1/8 scale woody

[Harry P.]

I was going to "shut 'er down" for the summer as far as building does, but after I finished my 1/16 scale Rolls woody I was so happy with the results that I decided not to wait, and jump right into my 1/8 scale version.

Here is the kit I'll be using as the donor... the Pocher Rolls Royce "Star of India," a model of a one-of-a-kind RR that some bigshot Indian prince commissioned to be built for himself in the 1930s. Under the fancy saffron paint and polished aluminum, it's a 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II Cabriolet:

Like the 1/16 scale woody I recently posted, I'll be scratchbuilding the entire body of real wood. But the fact that this is a Pocher kit means that there will be a whole lot more building to do before I even get to the point where I start on the body. Engine and chassis first... I need a base on which to build the woody body and interior. And because it's a Pocher, I will be making use of the kit's operating features, like roll-down windows and operating door latches, among others, to make this woody about as detailed a model as I've ever built.

[Harry P.]

Here is what I'm shooting for. Not necessarily this exact car, but something along these lines. Mine will have black fenders and a sage green hood and cowl.

[Harry P.]

I feel like starting this project by building the transmission first. No reason... just because,

Anyway...the Pocher kit pieces for the shift and pedal linkages are metal parts, either nickel or chrome plated (can't tell which). Plated shifter and pedal linkages don't seem very likely to me, so I painted all the parts semi-gloss black.

The trans itself is plastic and builds up like any model kit (except for the fact that there are a lot more pieces). Here is the finished trans assembly, sprayed silver, then Testors Transparent Window Tint, then blackwashed with my usual mix of Future and black acrylic craft paint. It's a shame that once the model is finished and on display, you'll never see any of this...

[Harry P.]

The engine has full internal detail, including rotating crank and articulated pistons. Here is the lower block, crankshaft, crank bearings and flywheel...

And the crankshaft installed... just two more bearings to go...

[wayne swayze]

Hope you have a 1/8 scale torque wrench Harry!

[cobraman]

Building in the summer ? Good ! Something we can tune into everyday.

[Cato]

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.

[Nacho Z]

Heaven's sake, you are off to a great start! I missed your last build and will have to go back and check it out. I plan on following this one all the way through.

[Harry P.]

Cato... once I have the chassis built and radiator installed, I'll go from there and see what needs to be done. As far as flattening the hood line... I'm not so sure that's correct...

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Well, as you said before, not every one was the same.

[Harry P.]

Well, as you said before, not every one was the same.

I may be wrong, but I think RR supplied the chassis including the radiator, firewall, and hood (bonnet). The rest was custom coach work.

[Cato]

Cato... once I have the chassis built and radiator installed, I'll go from there and see what needs to be done. As far as flattening the hood line... I'm not so sure that's correct...

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.

[Harry P.]

As detailed as Pocher kits are, the ironic thing is that they are actually missing a lot of detail. Pocher either simplified a lot of details, got them wrong, or omitted them altogether. Nowhere is that more obvious than on the engine. Built out of the box, the Pocher RR engine looks pretty spectacular to the average set of eyes, but there are a lot of things either wrong or flat out missing. I have a set of detailed instructions on superdetailing a Pocher RR engine, written by John Haddock. He goes into incredible detail, telling you via photos, mechanical drawings, and dimensions, how to build and add just about every missing detail to the engine. Here is just one page as an example of what I'm talking about. Just the engine detailing alone covers 40+ pages!

I doubt that I'll add everything he covers in his instructions, but I will add some of the most obvious omissions, like for example, the many missing oil lines that Pocher just ignored. First step is to lay out the locations for all the mounting holes I'll need, based on the drawings and dimensions in the superdetailing guide:

Here the pointers show the various holes I needed to drill in order to install the oil lines on one side of the block. Also, there are several modifications or additions needed to various components (circled, like the missing oil valve on the block and the mounting boss for the control levers on the front timing case, just to mention two). It's easier to do all of this work now, before paint and assembly, rather than later when the engine is already built up:

[Harry P.]

