mrm

Thank you. Wherever it’s going, it’s getting there really really slow. LOL. I wish I had more time to mess with it.

slowly starting to correct and prep different parts... The engine/transmission assembly got all the holes for the assembly screws filled in with JB Weld steel putty. While other holes were grinned open, like the hole for the lines for the transmission control unit. This is the transmission control unit. In comes preassembled and pre-painted in the kit. But it's lacking detail and some of the shapes are plain wrong. So it will be redone. This little gold addition is the actual gear actuator. The part is wrong in some regards and the detail on it is rather vague. So this will have to be redone too. These next pieces are rather puzzling to me in the way they are made. It is basically the air filters housings. On the real car there are basically two funnels - upper and lower - bolted together with the air filters sandwiched in the middle. What Pocher decided to do is to mold the upper in two halves, which then attach to a silver part with the filter molded into it and then attach the lower to it. This would create a very unrealistic and plain wrong look, as everything on the real car is carbon fiber. They even got the screws wrong as they just molded one on each corner, when the 1:1 actually has eight of them. Considering the scale and size of the parts this makes no sense and is absolutely unacceptable, especially at this price level. On top of it the two upper parts have super thick locating tubes that are visible once assembled. I glued the halves and then grinded off the locating tubes for a more accurate smooth look, which would definitely be visible once the model is finished. The halves also have a super nice carbon fiber printed on them. Which is ruined by the seem between the two parts and even more so by the silver "frame" which should be actually one part with them. What you see on this picture is actually one solid piece on the real car made entirely out of carbon fiber. More to come. Thanks for looking and stay tuned...

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I totally understand. It is really cool what you did to the Lambo so far. I really like the effect on the muffler. How did you achieve that?

This is one bad a$$ project. Gives me bad ideas. Which is such a bad thing in a very good way. 🤪

Thank you. I already sourced all the screws. And changed the sizes for a lot of them. In the kit the same size screws are used on the control arms for the spacers, the shock mount and the sway bar links Not the case on the real car. So I got M1.4 for the spacers and M1.6 for the shocks. The ones in the kit are M1.5 all around. I'm still gathering some necessary tools. For example my torx screws arrived like a week or so ago, while the micro torx screwdrivers did not come in until yesterday. I also finally pulled the trigger on an AM Arrowmax electric drill, but I received it with a nice set of carving bits instead of the drill bits it was supposed to come in with. The garage is still a mess too. Not that this would make a difference with the current temperatures and humidity. I would love to see your Aventador project. You should make a thread about it.

So I got the two copies of issue 226 from Spotlight hobbies yesterday. Read the issue cover to cover today. Spotlight hobbies included some cool decal sheet with their branding with the order. I had never ordered anything from them, but was nothing short of impressed with their service, prices and lightning fast delivery. Really col issue. I truly enjoyed it.

Thank you Michael. Yeah. You got a point. These are aimed more toward the diecast collector that would like to "put something together" then the typical model builder. You are absolutely right. Building models (or any other hobby) can be used as a time-out-from-reality in a therapy like fashion. Or it can be a frustration laden anger trip. And sometimes the line between the two is very thin. To me personally it's the former. At least so far. LOL

Now that’s a beauty. I love what you’re doing with the motor. Great color too.

In this scale in many ways things are "easier" (for lack of better word) for manufacturers. Or at least it should be. I mean they made these beautifully molded and finished suspension pieces and then completely butchered them with the stupid screws. Anyway, I don't want to be whiny. After all that's what I enjoy the most about building models - the challenge and pushing myself further. But about price point, I also collect 1:18 die cast models and I just received the latest Pagani Huayra from AlmostReal. $400 delivered to my door. If they can deliver that level of detail and craftsmanship in 1:18 scale for this price, then Pocher have absolutely no excuse at their price point.

To be honest, apparently some things never change. Sure, the overall quality has improved. Just like on anything else. I mean, considering we are comparing with the Pochers from 35 years ago. Before I pulled the trigger I watched some videos and read some forums (all two I could find, LOL). And I have to say that I expected more from this kit. Yes, there are some very nicely finished pieces and a good amount of detail. But not for a seasoned modeler familiar with the real car. A lot of detail is very vaguely molded on some parts, non existent on others and plain wrong on third. Some things are just done in a very lazy way. If you build this out of the box, it would make a cool conversation piece in a way a large LEGO set would. The instruction manual is a weird situation. You go online and download it for free. If you chose so you can print it like I did. It is very vague at times and in some instances it is plain wrong. In the box comes a really nice poster of the car on which it's hard to tell if it's the model or the real thing. On it it says that you can contact the company if you want them to send you a paper copy of the instructions. Well, why don't you just included? To top it off, the paper copy is supposedly fixed and improved to address some of the issues in the online manual. Now that makes even less sense as it should be easier to correct the online instructions and update them. I am waist deep in this now, so I may as well do it right. So I guess I will just have to modify almost everything in this kit. I just found out last night that the whole rear frame is very wrong in many places. And can't really see a reason for it. This is unacceptable on $1300 kit in 2025. But yet again, it's Pocher and in many ways nothing has changed from their MO in the early '90s.

