Scale-Master

What a great ride it's been to build this puppy, just what I needed after the Blue Super Seven. I actually thought it would easier than it turned out to be, just build it out of the box and all will build nicely... I now realize what a foolish perspective that was! I am very surprised I was able build this thing in less than seven weeks, (actually it was closer to five weeks working time...) but then again, it is just out of the box. It's not that I was rushing, more like relishing the build. To anyone else who has a Pocher kit and is contemplating building it, I say go for it. They can be very frustrating in a few areas, but the reward is worth it. Just don't set your vision of the outcome higher than what the kit can reasonably build. I have to publicly thank my friend David Morton for providing me with this kit. He was kind enough to show off it's size. I think he's even happier about it being finished than me! W.I.P. thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5005

Paint the parts as early in the construction as you can, and let them dry for as long as needed... Preferably even longer than just "needed"...

Now that I have gotten past the hurdle of mounting the fenders, I hope I am on the home stretch. There are not that many pieces left, but as I have mentioned before, amount of parts is not in any direct correlation to amount of work to get them on the car. Still some tweaking and touching up to do on it too, but I'll wait until I put some more parts on...

Here the hood has been cut out (using a scriber and the back side of an older X-acto #11 blade). A lip was made of sheet styrene so the hood won't fall through the hole. The firewall (mounted before cutting out the hood for structural rigidity) is visible through the opening. The hood in place after being cut out. The tail lights were done the same way as the headlights, just smaller brass inserts (tubing). I'll probably machine red lenses for them if I don't trip over some first. A shot of the engine and some of the engine bay frame work. The hole in the firewall has been cut for the transmission tunnel.

Yes, 1/24. http://www.resilientresins.com/ is their website and sota@msn.com is the email on the package header.

Hmmm, mutliple Alfas and Multiple Monzas. Talk about coincidences.... Another of the many models I started and let sit over the few years. But I have a legitimate excuse for this one, yeah... A friend who wanted some modeling coaching got two of these kits. I built mine while he followed along building his. But his went dormant, and after almost three years I decided yesterday to button mine up. Custom decals, but otherwise a nearly out of the box build, at least as far as intent. I did have to replace the tires and wheel inserts and steering wheel & shifter as the kit parts were useless or non-exsitent. Tamiya lacquers for the paint. And maybe I'll post it's counterpart if it ever gets finished...

What? Another Monza? And not even a Chevy?! Had to wait for some parts I painted for the Alfa Monza to dry, and why work on something else that needs to be finished when you can start something new!? This is a Resilient Resins body. I wet sanded it, primed it (with green primer), and sanded it again to find any low spots and remove any high spots. Any pin holes and low spots were filled with CA. The wheel wells were shaped and refined and the cockpit was cut out. I will make a firewall before cutting open the hood. The head light openings were first drilled open for brass tubing to make the recesses. This is how they looked after the brass was cemented in with CA and shaped. Also the rear view mirror has been shaved off. Now the body is primed with a more traditional white primer, shown under it are the donor head light lenses from a Tamiya Morgan kit. It is not going to be a "normal" Monza when it is done, but you'll have to wait to see what develops...

Thought I'd do something else quick and fun. I know, it's a Mark I, not a Mark II, but hey, it was just for fun... Not too bad for a little Hot Wheels...?

The engine is pretty much done, for now... Won't know when it is for sure done until the whole model is finished. I was able to salvage the paper foil stickers for the engine. The stickers for the gauges however were not salvageable, so I drew and printed new decals to replace them.

It's getting awfully red... The body was an arduous affair to make fit. Literally had to beat it with a brass hammer, and yes it's only made of plastic. Still some minor tweaking needed I'm sure, but until I put more panels and parts on I don't know which direction to push it. Still enjoying building it, but I have no idea when it will be done. Normally at this stage I can judge from the remaining parts and instructions what lies ahead, but from earlier experiences on this puppy, I have no idea what I will need to unbuild to move forward. One would think there's only a week or two left by looking at it, but I wonder what will come up before it is done...

Thanks everyone, it was fun to make, I'm glad it generated some laughs too. I left it outside after I shot it yesterday, and a bird nailed it! Talk about being christened barnyard style! Scale? Yeah, it tips them about as much as a Holstein... Suede is leather, it's the inside (of usually cow), and has the tough exterior "leather" skin layer removed. I guess it's inside out? And that's a pretty high compliment Ismael, thanks!

Something a little less "responsible" than the Alfa... Suede finish, hey, cows aren't shiny, and they are made of suede... 350 cubic inch Cowvette engine. Distressed wood from years of beach use. Cow hide interior upholstery.

Now I see why so many of these models reach this approximate point of construction and stall. While during the early stages of construction, despite some interesting situations, for the most part assembly moved along rather quickly, at least progress was noticeable on a daily basis if not an hourly one. Now days of work yields very little noticeable advancement of the overall build. True, part of that is due to painting and allowing to dry. Fortunately I was able to let most of the body parts dry when I went on a trip. But now it is a case of having to take two or three steps back to be able to insert something to make a step forward. Plus the instructions direct you to do things that cannot be done, so time discovering workarounds eats into build time. Did I mention the body parts don't fit either? Don't get me wrong, I am relishing the challenge and enjoying the build, but also gaining a lot of respect for others who have completed these before with good results. The front suspension is still floppy as I have not attached the wheels which should straighten that up. Color is Testors Chrysler Engine Red, so far I've gone through more than four Model Master bottles of it. There is also some wiring to do before the main part of the body goes on. More as it happens...

