Terry Jessee

Yep--what he said. I've got one MFH kit--the James Dean Porsche 550. It's a curbside! I don't like fiddly kits. They go back in the box. That Aston is gorgeous. Terry

Wow, Bob, that's beautiful! I really like what you did with the chassis and exhaust. That's great looking. Terry

Too much silliness, all together.... Chat rooms are a waste of time. Terry

I like TV and movie cars. Here are three of my favorites. Terry

There was a "Porsche-only" discussion going on in the General forum, and that inspired me to post the few finished Porsche models I have. I have more than a dozen kits sitting on the shelf. Someday.... In the meantime, enjoy these. This is Maisto's Porsche 356 #1. They did a kit version (prepainted), so I got one of those and added some detail. Neat little model, more of the car as it exists today. Fisher Porsche 718RSK spyder--this is one of the "center-steer" cars that was built to fit 1958 Formula Two rules. The rules didn't say anything about open wheels or bodywork, so Porsche fitted some RSKs with a single seat and center steering. This particular car won the F-2 event at the German Grand Prix in 1958. I started with Fisher's kit and removed the fins and fender skirts. Decals are bits and pieces from other places. This is the LeMans Miniatures Porsche 917LH from the '70 24 Hours of LeMans. This particular model was produced in finished form by a company called Spark. Workmanship on this is exquisite. It's a neat model. I like this model for two reasons--first, it's a very fast (but relatively unsuccessful) 917, and it was featured in Steve McQueen's "LeMans." So it's a movie car, too. And photos probably in violation of some rule or other, here are a couple I'm still working on... Model Factory Hiro 1955 Porsche 550--this is James Dean's "Little Bastard," the car in which he was killed on his way to a race. This is a 1939 Volkswagen Type 61. This is also known as the Porsche K10. It was built for a 1939 road race from Berlin to Rome that never happened. This is a Profil24 kit. I got frustrated with it because the glass didn't fit. I need to cut some out of clear plastic and fit my own, and get this done. Otherwise, it's been a neat little kit to build. Terry

Here's a few of mine. This truck and the yellow one below are actually the same model (after a little rework....) Terry

http://public.fotki.com/TerryJessee/police-car-models/ http://public.fotki.com/TerryJessee/cop-car-model-projects/ Here's a couple of links for more cop car projects, both complete and in-the-works. (Inspired by Lizard Lust's FHP Caprice....) Terry

In-CRED-ible. Absolutely incredible. What field has THAT been sitting in? Now I'd like to see a stock '40 Ford coupe done that way. Hmmm? Nice work, V. Terry

The one behind it. TJ

This is my dad's truck. It's a 1997 Chevy C-1500. My dad wanted a new truck after my mom died, so we ordered this one. It's a Cheyenne W/T, so it has roll-up windows and rubber floor mats. But it's optioned up with the chrome package, H/O V-6, auto trans, air, cruise, tilt, stereo, and the topper. And it cost $3,000 less than a new Silverado. He was incredulous--"Three thousand bucks for carpets and electric windows???" Anyway, he drove it for seven years until he died, too. We've had it since 2004. Has about 65,000 miles on it. I work hard to keep it as original as possible. This is me capitulating. I've ridden Yamahas since the early '70s, but we rented one of these all-new '09 Harleys last summer and found them to be incredibly comfortable. So we bought one. It's a great ride for cruising down two-lane roads and seeing the country. We put about 4500 miles on it the first three months we had it. It has about half the horsepower of the Yamaha I traded for it, but it does the job very well. Waiting for spring now.... Sighhhh Terry

This is Revell's snap Impala with Chimneyville decals. As long as I was painting the Newport, I went ahead and did this, too. LAPD only used these on a trial basis, and only about 25 cars. They stayed with Crown Vics at the time. They are using new Impalas now, I guess. Terry

Just a reminder where I'm headed.... This was the first step--removing the side chrome trim from the Modelhaus Chrysler Newport.... Then a coat of primer to see where the ripples and divots were.... The door handles were pretty faint, so I rescribed them.... Then more primer and sanding to get things smooth.... The stance has been an issue because the "interface" between the interior bottom and chassis top needs a lot of massaging to get things to fit. The chassis fits the body well, and the interior very well but they don't fit together. So you wind up grinding, filing, scraping, sanding, whatever it takes to make them fit. The chassis is a generic '60s Mopar chassis so there's always going to be a little fitting necessary.... First paint coats--I'll wait a day or two and mask the doors to spray those. It comes along.... Terry

