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Posted (edited)

The Project So Far...

This project started as a Pocher Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Kit in 2011, but has grown into a mostly scratch build in brass. I thought I’d post a few images of the build for the fine Modelers on this forum. Very few of the Pocher parts remain; the engine block halves are the original Pocher parts, but most other engine assemblies have been cast in white metal or built from scratch. The terrific Pocher wire wheels are being used as well as many metal fasteners. This car is an amalgam of my favorite features from several of the surviving examples.

The cockpit panel is aluminum with machine turning details from a Dremel and small brush.

6108D556-CF99-446C-9E46-717020FD002D.jpeg

The firewall is brass featuring a vintage Autovac unit, cast extra spark plugs, and wiring busses.

175F8221-F033-427C-853E-F652782FBFC9.jpeg

The scratch built brass radiator with plumbing.

A5C6E92B-4000-47CE-8A94-5B8C2A257860.jpeg.403f5d6e47998cb548756060af569e61.jpeg

Most engine parts are cast or scratch built.

4A099F8A-33E9-4112-8B6E-BD579B2AC5BC.jpeg.b84feede886af3eea28619ad52fc0f20.jpeg

167318BF-9271-48EC-BE12-BEFB9574BDA7.jpeg.3f140e56b926c3110e21b6af688f8d90.jpeg

A brass alternator with wiring.

66CE5706-6016-4818-8C5D-7DCD686D5AD9.jpeg

The manifolds are cast from white metal.

9CCB859B-6584-4157-AE63-DB61D2046D69.jpeg.45a089cd444eaf15a20463cd60eede87.jpeg

Supercharger details...

98036006-8571-45F9-8B10-F6EAACBE044A.jpeg.cb86c443a4697d0c06925d53782c0374.jpeg

The start of a brass chassis...

C13EF294-232E-4382-BF0B-E1A782966FF2.jpeg.6247284966d784ee7aa969047f6566bf.jpeg

Suspension assemblies are mostly scratch builds...

60FE7EF3-7B0F-4D3D-B4C7-A14CA7715670.thumb.jpeg.d1704be430a135687629fde359b7eef8.jpeg

68239E6C-0AD5-4375-8FF2-125487CEE04B.jpeg.217a6efe57d1ddde8d97fe2c99250a77.jpeg

The brass cockpit floor with scale hardware.

F1CA1CC9-808B-46DD-9B15-30C394F47FD1.jpeg.2c8a88d69ff0e5de9fefaf093b01c4ed.jpeg

Leaf spring assembly...

D458A819-3095-452B-A98E-EE11A6B6B57C.jpeg.28589d42956bf9f371cbd12eac56144d.jpeg

The Pocher body is used as a body buck for fitting components.

6D7B8E40-C7E7-45B1-8C9C-EF8BE9E5C0C7.jpeg.57a771b80ce66d811ba5c45cca684c16.jpeg

Brass steering wheel...

FB1D1E0B-7289-4CB3-8E90-8D42BA8287A0.jpeg.41bca4354d9c71486e979d8965ed70ab.jpeg

68239E6C-0AD5-4375-8FF2-125487CEE04B.jpeg.217a6efe57d1ddde8d97fe2c99250a77.jpeg

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The chassis is assembled. I will next add wiring assemblies a construct a metal body.

1825AE6D-4CA8-4333-AD0C-95266AEC085D.jpeg.6ea9e95fe569b96d803f62d3dda23962.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Dougritt
Posted (edited)

Superb.

I have several of the Pocher kit in various stages of rebuilding and upgrading, including a bastard flathead-powered dry lakes car, but nothing even coming close to what you're doing here.

Most impressive.

EDIT: However, you should probably post this in the large-scale "Big Boyz" section. Don't be surprised to find it moved.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
Posted

Man...I'm really surprised this isn't getting more attention. It's a spectacular piece of work.

You really should ask the moderators to move it to the large-scale section.

There will likely be a few more folks over there who "get it".

Posted

I gotta plead guilty to what Bill said. I'm sorry I didn't check out  this thread earlier. That is magnificent workmanship, Doug. Jaw-droppingly magnificent. This is the best reengineered Pocher kit I've ever seen.

Posted

This is fantastic to behold Douglas.  Whether it stays here or gets moved to the Biz Boyz, I'll be sure to look for your future updates.  Cheers, Tim

Posted

Wow.. Simply incredible workmanship Doug. I think in some ways our hobby can be described as a 'pursuit of perfection' but you may have achieved perfection with this stunning build. Keep it coming!

