Building a Pocher Bugatti Type 50T

It's been some years since I completed my first Pocher model car, the Bugatti Type 50T (kit K76), but some of the memories are still quite vivid in my mind. There were some very frustrating and aggravating situations and problems that I had to solve, and I got fairly annoyed at times. It's all mainly based on the fact that I expected this large and complex model kit to be as well engineered as all of the smaller and simpler model kits I had grown up on. This was probably a wrong perspective, as the more and varied the parts you have, the more likely that things won't fit. However, I came across plastic parts on the same sprue that didn't fit together properly – now, that's somewhat difficult to accept.

One aspect about assembling this Pocher model that I enjoyed was the variety of ways in which parts were assembled. The main methods were by bolting and screwing, which is far more enjoyable and tidy than gluing, with the added benefit of being undoable. But other methods included hammering, bending and soldering. There were times when I reached into my full-sized toolbox for tools that would normally be used for full-sized cars. Now, that's neat!

Another thing that I have to thank Pocher for was their cultivation of my interest in things Bugatti. Though I've always enjoyed old cars, I never really got into them in detail and never became aware of things like cable operated brakes, U-16s, and quarter-elliptical leaf springs. I was aware of the on-track exploits of the racing Type 35 and the exclusiveness of the Type 41, but I've now learned of the significance of the Types 50 and 57. (My work on the Pocher Mercedes has also improved my interest in 1930's Mercedes, too.)

To compete with Rolls-Royce and Hispano Suiza, Ettore Bugatti introduced the enormous Type 41 Royale (or Golden Bug). Unfortunately, its price was also enormous, especially during the 1920’s depression, and he had trouble selling any. Shortly after, he tried the not-as-big Type 46, and had much more success. Later, he shortened the wheelbase and doubled the number of overhead cams and called the result the Type 50. Subsequently, the original wheelbase was restored, and he called it the Type 50T, for Touring. As with all Bugattis, there was a variety of body styles, and those in the Pocher model kits were known as Profilée and Surprofilée (streamlined).

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Leafing through the Bugatti instruction manual now, I can look at the parts and remember the wonderful “adventures” I had with them, but for the most part, the most common thing I remember is that parts didn't fit. The other specific memories are:

Crank Shaft Weight

Eight cylinder Bugattis typically had two full weights per cylinder (not counter-weights, because they went all of the way around the crank shaft – this increased smoothness), and each weight is represented by a separate part in the kit. One of these parts (typically 76581) has the pin that slips into the connecting rod (76584). The other weight (76582) has the hole that accepts that pin, and that hole has a flat spot for helping to line up the crank shaft correctly. Unfortunately, one of the 76582s has the flat spot in the wrong place. Fortunately, there's an extra one (for some reason). The wrong one must be identified and set aside. If it winds up as part of the crank shaft, the shaft will have a kink that will inhibit smooth spinning.

Engine Emblems

Typically, on the side of Bugatti engines are four large Bugatti emblems. These are represented in the kit by metal plaques attached to plastic panels screwed to the sides of the engine block. I wanted these plaques to look especially good, so I went through more effort than I normally would have for something like this. I spray painted each plaque red, and then I lightly filed down the high spots until "Bugatti" showed through. (In fact, I bought a whole can of spray paint just for these little plaques – and later for anything else I could find to paint red.) The plastic panels are attached to the sprue in four noticeable places, so I made those places unnoticeable by painting the entire edge of the panels a single colour similar to the panel faces. I then glued on the plaques and sprayed everything with a gloss.

I felt very proud of myself for finishing off these plaques so well, and yet it turns out that these panels get covered up by other engine parts and are virtually never seen again – very disappointing. Fortunately, I found that I didn't need to screw in the lower port panel, and I regularly pop it out to demonstrate the turning crank shaft.

Metal Fatigue

This is where I first encountered metal fatigue in the screws. I was screwing in the crank shaft bearings (76585) when one of the screws broke. It did feel tight in the hole, but it didn't occur to me that the screw would break. At this point, I could have simply (and messily) glued the bearing and what was left of the screw in place and no one would know, but I wasn't comfortable with that. I cut away enough of the plastic around the hole in part 76574 to give a pair of needle nose pliers enough grip, and twisted the screw out of the hole. Fortunately, there remained enough hole for a replacement screw.

But I now had a serious problem: undoubtedly, this was going to happen again. To keep it from repeating, I somehow needed to enlarge the screw holes without making them too big. After some experimentation, I found that a 1.19mm or 3/64" jeweller's screw driver was the perfect size for reaming these holes. The added benefits of a screw driver over a drill were the facts that it will stop at the bottom of the hole, and I won't be repeatedly changing the bit in my pin vise.

After following this procedure, I encountered metal fatigue only two more times. One of those times was with a 74300 screw just as I finished putting it into a metal wheel frame (76039). Only half of the head fell off and none of it would show once the tyre was attached, so it wasn't a problem. The other screw, however, was a problem.

