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Cato

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Everything posted by Cato

  1. Haven't quit yet... Even though I've been off the board for a bit, work has progressed almost daily. Mostly the design phase and study how to implement the proposed changes above. But this week, quite a bit of styrene dust has been created. I have channeled the body roughly 3/8" and have the cowl / hood joint flat - like 1:1, not Pochers. The floor and chassis have been heavily modified for this. I've selected the dimensions and am now prepared to cut the top and windscreen. And door tops. And inner door panels, One thing leads to several others in this maze. After that, reassembly and full dress with fenders to select the sizing of the hood side panels and getting the louvers all straight - a big visual point on 1:1. I will post photos soon. But just to hopefully peak your interest, an additional, major design change is now finalized on paper (or screen actually). I have seen no Pocher Rolls with this feature and only one 1:1 in all my research. It's complex but I thought I'd try it because it promises the car I've wanted. I surely would have had an OOB build done by now. But this has become way more than a 'relaxing hobby'. More soon.
  2. Thanks Bill. Stop by when you can.
  3. Did you get Joan's footprints in the headliner??
  4. They have been vital. At Cox's suggestion, I bought Gentile's book; it's excellent and only P II's. Plus my own year + of searches. I'm good now because I've about finalized the plans in my mind.
  5. Thanks Ken. Building the model has gotten me heavily into researching the history and nuances of P II's.
  6. Thanks Mike and Skip for taking time to post a meaningful discussion. That was one priority I'd hoped for when I started this WIP. I largely agree with you Mike. You see my reason for more than casual consideration of the style elements. Virtually all of the Gurney cars seen on the web have the full, Rollston-style fenders seen here. But the Pocher fenders were not a fabrication; they were modeled after real cars. Many can be seen in Ray Gentile's (owner of 201 RY) book. In Gentile's frequent interviews with RR Chief Design Engineer Ivan Evernden, it was revealed that trunks and spares (sometimes two) were hung back there to offset forward weight bias. Getting the spares off the front fenders was more than a style trick. It would also provide spacious storage for the car's main mission; intercontinental travel. So some were spec'd by owners to be practical and other to be jaunty. In my view at this time, neither is 'bad' or 'wrong' for the car's style although some are more attractive than others. I'm still making piles of plastic dust while pondering this so they'll be stuff to see soon. Three major hardpoints have been finalized; the firewall and now the entire floor and body location. I've finally got the rear tire gaps where I want them. This baby will be lean and low. Planning and doing is all the fun...
  7. You are correct Mike; the reason this takes me forever is the need to test-fit every change with all the other parts in place. Dis and re assembling the main parts many times. Then photos to study. So if I build a new angled trunk form, I'll drill for the spare mounting post and put the spare on for visuals. I have not yet ruled out the square edged trunk; I have many shots of Gurney cars that have it and they're beautiful. They have a charm that is stately and sporty at the same time. Ignore that the fenders are different than mine but here's one:
  8. Although the trunk top (or lid) is rectangular, it does have a 'dome' or crown to it at the four corners. . When I get the final body mount position, that will determine how much the roof needs to come down. That will indicate how much the trunk should come down. Everything is inter-related. Still debating the angled back wall but much to be done before that final decision.
  9. Strangely, the stock Pocher trunk (mine was already sectioned 1/8" vertically when I moved the body back) is a faithful repro of the Gurney Nutting 'standard' (mean frequently chosen) trunk on their Sedanca Phantoms. I found many examples of the 'RY' chassis number cars bodied by them most appealing and what I'm striving for. Bob makes a good point and these cars had a myriad of styles just for trunks alone. That's not a bad look for the fuller fender cars but mine has the abbreviated (sides cut away) type. I will continue to noodle on this as I prepare now to cut the top; a scary moment...
  10. Hmmm, we need a tie-breaker...
  11. Flights of fancy... When radically altering a design, I've learned that the most important thing is to coordinate all the elements. Adding the stock trunk changes everything we've altered for the sake of refinement by putting a big box on the back end. Note that there are myriad detail changes required after the big elements are altered; things like the coach line, louvers, running boards and hood cut lines. Please pardon the poor photo editing but it does help one visualize proposed changes. The actual work to achieve the lowness will be shown in coming photos. The floor is now finalized as is the firewall which is bolted in place and the foundation for all the body structural work. A LOT of cutting and slotting was needed. The body rear is lowered by 4mm over the rails, giving a much better tire gap (seen below) at the rear. The front fender was finalized months ago and now the rear matches that lowered position. Here is the current state before any further alterations; remember some of the previous shots were edited to show where I want it to be. To review, here the body has been channeled and the floor lowered to the frame top. The door top has had a 'digital' cut at the top edge. The hood is no longer raked down to the grille; it's flat as all Phantoms were: Now we see what sectioning (lowering) the trunk does; a smoother-flowing belt line from the now-flat hood top to trunk top. The top and windshield post has been digitally chopped; the post 5mm, the top about 7mm. Probably need to take at least 5mm out of the trunk: A more daring idea shows the trunk rear wall angled to add to the visual movement of the whole design. Many 1:1 Phantoms had custom trunks just like this. Remember the exposed spare tire will be mounted and angled there too. I'm not sure if I'll go that far but am leaning that way (pun intended). Your thoughts?