Got the brakes on, minus drums, but the fronts are still a bit floppy until the wheels are mounted to the suspension. The suspension is pretty much all done too. But for all I know it'll have to be redone for the fenders or some other part to fit... Also made new gauge faces for the dash. Most of the rest of the stickers look like they may be salvageable, which I will try to do to keep in the spirit of the kit. Right now it is just painting work and drying time for the majority of the body...

Doesn't work on my end...

Wow! That's Way Better than the parts I got! I like the full fendered version(s) better too. You should be proud to have worked on such a beautiful machine, especially the way it came out.

Here is the steering box, treated to the same "upgrades" as the other parts that are represented as cast metal. Sadly, the gears were so poorly manufactured it will never function well, even after I spent quite a bit of time trying to clean them up, but as I learned later it really doesn't matter. Here is the differential and rear spring assembly. Again with the Faux Fabrix texturing... The engine installed in the frame. I am finding more "interesting" engineering ideas for how they used screws in this kit as I get deeper into it. Many screws are to be used in places they simply cannot be gotten to, many require you to unbuild several hours of work to gain access. Many also just don't line up. Reamers to open up holes and CA to keep them from stripping out helps. The rear end installed... The front suspension... Mounting the firewall and floor have been the worst fit so far, but when checking how the body will mate to the firewall I found some real problems. More on that later... The pitman arm rubs on the frame and there is no way short of notching the frame to give it clearance, but as I mentioned above, the gears were already bad so it is almost a moot point. This shot shows the all the rear shocks installed and the shading on the flooring.

Head w/Cams and Ignition It has two cams that will not be seen once it is assembled, one still exposed here. The head was textured in the same way same as the other engine parts. The cam covers are a mix of grays and pearls and metallics lightly textured with the dry application of the paint. I still have to make some decals for them to replace the damaged stickers that came in this kit. Believe it or not, there are only seven plastic parts, (coil -2, distributor-2, cam covers-2 and the head) and six metal parts (thumbscrews and coolant pipe), (not counting the brass eyelets and wires), visible in this assembly now. Lots of hand painting to bring out the molded in detail, but worth it... And the plug wires, (as funky of a red as they look in person), fortunately only look this color in the photos...

I spent a good eight hours lacing four of these wheels, that's after dry fitting, painting and familiarizing myself with them. Not a particularly hard job, but tedious and somewhat monotonous. At least once the pattern is established, it does have a rhythm, a good project to do with T.V. or music on... I found doing them altogether at the same time a benefit for uniformity. Here is the first layer of spokes done. The middle layer. And the outer layer and final outer rim. The tire treads were sanded and the sidewalls scrubbed with cleanser prior to mounting them. Fitting the tire over the rim is a fight. It's a very tight fit and care must be exercised to not damage the wire wheels, they are much more fragile than I expected. First round went to me, but the tire did draw some of my blood, literally. Second, third and fourth rounds belong to me, but I had to work for them...

Not an easy shot. You try to keep it still. Both hands on the engine, holding the camera with my knees, don't ask how I pressed the shutter...

The transmission presented similar issues as the engine, internals had to be sandwiched between the halves. I dry fitted them first and did the majority of the clean up, then took them apart and installed the inside metal parts. The screws in this kit are awful, (not sure if it's the way all the kits are, or if mine just has a bad run of hardware), the heads twist off or the shanks shear when they are only about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way in. Even drilling out the bosses to make less of a load on them does not seem to help, good thing there is super glue... So the seams were filled with CA and hold the halves together since the screws weren't doing their job. A little bit of the seam was left intentionally as there is a bit of a casting line on the real ones. Here it is masked off and ready to be shot: Textured with SMS Faux Fabrix and painted Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver. And here it is completed and mounted to the engine.

Here is the left half of the block with the crank, rods and pistons installed, as well as the rear four cylinder sleeves. Here it is all assembled. The seams front and rear were filled with CA and treated like regular seams, then they were textured and painted to match the rest of the engine. Click Image if you dare...:

It is a departure from normal building practices to fully finish each exterior side of the engine prior to putting the block together. I'm sure it could be built in a more traditional way with a little creative re-engineering, but since I'm building it in the spirit intended by the original designers, I'll continue to follow their lead. Now onto installing the crank, rods, pistons and cylinder sleeves...

Here is the raw oil pan. I did sand off the Pocher legalese lettering but the ghost of it is still visible. Textured like the block and painted and detailed... The engine block halves are painted and read to start accepting some of the accessories. This kit builds a bit different than today's "normal" kits.

These models do not build into exact copies of real cars from the kit. Mainly the bolts and screws give it away. As I stated in my opening monologue :"I want to build it to represent not only a prototypical Alfa one might see in a museum, but also as a representation of what a Pocher kit builds into, the way the engineers intended. No machining parts, no scratchbuilding, just painting, detailing and assembling." It's not so much that I am setting rules for myself, but once I start "upgrading" the model, (I know myself) it could take years to finish, and it's not what I want to do to this kit. (And I need to build something easy after the Blue 7.) I think it would be nice to make it as it was intended to be back when it was originally engineered. I will keep this one together in this thread. Remember, this forum was started well after the Seven was under construction, that's why it was posted haphazardly. Thanks, and stay tuned...