The head of a screw broke off as I was twisting it into one of the plastic inner frame members (76500 or 76501). The hole was shallow, so there wasn't enough plastic to be able to remove some for a pair of pliers and have enough left over for a new screw, and a motor tool would probably stray if centred onto the screw. So what was I to do? Well, I took a small nail and simply, but carefully, hammered it against the screw until it came out the other side without breaking the plastic part. Whew! Short of that, I'd have had to glue a pulley-holding bracket (76086) at a place where the strength of a screw might be needed – something I didn't want to have to trust.

So again, my number one advice is to ream every screw hole. (Just as I wrote this, Rover sneezed on my Bugatti instruction manual.)

Supercharger

Attaching the supercharger to the engine was one of those times when I had to do something extra that I felt was significant and irreparable, and I was uncomfortable not having someone to ask about it at the time. I felt that to properly position the supercharger, I had to cut into part 76588 in order to snuggle up part 76666 against it. I hope that I was right – at any rate, it worked, and I can't imagine not doing it.

Cam Shaft

The cam shaft is composed of a metal rod (76131) with plastic cam lobes (76589) spaced evenly. I wanted there to be some accuracy in the timing of the lobes, so I matched the cam shafts to the crank shaft and figured out how they pointed (the manual has a diagram, but it doesn't show all of the timings). Nonetheless, I decided that I would simply slide the lobes onto the rod and twist them to the correct timing.

Getting the lobes onto the rod was one of the times when I went to my toolbox for a "real" tool. The tool was a 16 ounce hammer – the holes in the lobes seemed to be too small, and I didn't want to risk reaming them too big. I also needed another tool – a tube of some sort that would hold up to a hammer. I chose a chromed tube from the kit, probably a brake tube (76156) or the front bumper (76142). This worked out alright, but then, even with pliers, I couldn't twist the lobes around to their correct timing – they were too tight! This meant that I had to remove the lobes, which was not fun, and hammer them on with the correct timing, hoping that their timing wouldn't change as I hammered them down the rod.

This doesn't really seem to be a big thing now, but at the time, I was aggravated by all of the work I had to do just to get the cam shafts together. Now, I feel that some effort is worth the bother of having working valves in a model engine, and I love demonstrating them.

Spark Plugs

The engine is grey, but on top is part 76512 that's moulded in black. When I built the engine, I painted only to touch up, so I left it black. This bugged me until I found myself painting all sorts of parts on the Mercedes engine, and I suddenly realised that I could "paint that Bugatti part too!" So I painted the spark plugs white and the rest grey, and I recommend that you do too. (And this is one of those instances when screws are so much better than glue – I could remove the part to paint it.)

Dashboard

The dashboard is just a single piece of blank brown plastic, and master modellers, such as Model Motorcars and Scale Autoworks, regularly substitute actual wood or wood veneers that genuinely look much better. I've not done this, but next time, I'd consider it. However, I've come across a restored Type 57 Stelvio (convertible) with a dashboard that was a single piece of boring straight grain wood, and I was told specifically that that was authentic. That sort of thing may have looked okay in the 1930's, but today it looks like cheap plywood.

Rolls-Royces use a much more attractive burled wood grain (usually walnut), and if I was to do this Bugatti again (which I've sworn I won't do), I would use a burled grain. Finding such a grain may not be easy. In my area of the world, Canada, I've found only one source – a store called Lee Valley Tools (even if you're not interested in wood veneers, the store is full of tools worth browsing). Since the plastic dash is flat, a wood veneer would fit right over it quite nicely.

The Type 57 I came across had the same controls that are depicted by parts 76082, 76083 and 76622, and I photographed them here (and yes, the restorer ruined the whole dash with those two ink marks – I doubt that they were authentic):

I recall that each of the instruments (the metal parts behind the faces, 76132 and 76133) had a single hole in the middle. At the time, these holes meant nothing, but now I'd consider having wires come out of them and lead to points on the engine and transmission. Even though these details would never be seen behind the dash, they'd join the long list of other invisible details that make Pocher building fulfilling.

Brake Bar

I've heard that some people were having difficulty with the brake bar (parts 76162, 76155, 76156, etc.). It was an incredible pain to get just right, but it was possible, so persevere and hammer amply. I do not recall any special techniques or tricks – just follow the instructions.

Rear Quarter Elliptic Leaf Springs

The rear quarter elliptic leaf springs are two of the neatest sub-assemblies of all. I even took them to work to show the (non-model building) guys. I still get great pleasure pressing down on the rear of the car – of course, I'm assuming that it's the springs that are deflecting. (The Rolls-Royce chassis also has individual leaves, the Alfa Romeo chassis has disappointing rubber single-piece "assembled" leaf springs, and the Mercedes has coil springs.)

