but thrilled I have the 'image' button and can easily post pix. We discussed that you have Firefox and desktop (same as me) with no such problems which Dave is trying to investigate. Dave is 'DA MAN'...

A Eureka Moment... After much turmoil trying to post in my thread, a (partial) solution has happened. And that was because of the diligent attention of Dave Ambrose, site administrator. After many PM's and emails Dave arranged a computer conference and saw my problem first hand. He eventually discovered that the root cause is that the MCM software thinks I'm working from a tablet and not a desktop. Therefore, it gave me a different toolbar which lacks the features that all of you have. That prevented correct uploading of pix to my thread. Even though I was selecting the correct link on PhotoBucket. He worked his magic and gave me that tool bar. He is still working on the 404 page issue I get occasionally and other deeper site flaws. We still have some issues to solve but the man gave freely of his time and expertise and discovered what's going on. At least I can continue my thread and converse with the big-scale lovers here. I have been working on those pesky doors and will show some progress very soon now. A sincere thanks and much respect to Dave, a behind-the-scenes guy who sweats the details.

Maybe Donn will jump in to answer but I would tell you to test. Use a scrap of the plastic from your kit AND a plastic spoon and test on both. Same coatings you used on the model then the clear. That will tell you if it reacts. I don't think so because his method uses lacquer thinner right in the enamel...

Partial help; a common pin has a shaft diameter of .025 - .028. That would be 1/2" in 1:1, close to correct I'd guess. If they look too big on the car, put fewer of them. Only the rivet counters and Skip will care. i would make a masking tape band to go on the area to be wired and place an ink dot from a fine-point everywhere you want a rivet. This is safer than drilling and finding you muffed it. When you have a good pattern, begin drilling through the tape as a guide. Yes the drilling is a b**** but little at a time, you can get it. Then twist your really thin wire. I'd start on a small out of view panel if there is such a place. If it's horrible, you can always fill the holes with Bondo and re paint (Groan...)

Remember, you don't have to make this one Museum Scale. You already have a fine model so letting a tough one or two problems slide is OK. It's a difficult kit to start with so don't agonize over it. Every body knows that about these. You will make your first Pocher Classic Museum Scale --- or else!

It's a pretty little thing. You're almost there. Get the big chunks done .

Computer new last year; works great everywhere ELSE. Am working with Dave Ambrose to find solution here. He's on the case. Oh and -Pocher Beatings to follow. IF you ever start one.............

I just wrote explaining that I thanked you for getting my pix up and that was lost in those bad posts. - And just got another 404 page when I hit submit. THIS IS NOT ME.