Terry Jessee

What's the motorcycle? That's great looking, too. TJ

Well, what we did originally was to send in a press release to the local paper on our fall contest with some photos and accompanying information. Apparently, one of their editors was intrigued, so he assigned this reporter to do a story for the Sunday magazine section. And I agree with you guys--it turned out to be very cool. The reporter asked tons of questions as she tried to understand it. We were really kind of stunned by the story, and the quality of it. Terry

Dave, how do we order? TJ

I can go only by my experience. I've been reviewing and evaluating resin kits for almost 25 years. I bought one of Frontier's '57 Chevy ambulance conversions a couple of years ago. I won't buy another. The castings were uneven, wavy, full of some pretty major pinholes, and the door lines on mine were plain wobbly. There's far more work here to correct the problems than I want to deal with, and for the price I expected better product. What I got was something I would have returned without comment had it been sent to me for review. I really would like a Marauder, but I'll pass on that one. If Modelhaus, Shawn Carpenter, R&MCooM, and Promolite are first tier, then the others are second tier in terms of quality. This Chevy I bought didn't come close even to that level. Terry

Our local paper did a story about model building this week. Think you might get a charge out of it. http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/model-kits-grow-up-with-builders/article_a44e84a6-8bf1-5e88-b1aa-9edfda6e8a2e.html Don't forget to check out the video, too. Terry

So how'd you do the red pinstripes? That's a great look. Terry

THAT is CUTE!! I built one for Hot Rod Model Kits, but wound up selling it. Gotta get the kit again and do another. That is a nice, nice build. Terry

You know, it doesn't matter what you think of the subject, that's still nice work. Really nice. Terry

By the way, here's another variant. Think this might be a 98, but the photo caption I found said 88. So? Terry

Yeah, it is kind of peculiar. Is it a '50 Olds? Did Revell do it? I'm in. Want it perfect?--make it so. Everything else is just air. Terry

LIke that LOTS better! Really looks sharp with the stock wheels and whitewalls.

Think that's actually an R&R kit. I have one. THAT ONE is a really nice job on a very difficult kit with many fit issues. Well done. Terry

Thanks, Harry.

Ken, your review of the AMT '25 T coupe in the June SA doesn't mention much about the wheels, but those in the accompanying photo look like the original one-piece wheel/tire set. The kit has the later wheels that were done for the '23 roadster and the vans. They have much bigger spokes which are mismatched with big mold issues. Did you thin those down? They look really good in the photo. Thanks, Terry

Oh, that's beautiful. Makes me want to get to mine. Nice, nice work. Terry

So, Virg, how come the special edition Merc is better? I've got one--just one--so I don't know any difference. I do have a Modelhaus body and a bunch of R&MCoM parts to add to it, but haven't looked at it in a while. Interesting topic, especially with all the great examples. Terry

Let's see--a Motor City Resin Casters four door conversion and a can of pink paint.... Hmmm--Hey, Dave Van, there's another movie car! Terry

Flyin' in Friday.

I have too many projects in the works. Here's a few. I need to stay focused on something, but jumping around is fun, too. This is a Modelhaus 1962 Chrysler Newport. It's been modified in a number of small ways to build a California Highway Patrol '62 Newport Enforcer. CHP did drive those for '62 after Chrysler downsized the Dodges and Plymouths. Dodge came back with a big Polara the next year (essentially a Chrysler with a Dodge nose) to meet CHP specs. There is one CHP '62 Newport that has been restored, and this is a model of that car. Here's what I started with. You can see that I had to remove the side trim and some other details to get the "plain Jane" Enforcer version. It was actually more work than you'd think. Revell 1994 Chevy Impala SS. The trunk has been filled in with superglue and microballoons (a filler used by RC airplane builders), and the rearmost side window has been reshaped to the Caprice spec. This will be a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department 1993 Caprice. It'll use the body, chassis, and engine from the Impala, but the interior from the Caprice. The updated wheel covers are from the Modelhaus. This is a Promolite 1961 Plymouth Savoy sedan (Tom has just repopped these. They were discontinued, but he has created new molds so you can get them again.) It became: The faux NYPD cruiser from "Car 54, Where Are You?" That was an early '60s TV series with Fred Gwynne (who later became Herman Munster) and Joe E.Ross. Since the show was filmed in black and white, the producers had the film cars painted red and white so people wouldn't think they were real NYPD cars. Decals were custom made by a friend. And yeah, that Diplomat is another project. It's the Motormax diecast. I got a prepainted white one, and will do that as an '80s Montana Highway Patrol cruiser. The Smith & Wesson light bar is a resin piece I got from I-don't-remember-where. (Wish I did.) Terry

How about a GMC S-15? This is AMT's 1994 GMC S-15 Sonoma kit. Terry

That's what I started with. I stripped it and repainted it, redid the interior and added detail, and installed wheels from the parts box. Don't remember where the tires came from. Mostly, it's just a paint job. I never could get the doors to sit like I wanted them, so I glued them shut. This was actually going to be an Aspen PD (Colorado) police cruiser. They actually used Saabs for a couple years. But something like decals or something got in the way, so I stripped the white repaint off it and redid it in this kind of tungsten silver color. Mostly it was just a paint job. It went away on eBay years ago. Wish I could find another one to redo, but they seem to be pretty rare. Terry

John, the patina on that chassis and engine is fantastic. Looks like it's been out in the weather for a long time. Beautifully (and subtly) done. Terry

Stunning. One of the most incredible projects I've ever seen.

This old guy's been around a while, and you may have seen it. But if you haven't, this is an MPC '72 Chevy pickup that I got out of a friend's junk box more than 25 years ago. I got just the cab, interior, box, and chassis pan. The frame is built from two AMT '72 Chevy Blazer chassis. Lots of other work, and about six weeks' work to do the paint job. Here's the inspiration: Took these photos with an old Polaroid camera in the fall of 1985. And here's some in-progress shots that were taken during the fall and spring of 1985 and 1986. Initially, I was going to build it as a two-wheel drive junkyard refugee. Then I got a wild hair and decided to put together the 4X4 chassis. I sawed all the frame detail off the chassis pan and used that as a base for the Blazer frame. The grill had some junk glued to it, so I hogged it out and built some structural parts into it so it looked like it had been knocked out at one time and left that way. Then I discovered a set of wheels from an old Esci Toyota BJ-44 Landcruiser. Went from there. My friend Vern Greenwood (who is an incredible model railroader) taught me how to plan and put together the stock rack. I had to learn to solder small brass parts (which is a lot more delicate than soldering copper pipe). The hardest part was joining the two sides with the center section because the soldering iron would melt older joints while I was trying to put together new ones, even when we used heat sinks. I wound up using super glue to join those parts. Vern was an incredible resource on this project because he also showed me ways to weather this truck. I found a little book called "Scale Model Trucking" by two guys named Gary Nash and Mic Greenberg that showed how to do this rusty paintjob, but Vern showed me the dusting and staining. One technique of Vern's that was invaluable was what he called "Low Pressure Air." I was painting super thin paint at 2 psi. It took lots of layers to get the right effect, but it paid off. It's been sitting in my display case since the late '80s. I took it down to Salt Lake for the tenth anniversary of the Greater Salt Lake Model Car Championship (GSLMCC) and cracked the frame. I repaired that but it still seems kind of fragile, so I don't move it much anymore. This case shot is from Dave Darby. He took it when he visited me last year. Hard to believe that this truck is a quarter century old.... Terry

Here's a shot of a similar kit. Got this off eBay. Terry