1/25 '63 Spirit of America

[Terry Jessee]

A while back when I posted the photos of the Golden Arrow and Goldenrod models,

I mentioned that I also had a 1/25 scale 1963 Spirit of America jet car model in resin, too. Someone asked about it, but I never got back to the subject.

Here are some shots of the model. The first are raw castings. I have a couple finished photos, too, but I didn't build that model. It was built by Dave--and Dave, I lost your last name. If you see this, please let me know so I can give you credit for this gorgeous work.

In any case, this was cast by Tory Mucaro at Scaleworks Models. The original master is a model built by Art Russell. Art was a pattern maker for Revell, and a friend of Craig Breedlove. When Breedlove was trying to obtain sponsorship for his run at Bonneville, Art built a master and duplicated it in fiberlas and resin (remember, this was 1963, nearly 20 years before resin casting was well-known in the hobby) so Breedlove could show the concept to sponsors. Tory was able to obtain one of Art's originals and cast this model from it.

Tory tells me that my raw casting is the last one because he ran out of decals. He no longer has the master, and his molds are getting pretty torn up. My example has some "issues," but nothing I can't clean up.

This is very accurate, and is about 18.5 " long (the real car was 37 feet long). I gotta fire this up and get it painted. It's mostly just a paint job because it's a one-piece SOLID casting that weighs about three pounds!

So, there's your information. And Dave, let me know who you are. I apologize for losing your name.

Terry

[Modelmartin]

That is pretty slick! Did you reinforce your display shelf? Now you know why most LSR collectors go for 1/43rd. Even in that scale they can get big. I almost got a hernia building a Thrust II in white metal.

The real Spirit of America is at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. It is a beast but it has a certain gracefulness to it. It is worth going to see.

Edited May 23, 2009 by Modelmartin

[Scott Colmer]

That's stunning, Terry!

I would really like to se someone do the Redhead. Probably one of the most beautiful LSR cars i have seen. You can catch a cameo in the Worlds Fastest Indian.

Scott

[Tory]

Hi Terry,

 

That looks to be the work of Dave Young, a very good friend of mine! Also one of the most talented builders I've come across. I don't know whether or not he drops in here and I can see this thread has been dormant for years, but anyway, the mystery builder is solved.

 

Tory

[Greg Myers]

Nice work as usual Terry. I met Bill Summers back in the late seventies in, of all places, Sun City AZ. 

Edited August 20, 2015 by Greg Myers

[pharoah]

nice!  I always liked the look of that car -plane?

[Danno]

It's nothing fancy . . . just a plane car.  

[Big John]

Coming to this discussion Way Late but thanks for sharing.  Even a ragged mold would be good to have in hand... Hint hint.  I am toying with an old Wen Mac Spirit, the worse part is the jet intakes need severe make overs.  And of course need a source for decals. Thanks again for sharing!

[Nacho Z]

Quite a number of years ago I was able to pick up this SoA from a vendor at NNL East. I walked past this beauty all day long and bought it as the vendor was packing up for the day. Forget what I paid but it wasn’t cheap. As a side note, the Stutz Black Hawk is mine too. My SoA has a small chip on the trailing edge of the tail. Interestingly you can see where the decals were located in my casting.
 

[Big John]

Very Cool!  Even if the casting is a bit rough it is a great starting point.  It is a monster though.  I have one of Fernando's Bluebird Proteus and it is pretty darn big.  The Etzel Stutz Black Hawk is a gem and mine is a valued part of my  collection.

Thanks for the share.

[Dave Ambrose]

I wonder if it'd be feasible to clean up your casting and use it as a master for a new mold. 

[Big John]

Certainly possible. I wonder if Tory has the original artwork files for the decals?