HELP BUILDING ALFA MONZA KIT

[ROADRUNNER3]

I've just inherited this rather old, boxed and unopened, 1 : 8 Pocher Alfa Monza kit.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time or the skills to build it, but would very much like to see it done - is there anyone out there who could build it for me ?

Tim

Edited by ROADRUNNER3 on Saturday 30th January 15:14

[YAD061]

I can do this, can you get it to Borehamwood?

[Elderly]

I've been investigating these as I'm looking for one ready built. Strangely they are worth more as a kit than built. You could always sell it UN-OPENED and buy yourself a real car with the procedes , there's a real demand for the un-opened kit


As well as tons of patience required,they seems difficult to make because the instructions are poor and some aspects of the kit were apparently badly made in the first place
(Red Firecracker pointed me towards this site http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthre...

[YAD061]

good point, I,d look into this if I were you

[The_Jackal]

Yeah dont those make rare Tamiya's look cheap as chips?

[Red Firecracker]

Very rare, very expensive and it has to be said, not terribly good (apparently) when built out of the box. From looking at various threads you need to put a lot of work into creating extras to make it look good. Being so big, they really do show up any poor work or lack of detail.

Saying all that, with some skill they can be made into something quite stunning.

[ROADRUNNER3]

Thanks for all the advice - it sounds like it won't be a straightforward project !

[dr_gn]

Red Firecracker said:

Very rare, very expensive and it has to be said, not terribly good (apparently) when built out of the box. From looking at various threads you need to put a lot of work into creating extras to make it look good. Being so big, they really do show up any poor work or lack of detail.

Saying all that, with some skill they can be made into something quite stunning.

I also thought they'd be top notch kits, seems I was wrong.

I did buy a "Revival" Mercedes W163, which was supposed to be a 'small scale Pocher'. It was an absolute nightmare to build properly: badly fitting components and poor materials. The saving grace were the exquisite wire wheels. If Pocher models are of a similar standard, I wouldn't even contemplate them.

[Red Firecracker]

Indeed. From what I can see, the wheels are the best bit. The rest of it is a run of the mill plastic kit with some metal parts thrown in. Don't forget that these are quite old now, but I do think I'd want a bit more for the price of the kits.

Some interesting reading here;

http://wc1.worldcrossing.com/WebX?14@@.eebc21b

[dr_gn]

Red Firecracker said:

Indeed. From what I can see, the wheels are the best bit. The rest of it is a run of the mill plastic kit with some metal parts thrown in. Don't forget that these are quite old now, but I do think I'd want a bit more for the price of the kits.

Some interesting reading here;

http://wc1.worldcrossing.com/WebX?14@@.eebc21b

Yup, nightmare.

I thought the main body panels on Pocher cars were pre-painted metal? They were on my Revival Merc (not that many of them actually fitted together!).

[Red Firecracker]

Some are but I believe the Alfa (and maybe all those that share the same chassis?) are plastic. Nearly every thread I've read mentions that you need to drill and re-tap the screw holes and that some are impossible to get screws into without taking half the already built model apart.

It's either one for the masochist or one for a builder with a lot of patience.

ETA: I've just found that a similar complete K71 kit sold for £400 just before Christmas.

Edited by Red Firecracker on Monday 1st February 14:12

[Morf]

I agree with all the previous comments, these older Pocher models are seriously hard work to build, even as standard. I've got one of the Rolls Royce's sat in my loft, the chassis is complete but I never got the bodywork done.

Some really good stuff in them - the wire wheels in particular are fantastic - but they really are a triumph of design over common sense, things like the supposedly 'working' brake mechanism which relies so much on bent pieces of pressed steel and poor fitting plastic that there is so much free play in the mechanism that it's never going to have a chance of working without serious re-engineering.

This generation were plastic bodied (and not good quality plastic at that). I've got a feeling they were an odd plastic as well (ABS, maybe?) which wasn't glue-able with 70's technology and so were assembled with screws. Besides the dubious scale results of this, snap one of the tiny screws (as I did) and the chances of getting the screw out were about zero.

Some of the newer ones eg the Testarossa were metal bodied.

Seriously expensive even when in production - I think I paid about £100 for the Roller a good 25 years ago in a closing down sale when they were about £250 or so new.

Edited by Morf on Monday 1st February 15:32

[Elderly]

After having had this itch for some time, I finally scratched it when I found and bought on impulse, a ready made Muletto.

The sheer size of it does give it a wow factor but IMO it's not really worth what I paid for it.

Mine has a few small problems and I'm not sure how far I may have to dismantle things (if I can) to put them right.
I'm VERY glad that I'm not trying to build it from scratch.

It also came with a glass display case that takes up much more bulk than the model, I think I will put the case on fleaBay.