Cato

Not yet you haven't; there's not one drip, smear, corroded or snotty part on yours. And don't forget a head gasket. I curse John Haddock every day for showing the detail that led to our insanity...

You were never in a slump Jason, you were just building the wrong type of models! Stick to the classics! Flattered that my work might help or inspire you. I'm impressed that you changed ride height - a key to get them to look 'right'. Don't be afraid to alter. Soon you'll be hinging hoods and channeling bodies. The difficult BMF work on these is tough. You nailed it. Color scheme and presentation are superb. Great work. Now come up to 1/8 scale classics....!

PS - I forgot to mention that the firewall itself has been lowered by .250" then the body by .375". Those are the main contributors to the level hood line. Also the body bottom edge has been trimmed by 5mm to shorten the height to the door bottom. The fender will be trimmed when the running boards go on. This all contributes to the streamlined look.

What I wound up with... Here is the joined cowl in place and how it situates the hood line. The whole new force arrangement of the body lines is evident here; channeled body over frame, lower roof, door top, windscreen and hood line; Compare to early mock up before all the cutting and hacking. Note the ride height, gap between cowl and firewall and if the hood top was in place, the forward, downward slant from the cowl to the grille: A clear view of the cowl flat against the firewall; a major and satisfying change:

And here it is... The cowl pinches down to 130mm at the front and 146mm at it's rear edge. Because of the crazy angles and curvature of the cowl top, there's no comfortable way to clamp or hold this while cements dry. My wacky truss rods seem to be the answer. These are stronger than the rear, being made the same way but of 5/32" steel brake line tubing. The body tops want to spread out and must be kept under tension to mate to the cowl sides: It is imperative to get a good, lasting join here. I am using Plast-I-Weld to wick into the seams. Then, I think, epoxy and Micro ballons laid into any gaps with a gauze carrier. There's no room to glop anything over it because the firewall corners are right in that nook when the body is mounted. The pics are self-explanatory: Pocher wants you to use screws here which you can if you keep the body Pocher height, because the cowl is well off the firewall. With the body channeled near 3/8", it's right on top of the firewall, thus this drastic solution.: Tip: (among all these others); cheap black electrical tape sliced thin makes a dandy and pliable tape clamp to hold fore and aft position. Stretch it slightly as you apply it tightly and it's better than rubberbands:

You'll have plenty of chance to use it on your Pocher collection.

Here's a tidbit... For any hopefully wanting to build a Roller. You will need to assemble and disassemble the body / floor unit literally countless times for fitting purposes. Much frustration led to the idea to get 'extra help'. A simple 'truss rod' can be made to hold the big parts in proper relation to each other. When you find the correct width the body wants to be on the chassis, mark a location on the lower rear of the body, aft of the wheel well. It won't be seen after completion. Drill for a 2mm rod but no bigger. Seen here is how to make an adjustable rod to hold the left and right sides correctly. Snip 1" of all thread 2mm rod. Insert part way into 1/8" styrene tube also an inch or so long; make 2. Slip those into an aluminum tube about 1 1/2" shorter that the spread of the body panels. Use CA to secure each telescoped piece: Seen here in place, it doesn't flex and you can screw the end nuts tighter or looser to adjust the width, The floor must be bolted to the body before this work. Now the center roof panel can be fused to the body sides. First one side gets joined off the frame, then the second added while the rod holds the correct distance: The front section of the body at the cowl must be joined this way using 2 truss rods. There the body sides must be drilled and can be filled when the rods have completed their job. The forward body is under tension to spread out as it narrows there. Adjusting rods will pinch it in correctly ao the upper cowl can be fused to the body sides. I'll illustrate that when I get to it next.

Fred, Thanks for your support and taking the time to write some thoughts. This has become a project of research, learning, measuring and pushing past the edge of my rather ordinary skills. But as you say, I didn't want another 'nice' Pocher. Many are pleased just to have accomplished a box-build of this car. Only to discover many Pocher compromises to the 1:1's. I learned them as I went and and became determined to not fear major alterations to correct them. Harry also, is working a very advanced Rolls build and between both of us, tentative Pocher classic builders should lose their fear and awe and learn it is possible to alter them heavily with satisfying results. Follow his build too and see that there are several ways to skin a cat. At the very least, both of our builds will expose the flaws and trouble spots of Pochers and be beneficial to new builders to correct them. Thanks again and drop in as often as you can. C

Be flattered - they are so neat and simple, they are REAL.

Thank you sir. Feel free to pick my nits. They're still not as good as your seats.

