A REALLY REALLY BIG EXOTIC building the Pocher 1:8 Pagani Utopia my way

[mrm]

As I said, everything on the real car is refined and made to look more like an art sculpture than a practical car part. Apparently the guys at Pocher did not get that memo. The brackets for the rear shocks are anything but gracefull well detailed part. So some cutting was necessary here too.

 

While I had my jewellery saw out, I figured out I would eliminate all the crudely molded in boltheads on the transmission. Some of them had to be ground by hand. Everything then had to be sanded smooth.

 

Where the transmission meets the engine block they didn't even bother to mold any bolts at all. At 1/8 scale and over a thousand dollars price tag, this is just criminal.

 

 

[mrm]

When I was grinding away all that metal I test fitted the gear actuator that goes at the end of the transmission. The part comes in a nice magnesium gold, but needs to be redone, as it is both wrong and poor in detail.

 

That big lug nut looking thing on the front of not only is in the wrong place, but there should be two of them. Also, the rectangular square "plate" on the left should have some detail and hardware on it.

 

The lug-nut-thingy was cut off and replicated from resin so both pieces can be reapplied where they should have been in the first place.

 

 

The plate on the left needed to addressed next

 

I took some large rectangular styrene rod and sanded it down to the shape of the Pagani logo that is incorporated in so many parts throughout the model. Not i can cut these out and "mold" them into various parts.

 

The "frame" on the rectangular cover plate was built up from round and square stock styrene rod with the Pagani logo in the middle. After it all cures, everything would be sanded down for a smooth look.

 

Then I started drilling the rear shocks. Their collars are adjustable on the real car and have holes in them. Drilling Zamac is no fun. It is basically garbage alloy made from all sorts of metals that are held together by Zinc. That's what most diecast metal models are made from. it fills in files, sandpaper and dulls drill bits. It is tedious and definitely not something I get pleasure doing. Next would be the 40+ holes I would have to drill by hand on the transmission casing...

Thanks for looking. More to come...

Edited Friday at 03:50 PM by mrm

[dino246gt]

Wow, you're going all out on this, but that IS the fun with 1/8th scale isn't it.

Cheers!

 

[NOBLNG]

Fantastic work you’re doing to upgrade and fix the errors Michael. I don’t think I could build a 1/8 scale model…the kits errors would drive me insane.🤯 At least in 1/25 scale I can say 🤷‍♂️ no one will notice.

[stavanzer]

Glad to see you back in the USA, Michael.

Your work is still incredible.

[Bugatti Fan]

Considering the price of large 1/8th scale car kits like this cost top dollar my expectancy is that they would be top notch !

I would be looking at a 1/12th MFH car kit for a really highly detailed challenging model to build instead of one of those big  screw together models.

I get the impression that those 1/8th scale car kits probably satisfy the market for model assemblers and subject enthusiasts rather than serious model makers, as they are aimed at being a screw together assembly job rather than real model making as such. That is not to say that they don't have potential though, but reworking, correcting, hiding screw heads and scratch building missing parts does not appeal considering the cost of those things. Posts mentioning that instructions are vague and often incorrect leads one to believe a rushed job to bring the kits to market in many instances.

Edited 7 hours ago by Bugatti Fan

[mrm]

21 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Glad to see you back in the USA, Michael.

Your work is still incredible.

Thank you Alan. I'm happy to be back too.

[mrm]

7 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Considering the price of large 1/8th scale car kits like this cost top dollar my expectancy is that they would be top notch !

I would be looking at a 1/12th MFH car kit for a really highly detailed challenging model to build instead of one of those big  screw together models.

I get the impression that those 1/8th scale car kits probably satisfy the market for model assemblers and subject enthusiasts rather than serious model makers, as they are aimed at being a screw together assembly job rather than real model making as such. That is not to say that they don't have potential though, but reworking, correcting, hiding screw heads and scratch building missing parts does not appeal considering the cost of those things. Posts mentioning that instructions are vague and often incorrect leads one to believe a rushed job to bring the kits to market in many instances.

Well, you bring some very valid points. At this price point, the lack of attention to detail is definitely unacceptable. Not to mention that there are many parts that are altogether missing. Looking at some assemblies and comparing them with others from the same kit, I am definitely wondering if three or four different teams of designers and engineers made them without communicating. There are parts on the engine and accessories that have the plug in sensors and the little wire connectors. There are outlets for the plumbing... These parts are absolutely MFH level. And then at the same time the engine and the turbos are some blobs of metal/plastic with generic shape. The gear shift mechanism was apparently designed to be a functional item. But then I guess it wasn't approved and left for the builder to figure out. It is still a beautiful little gem. Meanwhile there is absolutely no plumbing of any sort in the kit. No cooling for the engine, transmission or turbos. No oil lines of any sort for them either. And that is a lot of missing parts that are still somewhat visible on the real car.

    About the instructions and the screws and this being basically a big toy for rich enthusiasts.... I'll scratch that one off as the "Pocher signature gimmick". Italian companies love to do that. They all have their "thing" that people absolutely hate them for, but at the same time can't stop buying the chit.

   Now the part about "reworking, correcting, hiding screw heads and scratch building missing parts does not appeal considering the cost of those things" like in so many other things, is just one of the sides of the coin. There are some amazing kits out there no matter the scale or the price. Some are more challenging than others, but for the most part "challenging" is a very subjective term. To me personally a Fujimi Enthusiast kit is far less challenging than some of the AMT utter garbage out there. I would take a kit with 300 parts that fit perfect and build into a very detailed replica over some poorly made 60 piece kit that requires a masters degree in putting-lipstick-on-a-pig. This Pocher kit is definitely challenging. And for me personally, in a good way. Exactly because I need to MAKE stuff. Not just assemble them. That is the challenge that drives me and makes me push my limits and develop new skills. Like I have never wired a model with lights before, but I am seriously thinking about it with this one. The only problem is not to run out of enthusiasm. And the folks at Pocher really are not helping in that department.

Edited 7 minutes ago by mrm