|
This is how I built the Pocher Mercedes-Benz 500 Spezial Roadster (kit K91). All of the Pocher Mercedes-Benz model kits have the same engine and chassis, so the following discussion applies to all of the Pocher Mercedes-Benz model kits. As with most model cars, this kit begins with the engine, and here it is completed on the port side:
|
|
This is what I did:
Click here to proceed with how I built my Pocher Mercedes.
- Painting
Some of the first things you’ll notice are the nuts and bolt heads that are moulded on many of the parts. These details are far too neat to ignore, and the best way to make them stand out is to paint them a colour that contrasts from their moulded colour. The actual Mercedes engine likely didn’t have different coloured nuts and bolts, but this simple modification alone goes a long way to greatly improving the look of the engine. However, beware that once you begin painting little details, you’ll find it hard to stop, and you’ll end up looking for things to paint.
Overall, the engine is a combination of black, silver and a few shades of grey, and could be greatly improved in appearance with some other colour here and there. An engine cannot be too colourful, but some colours can be allowed in one or two places. The first colour you’ll notice on my engine is on the air filter on top. The part (74747) is moulded in black, and with the screen (74154) over top of it, it just wouldn’t look all that special. Fortunately, air filters have a habit of being a light colour, usually white, so I took this opportunity to add colour. White wasn’t special enough, and green, blue, orange and red would likely look out of place, so I settled on yellow, and it seems to have worked out rather well.
The second colour you’ll notice is the green oil filter. Assuming that some parts of the real engine are built by subcontractors, we can reasonably assume that they may not be the same shade of grey as the rest of the engine. Hence, I dug out an old bottle of flat green and painted an item on each side of the engine – it might not look right to have more than one non-grey item the same colour in the same view.
Something else that appears coloured is a small plaque attached to the engine block. This was pure fancy on my part. After drawing up a plumbing diagram and attaching it to the firewall (which you’ll see later), I kept going and made up an engine plaque. I don’t know what a Mercedes engine plaque looks like or where it goes, but basing it on the car’s number plaque, I came up with this on my computer. I printed it on goldenrod paper to simulate brass, and then laminated it and glued it to a blank spot on the side of the engine block.
Another thing I added colour to was the float bowl of the fuel filter. I cut off the pin of part 74789 and filled the hole of part 74844 with a brownish colour to simulate the impurities it filtered out of the fuel. The last thing I added colour to was what I believe is a universal joint on the accessory shaft – again, just for effect.
- The Crank
The crank is included in the kit, but not the metal bits it needs to turn the crank shaft. I solved this by getting a partly threaded (2-56) metal rod and another metal bit from a model aeroplane accessory that had male and female threaded ends (2-56). I tapped the end of the crank shaft (74775), and screwed in and glued the metal aeroplane part. It all fits, and the metal part doesn’t stick out of the engine, as you can see (or not see).
- The Crank Shaft
Yes, the crank shaft needs to be stretched to fit properly, even with the extra long part 74589. I did this by not fully seating all of the 74572s. Once spaced properly, I carefully glued the shaft together, and when cranked, the pistons move up and down as they are supposed to.
- The Cam Shaft
The ultimate goal in making this engine “work” is to have the fan turn when I turn the crank. The fan is turned by the fan belt, which is turned by the accessory pulley, which is turned by the accessory gear, which is turned by the cam gear, which is turned by the crank gear. That’s all fine and dandy, but the cam shaft is missing from the kit. (The cam gear is also bent!)
A visit to the hobby shop resulted in a length of brass rod (approximately 0.0724” thick, approximately) that fit the space available rather snugly. I recall that this rod is held in place by three plastic “guides” moulded inside the block, and that I had to file at least one of them down so that I could attach the engine block parts properly. The middle guide isn’t necessary and can be removed altogether. There’s no point to trying the make this shaft revolve, so I reamed the hole in the cam gear slightly so it just spins on the rod, and I cut the rod the exact length of the space provided so the gear would never fall out.
- The Accessory Gear
The accessory gear is fine, but it’s located in a little housing made up of parts 74669 and 74742, and these two parts don’t seat together well. When attached, there’s an ugly gap. To solve this, I followed tip 13 in the “Expert Tips ...” booklet with a subtle 1-72 black hex head bolt.