I beg to differ David. Even your excellent building skills cannot change the fact that, built OOB, any of these are nowhere near 1:1, in proportion or detail. Fender flairs front and rear, the headlight bulges, lower body edge, completely wrong hood scoop, flaired roll bar legs instead of straight, windshield angle and thickness, the jack pads, sidepipes - the list goes on and on. Pinched and too narrow, the models capture none of the brute, squat character of a 427. Huge and wrong tires do not change that fact. Harry has been very vocal on the record here about kit manufacturers and their seeming inability or lack of desire to get the darned things right for the tooling. It costs no more to make a right part than a wrong part. No more evident than the US cobra model makers. Interesting that the Japanese (Gunze, Climax) makers take pains to get this American icon correct but not the US. I have been on the record and detested for it, about the sad, toy like quality of them. I built the old MPC 1/16 kit in the late '80's and knew it was futile. Mine had a lot of Bondo in it and I stopped halfway through, I think because I couldn't make a thin enough windshield frame. Never built a model of one since. Here are three real CSX examples; a vintage raced Comp, CSX 3210, and the rear of the late Richard Messersmith's 3018. Study them compared to your kits. Another sad fact I've seen is that many modelers who love these cars have never been in one, touched, heard or driven one. That would turn many away even given these are currently the only model game in town. Dave, although bigger, your Corvette and Camaro models are lightyears ahead of the current Cobra offerings. ">

Showing you the door... Continuing onto the inside, the earlier-assembled inner door panels had to be cut and shaped to match the new outer skin. The door post will be removed too. The lowered and curved top edge is evident here: One done, one remaining: New 'veneer' top caps made with the proper height and curve. The pleats, frame and carpet are all separate bits but mocked in place with a dab of double stick. The addition of the beautiful MMC door handle and window winder will brighten these panels up. I may add a map pocket when done with the major body work. The veneer is a hair oversized (on purpose) and will be trimmed for final. Any ripples, bulges etc will lay flat with no gaps when fastened. Before that, the brass side window frames will be made. Now the inners match the door skins: Or I may fabricate a new sloped trunk before that. Been trying new shapes and am close to a decision...

Pocher has you do it .250" too high at the hood / cowl join. Even if you don't get it dead level, you will greatly reduce the rear edge elevation. May look just like your illustration. And yes, the firewall went with the chassis.

Did you consider eliminating the spacer blocks to lower the firewall? It helps align the louvers and flattens the hood line. Also, I had earlier removed the right side one because it made placement of the gas pedal and toe board easier to fit.

Plastic - surgery... A major attack on long-overdue work today. The doors got trimmed lower and slightly curved and the door posts removed. The beltline has been removed completely: Door on the left completely done. Grits of 150, 220, 320 and light clean-up with 600. This after a light dress down on the belt sander. Door on the right shows the first hit of the belt sander. Seen prominently is the 1/2" gray foam floor mats from the box stores. Cut to size they make excellent sanding blocks and supports under the work piece:: Fairly close in size, maybe a hair more tweeking on one: Finally, where we're going with this. The lower door line will connect the cowl (missing here) and the rear door jamb. The silver dots represent where (probably) the new location for the lower edge of the top will be, similar to the original shape. But remember that the top is 13mm lower in front (and 6 in the rear), it's quite a change. Not just yet but a newly shaped and thickness beltline will be created. Also note that the bottom edge of the body has been trimmed 5mm. This will add visual length when the running boards are added because they will be closer to the door bottoms.:

Rick Muck is an SPF dealer on here and can answer any questions on the replicas. Pete J has been in the Holman continuation car.

Lee Holman is still producing the MK II. For a million a pop.

Thanks Mike but the guy that did the CD makes me look like a shoe salesman. It's that good.

All better now...

Chassis 1075. http://blog.thehenryford.org/2014/03/gt40-1075-a-two-time-le-mans-champion/

http://www.heller.fr/en/maquettes/scale-cars-model-classic/160-citroen-15-cv-1-8-3279510807998.html To any interested builders of this kit, a brand new CD of construction is available. It has high content of step by step photos and text. It is loaded with corrections and tips to avoid the model's pitfalls and flaws. Created by a highly advanced large-scale builder, it is similar to the Koo discs for Pocher classics but even more explicit and thorough. PM me for contact information.

Good / Bad news... Resuming the fender mismatch, I decided to try a non-destructive course to rectify. I pinned it down with a bit of stretched tension, just past the 1/8" I needed. I weighted the edges and applied 1000 degree heat from my trusty Milwaukee gun - very quickly ard carefully so as not to melt it. It worked but too well, I misjudged and got a whole 1/4" out of it. Not an exact science. At least no damage and the curve is intact - fits the body opening fine. Now I'll just reheat and close it down a bit. Had finally made the subfloor. It's actually two laminations of sheet; .020 below with slot for the center crossmember to poke into but not above and .010 on top of that with no slot - just a flat floor. Here is the carpet flat on the floor, just placed, not glued. It will lay flat and cover all those edges. Will get to the doors now to cut them down and and remove the beltline. Then the brass frames for the side windows:

Scott, Way to go by challenging yourself with advanced techniques. Keep up the patience and it pays dividends. Your work is improving each step as you go along. Great prep for your coming Pochers. Soldering is a big part of advanced work on them. Can't wait to see.

Lord help you getting into the sights of a thundering 18 wheeler.

No you're not alone seeking accuracy or scale operation but you're clearly many levels above most of the rest of us. You and Mark Jones are about in a class of your own.