Terry Jessee

This is the Modelhaus kit of the Ayala Brothers '40 Mercury coupe. The actual car was black, but I liked this metallic red better. This is the only photo I have of it. I sold it years ago (wish I hadn't). Terry

Floquil Erie-Lackawanna Maroon--it's a model railroad paint. T

Bob, that's perfect! I did a "generic" A-production coupe using the snap kit, too, based on photos I found in a couple of books on racing from the period. That was before I found the Washburn decals. That's a great sheet. I added a rudimentary four-point roll bar to the interior, and a set of parts box wheels and tires. You're right--they're great little project starters. Thanks for sharing that one. It provides great inspiration. Terry

...is all the information you find. For example, there's a discussion about belly tanker models. I have one of the California Model Works kits, but didn't know about the Star Models kits or the others. I always have fun going over to Resin Realm to look and daydream, but still haven't seen everything. And that's the way it is here. I'm ALWAYS finding something new to me. It's like this: This is a Disney collectible. It's just about 1/24 "scale," if you will, so it fits my movie and TV car collection. I think this is from the TV series, not the first film, but it fills the gap. "Cruella DeVille, Cruella DeVille, if she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will...." Terry

I got this goofy idea about doing an Isreali Defense Force Jeep M38A1 "movie prop" (it's a long story for later). Anyway, I started this little project earlier this year. I got in a hurry about painting and am having to start over in a bunch of places, but that's okay. The white structures you see are the seat supports/gas tank from the MPC WWII Jeep/Hogan's Heroes Jeep. A friend gave me the top and support bars from the old MPC "Korean War Staff Car" kit so I can do a top-up version. The military-siped tires and narrowed wheels are from Hendrix Manufacturing and are resin pieces. I wanted to use a solid tailgate panel like the Jeeps I've seen in photos, and like the WWII Jeep includes. But the WWII Jeep panel is too wide, so I had to build a new one (the white panel in the center). I also built that radio antenna mount on the left corner based on some photos I have. It's coming along and should be unique, I think. It'll be colorful. This is the first Jeep model I've built in about 30 years. I'm having a lot of fun with it. Terry

No, it's cast solid. The resin in that spot is pretty thick, too, so that cutting it out would require quite a bit of work. Terry

This is AMT's old '62 Corvette done with the markings and color scheme of the Washburn Chevrolet car that Bob Bondurant drove on the West Coast. The actual car was a '59 or '60, but the car was raced in '62, so I thought it'd be fun to do it this way. The model is about 80% done. I'm having to hog out the grill surrounds so that's taking a little time. The body, chassis, and interior are essentially done, so I need to finish the engine and do some detail painting to complete this. It'll have a cutdown windshield and side exhaust. This is essentially a curbside with a black chassis. I haven't decided if I want to detail the engine yet. These are VRM decals--really nice. They settle down very well and work well with decal solvent. Terry

Yeah, I think the focus was on bringing out detail in the interior. Terry

This is one of my favorite models. It's a Lindberg '97 Crown Vic done as a slightly updated cruiser from "Men in Black." I did it really plain-Jane, and had most of my fun in the interior. The infamous "don't touch the red button" handle is there, along with a Roswell alien that started out as a pewter chess piece. He was just the right size. In back, I had fun with antennas. The black one in the center of the trunk is a modified pursuit light from a '78 Monaco. I call it a "Programmable Hyaline (transparent) Light-emitting Gaseous Magnatometer" or PHLEGM unit. It's also known as a "geek finder." The wheels and hubcaps came from an aftermarket police car accessory company called "Models by Tony." He's been out of business for years. It's a shame. Those wheels give the car a real "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" look. Terry

This is a Monogram 1992 Chevy Caprice police car. Markings are Delaware State Police from Fred Cady. I don't think the light bar is correct but I was building straight out of the box. So's this one--with "modifications." (Actually, this is the Modelhaus '81 Impala kit which fits on the Caprice chassis. It requires a little work, but turns out okay.) Terry

I've got a few.... The Beverly Hillbillies Truck--this was an original 1968 edition of the MPC kit built long before AMT restored the tooling. AMT XSSR Barracuda from Fireball 500. Jimmy Flintstone Lincoln Continental "Deathmobile" from Animal House. Wave "Nemo's Car" from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Here's a link to a few more. http://public.fotki.com/TerryJessee/movie-and-tv-models/ Terry

It was inspired by the car in the '91 Caprice introductory brochure. Unfortunately, that's too big for me to scan. But you're right. Terry

John, you earned 'em. That is absolutely the coolest paint job I have seen in years! It is perfect for that car! Awe-inspiring.... Terry

Yep--what he said. By the way, that is Monogram's top-selling kit of all time (or was in 1998 when I interviewed people for HRMK). I think in the SAE story about Tom there's a photo of him sitting with Monogram's president Bob Reder. After the kit sold a million copies, Monogram presented him with a gold-plated build-up of the Red Baron. What was the FIRST Monogram Tom Daniel kit? (Hint--it's not the Red Baron) Terry

I don't know that there are any initial market copies left. Most that I see are used or way-overpriced secondary market stuff. I got a nice compliment from Steve Magnante in Hot Rod Deluxe this issue for Hot Rod Model Kits. The problem is that that book has been out of print since about 2002. There was some goof in Florida asking $155 (!!!) for a new copy of HRMK. That's ten times what it cost new! That's silly. Thanks for the kind word about the Chevy. Terry

This is the Scalekraft 1929 Irving-Napier "Golden Arrow" LSR car. I've had worse resin kits than this one, but this was hard enough to build that I almost put it away a half dozen times. Nothing fit. It was a constant massage of parts, and the surface flaws on those big radiators took weeks to clean up. It's a neat model, but was miserable to put together. Terry

For engine and chassis shots, you'll have to go to "Build & Detail Model Cars Like a Pro" from MBI Publishing. I built the '39 Chevy for that book. I have since sold the model. The book has many detailed construction photos of this car. Sorry. Terry

Terry

No, the rider is the Wheelhorse garden tractor from the MPC Indy turbine car kit. The mower deck was thermoformed, then little details added with wire, pins, and plastic rod. The push mower is a Christmas tree ornament, I think. Can't remember where that came from. Terry

Terry

Oooh, that is impressive work. Beautiful. Terry

In order to understand the convention, you have to understand the history behind it. Again, it has nothing to do with religion or with American conventions which don't understand the history. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are. David McCulloch Terry

Sorry, but that's incorrect. The first century was AD 1 (Anno Domini--"in the year of our Lord") to AD 100. 101-200, 201-300, 1601-1700, and so on. Jesus wasn't a year old when he was born. Our current system was essentially established by the Catholic church, since they were kind of in charge of that as the convention developed over the centuries. The concept of "zero" was not widely understood at the time, except (oddly enough) by the Arab culture. So in the Christian tradition there is "before Christ" or B.C. and "Anno Domini" or A.D. Historians often refer to a newer method of measurement, B.C.E. ("before Christian era") and C.E. ("Christian era"). And again, there is no zero. The first year that Christ lived is 1 AD or 1 CE. So, silly American "conventions" aside, the decade won't be over until December 31, 2010. The 20th century did not end until December 31, 2000. As above, it consisted of the years 1901 to 2000. And yes, I'm right. Terry

There's a year and a month left. The new decade doesn't start until 2011. There is no year "zero." That's why the 21st century couldn't start until 2001, despite all the silly news media hype. So you've got a little time left. Terry