This is totally my kind of hot rod. The more unusual, the better. I will be following for sure.

Thank you, Alan. I was on another thread asking where to get issue 226 of the magazine and someone suggested Spotlight Hobbies. So I went on there to order it and I saw they actually offer chrome plating service. So there is a very good chance this whole intake piece together with some other parts to be sent to them after I'm done modifying the pieces.

Thank you. I just ordered it from them. Two copies shipped to my house for the same money Model Round up asked for just one copy shipped.

Slowly I am starting to prep parts. The A-arms on any Pagani car is a work of art as it is a part assembled from few pieces and it is always on display. In the kit the upper A-arms are made from 2 pieces and are bolted from above with ugly black Phillips head screws, which ruin the whole part for me. Pocher had the decency to actually mold the upper part with the correct cut out in it, but then for some reason the bottom part is missing it and they ruined it with the screw design. So I glued the two pieces with CA and used the screws basically just to clamp the two pieces together. Then I removed the crews and filled their holes with JB Weld steel reinforced epoxy putty. This should allow to eliminate the screws and to putty and sand everything smooth. This however did not solve my issue of the solid piece underneath. So I decided to open up the holes like on the real car, which is all about saving weight. Digging through almost 1/4 inch of die cast metal was not quite as bad as expected, but it definitely took a while. Original part with the holes filled with steel putty on the left and the drilled out part on the right. I am quite happy how they turned out. Now I have to putty and sand the surface where the screws were and they will be ready to receive a fresh gold coating.

Thank you Alan. Last night I had a little time and decided to just check how some things fit on my dining table. Next thing you know I am detailing the plenum. What you see here id the induction system of this insane motor. Basically its intakes get connected from the turbos straight up to a water-to-air intercoolers on each side, which are directly bolted on each side of the plenum. On the real car they are highly polished aluminum and everything is created from beautifully welded together pieces. The parts in the kit do not do justice to what's in the real car. Especially considering that the plenum is always visible, even when the engine hood is closed. The kit's intake system consists of about twenty something parts, twenty of which you see here glued together. Interestingly enough the coolers are made from metal halves that are screwed together and everything else is plastic. The finishes are wrong and there is no trace of the artful welds. Since I would have to repaint all this anyway, I thought to bring some realism to it with some photo etched weld lines. They come as straight strips, but with some persuasion they could be manipulated into curves. Here you can see the weld line on the left where the cooler meets the plenum. This not only adds a lot of realism, but also hides the glue line, so I don't have to putty it. I don't know if it is by coincidence or by design, but all the weld lines on the real car are exactly where the pieces are glued together. On the pictures you can see fogging from the ca I used to attach the photo etched weld lines. After all the welds are applied everything would be sanded smooth and then painted. Welds on the right vs plain joint line on the left. This is what I am trying to replicate Stay tuned...

Now those, I don't have a single issue of.

And they want more for shipping than the magazine itself. And they are in Atlanta and I'm in Nashville. It's not like they are in Seattle and sending it to Florida. On a general principle I will not pay that. It's a flat envelope. You can flatrate it for a third of what they are asking for shipping. It's not about the $$. I'm just tired of bs antics like that.

Where can I purchase a copy or two of issue 226? Nobody around me carries it and the one hobby shop I found having it in stock online wanted to charge me $25 shipped to TN. I've received larger packages shipped from overseas for that money.

I have this one too.