Not the custom, but here are a couple shots of the stock '50. Terry

Outstanding! That is a beautiful model. It's not about what you start with--it's how you finish it. Nice job. Terry

A little more work on the Newport.... Here's a couple shots of body work. I had to scrape and sand the side trim, and do a little filling and sanding. The door handles needed some definition, so I scribed around them to bring them up a bit. Still have a little smoothing to do, but that's about all the body work that will be necessary. Terry

Notice anything unusual about this Caprice body? Terry

The Adam-12 kit is a fake. Those boxes were created by Everett Westphal, a Florida graphic artist and model builder. He did a series of about 20 different ones, primarily associated with '50s & '60s TV shows--Adam-12, Dragnet, Highway Patrol,Green Acres (Mr. Haney's truck), Duel (the truck), 77 Sunset Strip (Kookie's T), Columbo (that Peugeot convertible), Mayberry Sheriff, Jim Rockford's Firebird, and lots of others. He used motifs and graphic schemes that mimiced those used by AMT, MPC, Monogram, and Revell at the time the kits would have been "new." He was very good. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. So don't worry about the Adam-12 kit. Terry

Those are neat little kits. Mine's more curbside, but they look good when they're finished. Fun kits. Terry

And just a couple more.... Modelhaus 1975 Chevy Impala sedan conversion. I have Bel Air scripts for this. This will an LAPD cruiser. LAPD didn't use Chevys in '75, but they did on "Police Story." So that's where this one comes from. What else can I say? Terry

Here's a few more.... First is a Classic Metalworks 2000 Ford Crown Victoria. This is a metal kit. I stripped it and have been bringing it back up with new paint. This will be a Montana Highway Patrol car. Note that the trim has been removed from the front doors. Wheels are Modelhaus Caprice cop car wheels modified to look like the Ford wheels. This'll be black with a white top (center section only). This is a Reliable Resin Mustang LX. I'll do this as a CHP Mustang interceptor, probably 1990 or thereabouts. This is Testors Dodge Charger police car kit. I've gotten the wheels painted and foiled. The plastic parts just don't look right without paint. I like these markings. These are the demonstrator markings for cars that were taken around the country to show to law enforcement when the car first came out. I'll leave it this way. Modelhaus 1960 Plymouth Savoy. This will be LA County Sheriff. Promolite 1961 Plymouth Savoy. This is going to be the cruiser from the old TV show, "Car 54, Where Are You?" Kansas Highway Patrol used '67 Belvedere two-door sedans in 1967, so this is a natural. The conversion is from Model Car World (MCW). This will have the 383 from the Revell '68/9 Dodge Dart. The kit comes with bumpers, grill, wheels, hubcaps, interior tub, and side panels. You'll have to use Alclad on the chrome parts. There's some more. Terry

In the "Emergency Vehicle Build" topic, somebody asked about some more "work-in-progress" shots. So here are some of the projects I have in the works. Too many, toooo many.... First up is a '93 Caprice done in Alaska State Police markings. They paint the hoods on their cars flat black to reduce glare. The light bar is a Dave Panek Whelen Edge with a Scale Squads Lo-Pro siren. Sorry, neither piece is available. Wheels are Modelhaus. The rearmost side windows have been reshaped to Caprice style. I left the spoiler on the trunk rather than fill the "trench." I kind of like the look of it, anyway. You can fill the trunk trench a couple of different ways. Here I just cut the trunk out of a Caprice and replaced the trunk from the Impala. You can see the cut marks if you look at the taillight housings. I also added the trim strip between the taillights with a little Evergreen strip. Rear side windows have not been reshaped here, yet. The trunk on this black Impala was filled with superglue and microballoons, small glass beads used by RC airplane builders as filler. This looks rough but actually is quite smooth. Some resculpting of the trunk contours is necessary here, but it just takes patience. Note the difference in the rearmost side windows between this model and the red primer one. This eventually will be a 1996 Chevy Caprice in the markings of the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Wheel covers are actually Modelhaus. These are updated to '96 configuration. There's a few ideas. Terry

I second THAT! That is inCREDible!! What a beautiful job. Terry

The minute amounts we use to build models probably are not going to constitute much of a threat--more than just about any other adhesive used to glue plastic parts together. Oh, and by the way, be real careful not to spill cyanoacrylate (super glue) on your jeans. In bottle-size quantities, it heats up immediately and can cause serious burns. I already have malignant melanoma from sun exposure over that last 58 years. Guess I'll go worry about something else. Everything is harmful. Terry

I did one of those, too. We called it the "Super Trooper." Terry