Building your first Pocher model is a daunting undertaking. The K73 model can be used as a great first model. There are six of the wonderful wheels to do but no roll up windows in the doors and no fancy bodywork. It’s a pretty straightforward model with only one or two spots where the instructions are a bit murky. Here are a few notes you might find useful in your construction of one of these fine models.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 1

When you find one of these wonderful kits, make sure all the little bags are accounted for. The white Pocher boxes with the drawings of the models are first edition models and were made between 1967 and approximately 1974 so they are at least forty years old now. This means the plastic is brittle but it also means many of the little plastic bags have cracked open and leaked parts into the box. Note that the plastic itself is also brittle on these older kits and you must ream out all the little holes for the screws before using them. Using the self-tapping screws to make connections is a sure way to crack the parts.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 2

It’s a mistake to start with the wheels. They’re great fun and should be left for when some of the difficult stuff is out of the way. Count on spending 60% of your time on the body alone. It’s amazing how many of these models are sitting unfinished because people go ahead and do the fun stuff only to find that fitting the body is a real pain in the butt.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 3

The engine and chassis need much adjusting to fit. Spend as much time as you can fitting the various parts together before painting and gluing.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 4

Here’s a view showing some details on the gas tank. This part needs some care. Those rivets you see are actually made with tiny drops of CA glue.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 5

Check the interesting detail on the brake pads. The parts need to be sanded slightly so the wheel covers fit easily. Be very careful when using a hot iron to melt the connectors on the brakes. One has to work very slowly when approaching and retreating from the pins.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 6

There are a couple of difficulties in the rear drive-train; the instructions are murky and some parts don’t fit. I leave it to you to figure this out.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 7

Work careful around the front wheels because there is very little clearance all around. One interesting thing you might want to have a look at here is the lovely steel axle that is sold by www.modelmotorcars.com .

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 8

Chromed wheels and brake plates were not common in 1932 but they look great on this spectacular model. The brake covers are chromed using some Super Bright Chrome leaf. It was so bright when I worked on it that I practically had to wear sunglasses. Laugh now but you’ll see when you try it yourself.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 9

Here, you can see all the brake linkages attached. This is where you see how important it is to get the steering box and the gear box nicely adjusted. In this picture you can also see the steering rod that was modified. The one that came in the kit was too short and had to be cut and lengthened.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 10

It was a dilemma of biblical proportions to decide whether to go with the correct firing order for the car, or follow the instructions, which are wrong. Is it 1-3-2-6-8-5-4-7 or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8?

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 11

Check out the cool paint job on the exhaust manifold. This is simply done with a couple of different colors of spray cans.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 12

The guages and dash came out great. This is straight out of the box. In fact, there are very extras added on to this particular model. Pretty well everything is right from the box.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 13

Ready for a spin.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 14

How about hopping in?

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 15

Here are a couple of cool Alfas. No, we didn’t build the boats in the background.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 16

This photo shows the great paint job on this car. This was done using a metallic blue and covered with clear. Remember that you cannot polish out a metallic paint as the little metallic chips will move around and make the paint job look blotchy. You must let the metallic paint dry and then cover with a clear coat.

Pocher K71 Alfa Romeo Silver Bullet Note 17

Off we go!

 
We hope these little notes have helped you with your modelling and hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,

The Modeller’s Workshop