  12. :lol: When things go badly, I resort to the Full Nelson! Thanks all...
  13. Did you buy it overseas Tom or is there US distribution?
  14. Getting somewhere... A lot has been done but I'll just show where it got me to. Here is an early photo to give understanding to what's been done. It's a close shot of the firewall and how it sits on the chassis according to Pocher. Note the rectangular wood block between the floor and chassis rail. See that the firewall is spaced off the frame by .250". The high firewall raises the body front even higher. This causes the hood to slope downward from the firewall to the radiator - the originals were flat: The object is to get the floor (which attaches to the body side sills) to rest on the frame (thereby lowering it) to give the correct proportions the 1:1 had. Another earlier view showing that the cowl is raised above the firewall (a huge ugly gap) and the step between the firewall and cowl. Clearly the body front edge is much higher than the radiator. This would be an out of box assembly: After much cutting, grinding, slotting and bracket removal, here's where it is now. Firewall sits flush on the frame, Body is channeled roughly .250" and cowl sits atop the firewall. This lowers the rear of the hood line making a straight line from radiator to body. The entire floor will sit on the frame at front (hadn't been slotted completely in this shot; it now sits flat) and nearly flush in rear. This will also lower the rear fender tire clearance. The louvers and side panels now have different relationships and will need sectioning and material added to give a straight louver line and hood sides that rest on the frame, not overlap. Just careful measuring and fitting to come: Now with the help of a little editing, a look at where we're going. To visually lower the car's aspect in addition to the actual lowering done so far, the door rear window track and door top edge have been removed: And here the windscreen frame and top have been chopped roughly 5/16". Compare to the second photo above: Much has been done so far but much remains to get all the various proportions to play with each other. All this advanced work has come from studying the Dave Cox site and conversations with him. It's giving me the model I'd always hoped.
  15. Wow! You even make up sordid tales to go with your models! Easy on those meds Harry.....
  16. My door glass and windscreen fit perfectly into the molded reliefs for them. As well as the headlight covers. I used the kit tires and ran them against a sanding drum. They are almost slicks now.
  17. Try to get .5 to .6mm at most. Thinner if you find it, but spendy. You can skive it yourself but that's a lot of work.
  18. Beautiful build. I am amazed you got Dupli lacquer on without eating the acrylics.
  19. You've built a really attractive one and a pleasant change from the decaled race winners. For your next one (please do) you can lower the front ride height. You simply shim the lower a-arm between it and the spindle with a small washer. Pushes the wheel up into the fender. Brings it down almost 3mm. Here's mine: All your detail work is excellent; only let down by Trump's toy-like suspension bits. Next one scratch build your own. If you choose to, you can strip off the Future by wipes with Windex. Then I'd polish the paint with grits for gloss. Overall a great looking model. EDIT: The side Lexans were held on by Dzus or rivets in an aluminum frame.
  20. I agree with David. Mine is 3+ years old and I only bought it because I felt bad about keeping the old one for 5 years. Worked fine as long as you mix 50% / 50%.
  21. X2 Exactly what Mark said. I use lacquer thinner. I mix on a soft plastic coffee can lid and also immediately wipe with thinner too. Stays new forever.
  22. Not using the kit seats. You have very good seams where sections of leather meet. Your larger scale allows use of the thicker leather. You did a nice job dyeing also.
  23. Very nice upholstery Preston. That's a major sticking point on my Rolls build - making nice front seats.
  24. I have removed the Pocher cowl spacers which lowers it and makes the brace rod dead level. That gets me close. That was 3/16". Still need to get the floor flat to the frame and adjust body height until I hit the sweet spot. The goal is a perfectly flat hood line, with a smooth coachline and equal louver heights; changes in one place affect many other adjoining areas.
  25. Not silly. Changing the radiator moves upper and lower hoses, the brace rod and shutter control rod. The fan will hit the stuff (instead of the other way around ). But the main reason is it makes the nose aspect all wrong - too high. The key is lowering the body. That's the way they were. It will get more clear when I post pictures. Yes a lot of work - yes a glutton...
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