- The Accessory Pulley
The accessory pulley is the most difficult sub-assembly to deal with because the two halves are moulded incredibly badly. They essentially must be completely reshaped. This caused a lot of aggravation, and the only advice I can offer is to refer you to Expert Tip 6 which suggests using a motor tool as a kind of lathe. I suffered by not having such a tool. The cost of the tool is almost worth the relief you’ll feel when you try to deal with this pulley. Good luck. After this is the second most difficult sub-assembly ...
- The $#@&% Fan
The fan attaches to a pulley that comes in two parts: 74550 and 74551. Part 74550 is very badly moulded. It should have three pins that go through three holes in the fan, but only one pin is there and it’s not of much use anyway. I cut it off and drilled and tapped a hole in its place. I drilled and tapped two more holes where the other pins should have been, and then I attached the fan with three 1-72 black hex head bolts. This worked rather well, and it looks good too, but I never want to do that again. It is absolutely amazing how much time can be spent on a tiny sub-assembly.
- The Generator
Moving back along the accessory shaft is the generator. I decided that the generator could possibly have been from a sub-contractor, so I put the silver Pocher sticker on it as a kind of “metal plaque”. I thought it would look better there than on the body.
- The Spark Plugs
Naturally, I had to paint the spark plugs white. After that, I noticed that the spark plug wires were all the same length and the aft most one had quite a stretch to reach that plug. On some photographs of the model Mercedes engine, I noticed that the wire appeared to be almost straight, which didn’t look good at all. I wanted all wires to have an “S” shape, and so I glued all of the wires in the distributor cap at their longest and made sure that the aft most wire went to the aft most plug. Luckily, it was long enough to have the desired “S” shape. I then went counter clockwise in assigning wires to plugs from back to front (which is the wrong timing) ensuring that all wires had that “S” shape.
- The Distributor Cap
If the distributor cap seems a little tight, it is. Mine cracked.
- Extraneous Plumbing
After connecting the fuel pump, oil filter, etc., with the copper plumbing (74207), I noticed an empty hole in the fuel regulator (at the top of part 74675) that just had to be filled. It turns out that on the real car, a pipe goes from here to a “distributor controller” that then connects to part 74681 at the bottom of the distributor. A distributor controller is not included in the kit, so I ran an extra pipe from the fuel regulator to part 74681 anyway. It’s inaccurate, but it looks good.
- The Valve Cover
Look closely at the valve cover. It looks simple doesn’t it? There’s just a single plastic part (74672) with four little metal parts (74178) squeezed in from above, right? Well, those four little bumps in the top of the plastic part were all different heights! When I discovered this, I couldn’t believe it, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. And naturally, the holes are a wee bit too small, so the grey plastic turns white when the metal parts are inserted(!).
- The Rocker Arms
Beneath the valve cover are the rocker arms, and kit K91 does not include the springs and rocker arm rod. Even though these details will rarely be seen, I added them with retractable ball point pen springs and a brass rod 0.0625” (1/16”) thick. It all looks much better now.
- The Hose Clamps
Now, look at the coolant plumbing. Look closer. Do you see those delicious hose clamps? Aren’t they gorgeous? They were inspired by Expert Tip 11, which doesn’t elaborate on how to do them. Here, I quote instructions from the author himself:
“I begin by cutting a strip the proper width and about one inch long, to which I add a 90 degree bend at the very end. This tab will become the basis of the connection of the two ends of the strip. Holding the tab end of the strip against the hose itself, I wrap the other end of the strip around the hose until it reaches the tab. Here’s the tricky bit: when all goes well, I am able to capture the loose end of the strip with my angle tweezers while at the same time holding the tab end of the strip. Once I have my tweezers pressed against the loose end of the strip, I slide the jaw of the tweezer toward the other jaw until the loose end of the strip is forced into a 90 degree bend corresponding to the original tab. If all has gone well, I now have two tabs, pressed against one another by the tweezers, and a long, loose end projecting above the jaws of the tweezers. With deft finger or second tweezers, I fold the loose end over the first tab, press down until it captures the tab, and voila, the tab is held in place and all that remains is to trim the end and add a bit of superglue to hold the thing in place.”It takes a bit of practice, but is well worth the effort. They do look gorgeous.
- Expert Tip 7
Last (on this side of the engine), but certainly not the least is Expert Tip 7. If it wasn’t suggested, I wouldn’t have thought of it. I can’t reveal what it is here – it’s too embarrassing. It’s in the “oh, come on, you must be kidding, you’re not serious” category. All I’ll say is that I did it. Yes, I did it. I followed it to the letter, and my engine is all the better for it, but no one will ever notice or care, and I have to live with that.