Terry Jessee

I was digging through some stuff, rearranging my kit stash, when I discovered this conversion kit again. I got it last year, I think. It's Herb Adams' '64 Pontiac Tempest that Bob Tullius drove during the '71 Trans Am season. It overheated a lot, but it was very fast when it ran right. Here's a shot of it essentially as it exists today. Funny story about the car is that it was Adams' wife's daily driver, and he talked her into letting him build a race car with it. The work was done by a small crew of Pontiac engineers at the time. The car was painted silver and was called "The Gray Ghost." Note that in these photos it's a hardtop. There was a conversion kit produced. The story I get is that only about 25 of these kits were cast. The kit includes the modified body (note the door post), hood, bumpers and grill, and some other small parts. So far I've accumulated some Minilites from Reliable Resin, and a roll bar kit and racing tires from Plastic Performance Products. My example also has a nice set of decals. Once that first run was done, though, that was it. So I'd guess it's "rare" (a term that is way overused). This is designed to go with AMT's '65 GTO kit. It'll take some grinding on the chassis to get rid of the exhaust system, but I was planning on building a sort of "super" curbside beyond that--maybe an open hood, maybe not. I've seen photos of one of these built before, but I don't remember where. Anyway, it's just another one of those projects I'd like to get to. Terry

Just some ideas to stoke the creativity.... For more ideas, you might look here.... Terry

Terry and Cynthia

Original Johan '66 Cadillac hearse, which included a coffin. Terry

Actually, it's in Alberta. Guy there is a retired provincial police officer, and he bought it last year. Terry

These photos are of the only known, documented survivor. These were used by CHP in '62 after Chrysler Corporation went to their big downsize. The Dodges that year were only 116" wheelbase, and CHP required 122". So Chrysler added all the go-fast, heavy duty components from the '61 Custom 880 to the '62 Newport and the "Enforcer" was born. This is a Modelhaus kit. I've already started removing the side chrome in this shot. Kit is mocked up here. It sits more level when the bumpers are installed. This just needed to be built. Terry

http://www.reesphotos.com/CarlModls/CarlModls.htm There is some amazing stuff here. Carl is a real craftsman, and does some amazing stuff. Terry

I've got a couple of things in the works but nothing new finished. The photo above is Nemo's Car from "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." And here's a link to some others. http://public.fotki.com/TerryJessee/movie-and-tv-models/ Terry

Beautiful! One of the best buildups of that kit I have ever seen! Great photos. Terry

That Ardun-powered '32 roadster is really special. Thanks for posting these photos. That's some great model building. Terry

I haven't built any of the new Revell '32 series kits, yet, but I have built a bunch of others. These are AMT: These are MPC: These are Monogram: And these are the diecast American Grafitti kit, one with a little modification: Terry

Watch eBay. The Amazon book sellers think it's some kind of diamond because it's out of print, and they're asking ridiculous prices for it. It has been out of print since 2002, I think. It's odd to me that the 1:1 hot rod guys are just "discovering" it, but then, MBI didn't do a lot to publicize it when it was new. I'd bet that the mention in Hot Rod Deluxe probably would have been a nice shot in the arm, but it is what it is. The eBay auctions usually are in the $20 range. Terry

Here are some shots of some of the models I've built for the book projects. http://public.fotki.com/TerryJessee/models-for-books/ Terry

I was cruising around the 'web last night and found this interview I did for Dirk Johnson's "Model Car Hub" website in 2000. It covers the process for putting together "Hot Rod Model Kits." It was kind of fun to see the stories again. Thought you might find it interesting. http://www.modelcarhub.com/feature-behindthescenes.htm Terry

Looks like Mark Gustavson's first custom Merc he did in '83. http://www.customclinic.com/Small_Scale/Gallery/gallery.html (Scroll down about halfway). Terry

What you might do is to paint the two tone areas, then use the stripe only from the decal (probably take a couple kits) to finish the color scheme. T

No, it's a short wheelbase truck. It's possible to do this... ...with a little work. Terry

No, it's an old diecast--I think it's either Burago or Polistil from Italy. I used wheels and tires from the parts box. I think the hubcaps are from a Dodge Monaco. I stripped it and repainted it, too. Terry

That's an Italeri Jeep. Fujimi or Hasegawa has one out now that is very good. One version even comes with a little two-wheel trailer. Terry

D'you suppose I could steal these photos for reference material? This 'Cuda is beautiful! Terry

I really like this photo by Dave Lindsay. This is my Scalekraft 1929 Irving-Napier Special at Salt Lake last spring. Nicknamed the "Golden Arrow," this car set the land speed record in 1929 at Daytona Beach. I've shown this before, but this photo by Dave Lindsay shows it off a little better. Here it is with a contemporary--the ill-fated 1928 Stutz Blackhawk. Here's some in-progress shots. I can't remember if I shared this. You have to fabricate a lot of the parts from sheet plastic. The patterns aren't real good. This is the interior bucket and chassis plate. This gives you an idea of relative size. The Arrow and Impala are both 1/25 scale. Terry

Terry- is there a link to your pictures anywhere? I've scanned Fotki and Photobucket endlessly and have found zilch! **** Yep. Try this. http://public.fotki.com/TerryJessee/ T

In response to question, this is an MPC "Daisy's Jeep" CJ-5. Wheels and tires are Hendrix resin. There will be some decals, but no slogans (I can't read Hebrew, so have no idea what the decal sheet says). So I'll play it safe and just do some unit numbers, like the photos I found. Color is a Floquil railroad color called "Foundation." I like using Floquil because they're lacquer based so they aren't quite so affected by the weathering process. Terry

Nice start--I really do wish MPC had seen fit to do the truck like this. Need to finish this one, too. Got too many of these things half-finished in boxes. Looks like I'll have to do a little body work on the box where the putty shrank. Then again, this is only about 25 years old.... Hmm.... Terry

Nope--it's designed to use with the AMT '40 Ford coupe. T