Art Anderson Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 Tom West's family posted on his Facebook Account that Tom passed away today, Saturday February 24, peacefully. Many of us older modelers knew Tom, through his design work, at Aurora Plastics, where he became deeply involved in the evolution of the AFX Ho slot cars, and then the legendary Don Garlits figurine. He then went to MPC, as their product manager, a job he held until MPC was folded into AMT-Ertl in 1967. Tom then began designing high-end diecast model cars, and designed & developed the Galaxie Ltd '48 Chevy kits. Many modelers may be unaware that Tom was an accomplished artist--his paintings and drawings of famous customs, hot rods, and drag cars hang in several museums, including a life-sized "cutaway" drawing of one of the "Swamp Rat" fuel dragsters, that hangs in Don Garlits' museum. I've had the great pleasure of knowing Tom from his days at MPC and beyond--a true great of the model kit industry, and all around cool as well. Art
Daddyfink Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 You've got be f'ing kidding me!? Honestly, I don't know what to type. I saw him last at the Hot Rod Reunion and Cacklefest here in San Diego last October. I am stunned. Vaya Con Dios, Tom Jesse C.
Luc Janssens Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 My condolences Art. Never knew him, but saw his name pop up sometimes in online conversations.
afx Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 I knew of Tom but didn't know him personally, my avatar is that of AFX slot cars. My condolences to you Art and his family.
disabled modeler Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 My condolences Art....we lost a great influence and mind in the world were all passionate about. I miss the old Aurora and MPC kits of the days of my youth...loved them.
D. Battista Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 Didn't know him ...but do know his impact in the industry.... My condolences to his family and to all who knew him..
Muncie Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) He will be missed - we've all seen his drag racing photography, x-ray illustrations and his work in the model car industry - including the Aurora 1/16 funny car chassis from the NHRA Insider archive - https://www.nhra.com/news/2013/man-x-ray-eyes https://www.nhra.com/news/2013/man-x-ray-eyes-part-2 Tom West posted reference material over at the Straightline Modelers website when it was active - the archive of what's' left is here - http://web.archive.org/web/20110622053842/http://straightlinemodeler.org/ (credit to Brett Barrow for the link) Edited February 25, 2018 by Muncie
Daddyfink Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 My Condolences to his Family, friends and the Model and Drag Racing communities. I've known Tom since I started going to the Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield in the early 90's and have had many a conversation with him about the model industry. I wish I had recorded some of those conversations, like how the Dukes of Hazard kits came to be and the Aurora Funny Car fiasco. Tom has photographed Drag Racing, and other motor sports since the 60's and his X Ray drawings are legendary. I am fortunate to have one of his originals in my possession and it is one of my most cherished pieces of art that I own. It is going to be weird not seeing him at the March Meet next weekend.
Casey Posted February 25, 2018 Posted February 25, 2018 The three-part "History of Drag Racing Models" in SAE years ago had a lot of good info from Tom West (though I think Tom Graham was the author?), with some details about his involvement with the Aurora Vega and the real Paulding-Moore-West Vega F/C...worth seeking out all three issues for sure. I did save one of the engineering drawings posted on the SLM pages long ago-- see below. There are a few posts around the forum with Tom West related images, like this one the late Chuck Naylor posted:
RancheroSteve Posted February 26, 2018 Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) Very sorry to hear this - my condolences to his family. I only met Tom once a few years back when I was enlisted to pick up a large donation he was making to the Model Car Museum. He was a generous and modest gentleman, and I had only an inkling of his contributions to the hobby at the time, which was probably just as well because I would have been awe-struck otherwise. Edit: I dug up this photo of Tom with his donation loaded into the back of my Ranchero. You can see the original wooden buck for the Attempt 1 model sitting on top of a "Revell, Venice California" box. Edited February 27, 2018 by RancheroSteve
GaryR Posted March 2, 2018 Posted March 2, 2018 Met him at the Buena Park Sale years ago, he was selling mint, uncirculated Drag Racing and Drag Strip magazines he got in lieu of payment back "in the day"> A very nice guy and what an eye! A VERY talented artist and photographer. RIP Tom.
High octane Posted March 2, 2018 Posted March 2, 2018 I enjoyed many of his photos like this one here..................................................... May he R.I.P.
Casey Posted March 2, 2018 Posted March 2, 2018 On 2/26/2018 at 11:46 AM, RancheroSteve said: Edit: I dug up this photo of Tom with his donation loaded into the back of my Ranchero. You can see the original wooden buck for the Attempt 1 model sitting on top of a "Revell, Venice California" box. I love that something that old (Revell Attempt 1 body buck) is being transported by something equally as old. This is exactly what it's all about, right there. Good on both of you, for the benefit of us all.
RancheroSteve Posted March 3, 2018 Posted March 3, 2018 4 hours ago, Casey said: I love that something that old (Revell Attempt 1 body buck) is being transported by something equally as old. This is exactly what it's all about, right there. Good on both of you, for the benefit of us all. Thanks, Casey. The full story is even cooler in a way: I spent an hour or so with Tom - loading up his donation (mostly a lot of vintage literature) - along with him telling me various stories about some of the items. I was almost ready to take off, and I was walking out through his garage when I saw the Attempt 1 buck on a shelf. It caught my eye as I had not too long ago built the model. I stopped and asked, "Is that what I think it is?". He pulled it off the shelf, handed it to me and said, "Well, I think the Museum should have this too". So I got to hang out with the hand-made buck for the Revell Attempt 1 model - I could barely let it out of my sight for the few days it took me to box it up and ship it off the the Museum.
Mike999 Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 Scale Model News article on Tom West's passing. With some of his original photos:http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2018/03/from-ragnarok-interceptor-to-star-wars.html#more
mikemodeler Posted March 13, 2018 Posted March 13, 2018 1 hour ago, Mike999 said: Scale Model News article on Tom West's passing. With some of his original photos:http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2018/03/from-ragnarok-interceptor-to-star-wars.html#more Very nice article, did not realize the work he contributed to the hobby. May he rest in peace.
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