Pocher 1/8 Ferrari Testarossa Spyder
The Pocher Testarossa Spyder model is quite rare as Pocher models were only produced between 1967 and 2003, when the company went out of business. The models are so desirable because of their very large 1/8 scale.
The "Classic" or vintage car models are highly detailed. They look like they work (but they don't.) The "Prestige" or modern models such as this Ferrari Testarossa are not as detailed as the classic models. The bodies are metal instead of plastic. But for the experienced modeler, they provide an opportunity to super detail the model by adding features that were not provided in the kits.
For both "Classic" and "Prestige", the final product belies the painstaking labor required to correct the poor fit of the kit parts and the difficulty presented by the materials used for some parts. Still, the 'museum quality' of the final product that can be produced by experienced modelers justifies the effort involved.
This Workbench follows the construction of the Ferrari Testarossa Spyder and documents the additional detailing built into the model.
The build log
Although the Spyder's bodywork comes pre-painted white, owing to the work needed to produce a blemish-free finish I intend to spray the body Rossa Red. Rossa Red is the color that most people think of as Ferrari red.
I began with the engine. First I removed all the molded nuts and bolts and replaced those with real fittings. This involved carefully shaving the molded details off each part of the engine and drilling appropriate holes for the 'real' nuts and bolts. The brittle plastic made this a challenging exercise! Then a scale bolt, screw or other replacement part was installed
The image below shows the first completed part, which is the differential that sits under the engine block.
After fitting each of the plastic pieces together and sanding/filing the edges, I replaced all the molded details with real metal components. After fitting, everything was disassembled for painting.
Painting involved spraying two coats of fine gray primer followed by two coats of Testors aluminum non-buffing metalizer paint. I intend to use different aluminum paint depending on the engine part to add depth and interest.
Also visible in the image are two oil lines that I added that eventually will be connected to the rest of the engine.
As I began work on other parts of the engine I thought it would be interesting to show the progression from "raw" part to finished part. The picture below shows three engine parts at different stages.
The part shown on the right is out of the box with molded details including nuts, bolts, and other parts.
In the middle part, the molded plastic details have been removed and holes drilled. Metal parts have been test fitted and removed to allow for painting of the engine part. Several coats of gray primer have been applied followed by several coats of Tamiya flat aluminum. Several coats of primer are needed because Pocher plastic does not take paint well. Note that Tamiya flat aluminum is a slightly different hue than the Testors non-buffing aluminum, which was used on the part on the right.
Finally, the part on the right shows the last stage, fully painted and with metal details and ready to be attached to the rest of the engine.
Below are the next three engine parts, painted and ready for metal parts installation.
In the next image you can see the three parts shown above assembled with the part shown in the first image. All the detailing parts have been added including where the exhaust manifold will be connected.
This view is with the engine upside down where most of the detail is at present.
The next step will be to work on the fuel injection and inlet manifolds on the top of the engine along with adding the heads which will cover up the area were you can see the joint of the two engine block halves at present.
Finally I get to work on models instead of ... going to Home Depot for hoses, welcome mats, brooms, a fruit picker, garden soil... here is brief update.
Shown below is a top view of the fuel distributor after I removed the molded details, and drilled holes to receive realistic metal nuts and brass fuel lines. I also have sprayed the distributor with a light grey primer prior to receiving an aluminium top coat.
The image below shows the fuel distributor mounted to the engine having been sprayed with Model Masters Aluminium non-buffing Metalizer and a coat of their sealer.
In addition the metal nuts and bolts have been glued in place.
You will also notice that I also attached the starter motor (black) having removed the plastic 'details' (if they can be called details) and inserted metal parts.
This view shows the throttle contol arm on the fuel distibutor and also shows the red cylinder heads attached.
The two sets of twin white pinstripes on the cylinder heads were made by spraying the heads white (originally the plastic was red), then applying a thin coat of candle wax on just the pinstripes and then spraying them red. Once the red coat was dry I carefully removed the red layer from the stripes by scraping/ sanding to reveal the white coat below.
View of the entire engine.
I have also completed the two manifolds and covers, one of which is shown below.
These were prepared for paint in the usual way and then sprayed with grey primer (used as the final coat). The center gasket on the manifold was "drawn:" in using a black sharpie pen and the plastic cold start injectors were removed and replaced with ones made from small aluminium tube, blue cable shrink wrap and thin wire. Small silver nails were added to represent the center gasket joint bolts.
The top Ferrari Testaross plate was added having first sprayed the complete plate red then sanding down the raised surface to reveal the silver color.
After months of on and off building everything came together today. The engine is now finished apart from one or two small details.
Both inlet manifolds and theri covers were added. [A note for other builders: The instructions say to put the air cleaner on after putting on the manifolds - this is now possible if you glue them to the engine block and therefore I recommend that you put it on before the manifolds. In my case I managed to modify the fitting to enable me to attach it before I added the second manifold.]
I modified the black cam belt cover quite a lot, although it is not that evident in the photographs unless you look closely. I milled out the recessed plastic bolts on the front and added brass bolts along with small silver pin heads to simulate the smaller screws that hold the cover on. A small brass tube was added to simulate part of the cooling system connections and on the rear of the cover I added a thin aluminium plate (see thrid photo down).
The alternator, water pump and crank pulley we detailed and added, along with the two distributor caps and spark plug leads. The pulley for the alternator is missing from the kit so I shall be making one myself. That is why I have not yet added the pulley belts.
I have also added the fuel lines from the fuel distributor ro each of the inlet manifolds. These were made from thin brass wire.
I added a rubber pipe from the center of the air intake to the engine block which is part of the "blow-by" system of the engine. 
Well there you go the engine is done! I shall probably add one or two more details but otherwise it time to start building the car to go around the engine.
Okay, so it was not quite finished, my Pocher kit was missing the pulley for the alternator (the sharp eyed may have spot it was missing). Now I have my CNC lathe up and running I was able to produce one out of aluminium as you can see above. This looks much better than the plastic ones.
As these are now programed in my PC I can reproduce them easily, so if anyone is interested in one for their kit, please contact me.
Here you can see the pully installed on the engine.
Additionally I have produced replacement half axles on my CNC lathe as you can see above. These along with other replacment parts will start to appear in my online shop shortly.