The trick to adding all the missing engine detail is doing it in the correct order. You have to work from the inside out... meaning that you have to add the details that are closest in to the block first, then add the details that are further out. For example, the missing oil lines that hug the block on both sides have to be installed before you install the intake manifold and carb, because if you install the carb first and add all the missing carb linkages, you'll have no way to access the block walls to add the oil lines. You really have to plan ahead and get the sequence down in your mind before you start adding things.

[Harry P.]

Pocher kits were engineered to be built without glue. Assembly is with either mechanical fasteners (screws, nuts and bolts) or friction fit. In some cases that philosophy made for some pretty obviously inaccurate situations, like here on the front timing cover. There is a big cutout and boss (pointer) that accepts one of the kit's screws. Not only is this inaccurate (the timing cover was bolted to the engine via the bolts around its perimeter, as molded into the kit part), but the Godzilla-sized screw head would be way out of scale compared to the in-scale bolts molded into the kit piece:

The fix: carefully grind away the screw boss, fill the cutout with Bondo, sand to shape... and then glue this part on instead of using screws:

This situation (out-of-scale and/or out-of-place screwheads) is common throughout the model. In some cases it's visible, like on the timing case cover, and has to be fixed. In other cases it's not as visible (or not visible at all on the finished model) and can be left as is... inaccurate but not noticeable on the finished model. Just one of those Pocher peculiarities...

[AzTom]

Looking Great! I gotta follow this one.

[Harry P.]

I've been working on the engine for the last several days, There is a lot of missing detail that could be added. If you really went nuts and got totally into it, you could easily spend weeks adding all the details Pocher left off. A few scratchbuilt additions... plug boots, ignition wire looms, vacuum pump, and plug wire loom and bracket that will mount to the right front corner of the cylinder head:

Fan belt tensioner:

[Harry P.]

Here is the right side of the engine so far. You can see what I meant by detailing from the "inside out" here... the missing oil lines are in place, along with various other small details like linkages, valves, etc. All of this "inside" detailing has to be done first, before the intake manifold and carb are installed, because the carb is outboard of all of this detail.

I don't even want to go into detail on how much of what you see here has been added, modified, or corrected in one way or another from "stock." The water pump assembly alone had to be completely changed, reworked, rebuilt, and reconfigured to get it to both look correct and fit into place. And that's just the water pump, let alone all the rest you see here. And I'm just getting started with the details on this side. And this is just one side of the engine! Yeah, you can spend some serious time detailing a Pocher engine...

[Harry P.]

Cylinder head detail includes push rods, rocker arms, and valve springs...

[Ramfins59]

I'm surprised to see you've started this project during the summer Harry, as that is not your usual modus operandi. I look forward to another spectacularly detailed model from your workbench.

[Harry P.]

I'm surprised to see you've started this project during the summer Harry, as that is not your usual modus operandi. I look forward to another spectacularly detailed model from your workbench.

Yeah, I usually stay away from building during the summer. but I was so happy with how my 1/16 scale RR "practice" woody turned out that I decided to get right into building the 1/8 scale "real one."

[Harry P.]

Cylinder head installed with intake manifold and auxiliary (scratchbuilt) starter carburetor. Intake manifold is painted with Testors Magnesium Metalizer...

Next up... detail the carb, add all the control linkages, install carb and the distributor...

[Harry P.]

It's amazing how every flaw that you don't notice in "real life" jumps out at you when you look at photos. I see a sink mark on that rear motor mount, just above where that lower oil line comes out, that I completely missed. Oh well... too late now. The good news is that once the engine is installed in the frame and the steering column/steering box are in place, it'll be pretty much completely hidden from view.

[cobraman]

That engine looks like it could really run ! Looks great.

[bill w]

Can you tell me where you purchased the detailed RR instructions on the engine? I have a couple Pocher kits that I will be finishing when I'm

finished with my current project. Any info would be appreciated, thanks.