Posted

Although I work in 1:24 scale, I have the utmost admiration for anyone who takes on a Pocher kit in 1:8 scale. Actually, in this case you have gone far beyond just building a Pocher kit out of the box and incredibly you are scratchbuilding almost all of the major parts yourself. This is not merely assembling a scale model car kit, this is true engineering in 1:8 scale and your technical skills involved in the detail of this build are up there at the very highest level. Even my best builds in plastic or resin do not come anywhere close to your exquisite brass creation. I shall pay attention to further work by the master craftsman.

David

Posted

Uh-Oh..more to watch,..less build time,..hehehe

Looking forward to more updates when you can...

Cheers, and thanks for taking the time to post

Posted (edited)

Just caught this, thanks to whomever moved it to big boys

We haven’t had the luxury of a proper Pocher Build since Cato finished his Rolls and before that Harry with his great classics

THIS is beyond just a build, this is car manufacture !!! I am super impressed with what you are fabricating here

Please continue to show us as it develops B)

Edited by Twokidsnosleep
Posted
17 hours ago, Twokidsnosleep said:

Just caught this, thanks to whomever moved it to big boys

We haven’t had the luxury of a proper Pocher Build since Cato finished his Rolls and before that Harry with his great classics

THIS is beyond just a build, this is car manufacture !!! I am super impressed with what you are fabricating here

Please continue to show us as it develops B)

I agree!  Please keep the updates coming.

Posted

Outstanding craftmanship!  I have only had my hands on one and it was a challenge and then to see what you have done leaves me in awe.

Posted
20 hours ago, Twokidsnosleep said:

Just caught this, thanks to whomever moved it to big boys

We haven’t had the luxury of a proper Pocher Build since Cato finished his Rolls and before that Harry with his great classics

THIS is beyond just a build, this is car manufacture !!! I am super impressed with what you are fabricating here

Please continue to show us as it develops B)

 

i cant think of anything else to say ... but thank you very much for the pics Douglas

 

Posted (edited)

Hi guys-

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. Since the last post, I have decided to rework the fuel tank. I made an assumption that the tank was internal and the aero tail was cowling. While perusing many auto sites, a photo showing the proper tank construction popped up.

 The original tank (incorrect):

CD3F48DF-0235-48C9-8970-E46F61B0146E.jpeg.536fe36083af45d7ad73b7722c2b5cc6.jpeg

3D0C5105-B408-462E-B69B-71210E7BFF9E.jpeg.f2ef05bf49745ef399c9bdee4a29873f.jpeg

Here is a reproduction tank being built like the original:

1B5D77F0-A424-4EA7-93F5-4C700E74F19B.jpeg.5daee37424143c1e25a356f853fe6dd3.jpeg

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The internal baffles can be seen. They reduce fuel sloshing. Here is another image showing the assembly:

5A171B6A-C824-4973-A842-7323285ABDFB.jpeg.9ec9f5e3507a9036c2ecc97a76a11057.jpeg

So...my initial tank assembly goes into the scrap bin! I have reworked several assemblies so far; the cockpit floor, chassis cowling, to name just a few. Here is the chassis underside...several of the chassis members have since been updated to be more accurate.

005A00BF-4CCE-4F45-896D-92BE415A1164.thumb.jpeg.86749e0b63f601fd4174bc926c79e87c.jpeg

I mentioned earlier that the car will be fully wired before the body goes on. It seems that the only wiring diagram that exists is in low resolution black and white. I traced the circuits and created this color diagram.

BC615900-659F-4F26-B797-B3BD88DC1B7F.jpeg.f2077e3e59d79d8fb65e2c080a1490b2.jpeg

Some more research on the original instrumention revealed that most of the 1/8 graphics available are incorrect. I decided to create these Jaeger instrument graphics from scratch in Illustrator. Sadly, much of the detail will be lost when reduced to 1/8 scale. Again, I will toss out the previous versions!

CE4BED72-3255-40C5-BCCE-9B1B6D8582C5.jpeg

 

Edited by Dougritt
Posted

I have one full Alfa Pocher kit and a second that someone started and likely have lost most of the parts for

After I do the first kit oob, I was toying with the idea of brass and mods for the second one....maybe a Muletto

I am taking vigorous notes here. So many kits, so many projects, so little time 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Can't really heap more praise on the pile, it's so high I can't reach the top! But MAN you do amazing work! Crazy amount of attention to detail, WOW!

 

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

I wouldn’t call this a Pocher kit but a scratchbuild with some Pocher parts

 

but whatever you call it it is just phenomenal work sheer artistry 

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