Hi y'all. I had a really really rough start of the year and have not touched a model in 2025. I lost my job, decided to start my own company, my dog which I've had since he was born passed after over a month of trying to fight his heart disease and ripped my soul apart. Just a month after some kids rear ended my wife on a parking lot creating a nightmare battle with insurance companies. Just two weeks after my Duke passed away, my wife got diagnosed with breast cancer. Doctors, treatments, two surgeries and business picking up kept me preoccupied. My kid came home from college, so that just added to it all. And then I ran across an opportunity to get a model that I just could not pass up. The latest from Pocher in 1:8th scale. The Pagani Utopia, which is also the latest from the Modenese exotic company. Last time I had seen or worked on a Pocher model was a couple of decades ago on one of their Ferrari F40s. This new kit seems to be a great improvement in every possible regard, yet some things never change I guess. The model is huge and it is Diecast metal. Or at least a great portion of it. That is definitely a double sided sword. Especially considering that everything is supposed to be prepainted and ready for assembly. That comes as a blessing to a lot of people, especially when it comes to the body, which is finished very nicely. It is still a kit with about 600 parts, not counting all the screws. Strangely I have not seen almost any of these being built. I found one on a British automotive forum, one on a British modeler YouTube channel and recently one on a German forum. And people are complaining that there is too much gluing and too many parts, which should somewhat give you an idea of the crowd this kit has attracted. On top of that the British modelers I mentioned apparently are absolutely clueless on the subject matter they are building. Anywho.... To me personally the refinished parts are plain annoying as they are not finished in the colors I would like (and in some cases plain inaccurate) and I don't like the color spec of the model. To be fair, this model is designed to represent the sample first presented to the press and to be build ratter quick with moderate effort. I did not get this for free and I am not affiliated with Pocher or any of their distributors. This thread could be used as a fair review of the kit I guess. The first thing I have to say is that the instructions are far from good and you have to download and print your own copy. The 140 page manual is not included. Some steps are downright wrong from what I have studied. Now, as we all know any seasoned modeler would have no problem putting this together as we take instructions more as a suggestion how to build our models. A big deal with this model is that I have to start by great preparations on top of the usual painstaking research, which is not an easy task with these exotics. If you think finding the wiring and plumbing for the bespoke twin turbo V12 built by AMG exclusively for Pagani is as simple as a google search, I have some disappointing news for you. Then comes the fact that although a huge improvement from the kits Pocher marketed under the Testors brand back in the '90s, this kit kit is still at the level of a good 1:18 Diecast at best, only bigger. It blows my mind that they are still using Philips head screws even in this scale for some bolts that are going to be clearly visible on the finished model. This is especially annoying on a car like the Pagani, which is famous for having every single titanium bolt and nut polished, engraved with the company's name and put proudly on display as a design element. So I had to spend stupid amount of time sorting, measuring, documenting and arranging screws, which I had then to chase replacements for to have them with the proper shaped polished Torx heads to match the ones on the real car. Finding M1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.3 and 2.5 in various lengths, with Torx button heads turned out to be considerably harder than I thought. There is a variety of other detail I had to accumulate before starting this model, which I didn't have simply because of the sheer size of it. Then I decided that this project is a good reason to finally put my garage in order and fix my painting station in it. I end up buying a really big compressor to use for everything else in the garage too, a new large paint booth, which resulted in building a work table for it, running ducting through the garage wall for the exhaust fan and the whole thing spiraled out of control. So far I am about $2K into this Pagani project before I have even begun and I am still not ready with the garage and the paint station. But I am slowly getting this party started... These are the original screws provided with the kit. All of them are Philips heads and they are black. These are all the screws I have gotten so far to replace the ones from the kit. They are all silver and are Torx button heads. I had to get some black ones too and also quite a bit of tools. Like micro Torx screwdrivers, metric thread cutters because the holes the screws are supposed to go into have no threads and the parts are metal, Some more serious drill bits and a couple of new rotary tools. I also got bunch of generic 1/12 detail parts from Top Studio that I can use on this build and I would have to 3D print a myriad of bolt heads and other little detail. I am also working with Scalemotorsports to see if they can print me some large sheets of carbon decals. That's gonna cost me too I'm sure... Here is the engine and transmission assembled as they come prepainted from the kit. Now I have to strip them, add some kind of shapes and detail to the casting which is ratter generic and then prime and paint everything just to get a starting base. Stay tuned...

So, basically more whole lotta nothin'....

LOL. I am not offended and there is no need to apologize. I was just clearing the air surrounding my 300 comment. Hey, I bought a '61 Galaxie from Walmart. For the same money as Revell's '32 Sedan reissue. What a crappy model that Galaxie is. I am not familiar with them, so I thought it had that nice "bouble top" with the nice swooping line in the back. Nope. One piece bottom with BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH chassis detail, solid axles and no engine. The custom front and rear would take about the same amount of work to graft on as if I was scratch-building them. Headlights molded into the grille. No engine whatsoever. For $30. No wonder the whole pallet is still sitting there almost untouched. And you want more of that..? It's like trying to sell Commando on a VHS tape at $30 a pop. It was great back in 1985 and VHS was modern technology. But our-days it's obsolete and Commando is considered a low budget B-movie that you can find in the $5 DVD pile.

My original comment was "I can think of at least 30 different cars I would consider better choice investing on a new tooling to make before another Galaxie. From any manufacturer." And because I take a similar stand on other manufacturers too, it was brought up in another thread, where a '32 Ford Pick Up was mentioned. So, somebody decided to be a smart Alec and say Better a Galaxie repop than another 32 Ford. Which resulted with my 300 comment. I am all for restoring and reissuing long lost models for the blue hair crowd that is in the hobby of buying and collecting models on their shelf, as long as that's not the only models out there and there is some kind of balance with offering some new stuff that could possibly attract new blood in the hobby. I have two teenagers at home. They used to build models with me. Not any more. I asked them out of the blue today, what would be a model subject they think would make them or their friends to pick a model and give it a go. They gave me quite a variety of a list. Common '60s and '70 grocery getters were nowhere on it. They both said immediately trucks. (And neither of them is into trucks) "Off road stuff" because that's what a lot of kids their age are into. "Porsches and the other cool B@& A$$ supercars" was another answer and "drifters".

I couldn't agree more with this. Except I would add that that is the situation not only with the Galaxie, but with the vast majority of R2 kits. And their original vintage boxart idea may seem cool to that same old crowd, but nobody else finds it attractive. Take for example the Phantom Vicky '32 Ford they repopped. Judging by the box art, they were trying really hard NOT to sell any. Because it is a great kit full of great modern street rod parts. That's one thing that Revell is doing amazing at - their new boxart, whether of reissues or new models is just making you want to buy the model, build it and then frame the box cover.