Fuel Tank

The fuel tank (76590 and 76591) is held in place by a pair of metal straps (76070×2) that come straight and must be bent into a precise shape. Unfortunately, that precise shape cannot be determined until the time when you're actually wrapping the straps around the fuel tank. You have only one chance to get it right – any wrong bend can never be fully straightened. This was not an overly difficult task – just one where you had to be extremely careful and have your movements fully planned. I did it by putting the initial 90 degree bend in the end of the straps and attaching them to chassis cross member 76048. I then slightly loosened the joining of the chassis rails (76042 and 76043) and securely attached to one of them the cross member (76048). After inserting tube 76158 into the loops of the straps, I held the fuel tank in place and wrapped the straps around it by holding the tube and enhancing the bends in the straps as I went. When I was done, the tube wound up where it was supposed to, and the straps had perfect bends. (And then I exhaled.)

Headlights

Assembling the headlights was straight forward. The only concerns I had involved the battery and wire. The battery was a size that I was not familiar with, and at the time could not find easily. (Today, it's easy.) Instead, I decided to put a single AA battery holder in the trunk and have all four pairs of wires (two pairs from the headlights, one pair from the dashboard switch and one pair from the battery holder) meet in the original battery compartment under the passenger seat.

But even if I used the original battery holder in the intended location, I still felt that the wire provided in the kit was not long enough, especially when I had to cut it before I knew how long each piece had to be. The solution here was to go out and buy some extra wire. I bought Belden wire #8505 (28 AWG, 7×#34, 0.039" O.D.), which, naturally, came in lengths no shorter than 100 feet! I cut each of the four pairs of wires three feet long, braided them (not twisted, as they're more likely to stay together braided), and strung them under the chassis and into the original battery compartment. From there, I pulled them out the side of the car, cut them to the same length, soldered them together, insulated them and rolled them back into the compartment. To help guide them under the chassis, I took some plastic sprue, carved out some washers, and glued them here and there.

The Doors

The doors were not fun. They begin with the door latch. In my kit, parts 76024 and 76025 were actually the same part – either 76024 or 76025. I had to bend one the opposite way. But that was trivial – the other two problems were not.

The window winders were composed of two gears – a big gear (76750) and a little gear (76751). The little gear looked okay – in fact, it looked like the little gear that comes on little electric motors – but it would bind when wound with the larger gear. One of the gears had to be at fault, and since I could use any side of the smaller gear and get the same binding, I blamed the larger gear. (I also noticed that the smaller gear was in a bag of bits, and the larger gear was on a sprue, and sprued parts had a far greater tendency to have problems.) I had to reduce the size of some of the teeth on the larger gear, and my needle files were too big, so I carefully cut extremely thin slices off of the sides of the teeth, one tooth at a time, with a test fit after each cut. Needless to say, this process took a long time, but the goal was worth it. Winding the windows up and down is the neatest thing anyone could possibly demonstrate on a model car.

After that, the only remaining window concern was with the two screws holding in the window frame (76007). After installing, their heads needed to be filed down a bit to keep them from scratching the window. I also covered them with tissue paper – it was thin, and I thought it would last the 20 or 30 times in my life that I'd demonstrate the windows.

The other problem with the door dealt with the attachment of the door panels (76781 and 76729). When mated, they're lined up using the door latch pin (76147), and they're attached with three screws. The problem is that only one of the screw holes lines up in the door panels – the one nearest to the pin. The screw hole farthest away from the pin does not line up, and in fact, on one door, I had to glue a little block of plastic onto the outer panel and drill a new screw hole into it in order to attach the inner panel.

This, of course, also meant that the panel edges looked unsightly by not meeting up. By this time, I had already foreseen that the screw heads would also look unsightly, so when I glued on the leather (which had to be done before the installation of the window winders), I added glue to only the middle of the inner door panel so I could later come back and cover up the screw heads. Now, I could also bend the leather around the door edge and cover the mismatching panels.

I specifically remember that each door took five hours (which nowadays doesn't seem all that long).

Screws and Bolts

The last thing I remember about assembling the Bugatti dealt with the screws and bolts. I was coming to the end of the kit (step 33), and it occurred to me that I should probably check to see if I had enough of the right type of each, so I started counting. Well, lo and behold, I didn't, so I made a chart. Down the side, I listed what screws and bolts I had and needed. Across the top I listed the remaining steps and the physical characteristics, such as whether they're a screw or a bolt, long or short, and countersunk headed or not. With this, I could tell how many I had more of and which I didn't and how I could substitute without compromising the structure or appearance. Fortunately, I was successfully able to substitute. (I had also counted nuts and washers and found that I had enough.) And yes, up to this point, I was confident that I had always used the proper screw and bolt.

And that's the end of my Pocher Bugatti adventure. I wish you much good luck with yours.