PROFILE: That ’70s Kit Designer Tom Danielby TERRY JESSEE F YOU WERE an avid model car builder in kid who got in trouble for drawing cars in the 1960s and ’70s, names like Budd An- class when I should have been doing school- Iderson, George Barris, Ed “Big Daddy” work,” Tom says. Roth, Don Emmons, and Tom Daniel are An enlightened high school art teacher familiar to you. All of these men were impor- encouraged Tom, and arranged for a field tant figures in the hobby. Barris and Roth trip during Tom’s junior year to the Art were full-size custom car builders who Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., worked as consultants for the model compa- the premier school for automotive designers. nies. Budd Anderson, the “Kat from AMT,” “I was just blown away by the work I saw worked on kit development there,” Daniel recalls. “I and promotion at AMT before he moved to IMC and later MPC. Don Emmons Tom Daniel first came to was the writer and model national attention when he builder who taught many of introduced the “sketchpad” us how to model. concept in Rod & Custom Tom Daniel was the artist. magazine. Daniel’s art was He came up with wild con- also featured on R&C cov- cept designs for the “real car” ers. The June ’65 issue magazines like Hot Rod, Car showcased a series of hot Craft, and Rod & Custom. rod and custom ideas for His ideas showed up on sev- the Ford Model A, including eral 1:1 custom show cars a futuristic woody. like the Barris Surf Woody, and TV cars like the Munsters’ Coach and thought it would be so neat worked there for several years, designing Model Sketchpad” columns for Rod & Cus- Tom produced more than 70 models for Dragula, and more than 70 model kits. to design cars for General Motors, so I really components and doing concept drawings for tom Models caught the eye of Roger Harney, Monogram between 1968 and ’75. He restyled started working on building a portfolio. When future products. “I didn’t know too many the model shop supervisor at Monogram the company’s existing ’55 Chevy kit into the THE EARLY YEARS. Tom started drawing I graduated, I applied for admission.” people who designed a whole car. Mostly, we Models in Morton Grove, Ill. Bad Man, but the Red Baron show rod was his early. His exposure to the Southern California At the time, the Art Center required two did pieces, like a grille or a door handle. My “We had this idea for a hot rod beer wagon own design. Photo by Jim Forbes. car culture in the 1940s and ’50s was a con- years of junior college for admission. Fresh biggest project was designing the hood for the kit based on a Mack truck,” Harney says. “I stant source of inspiration. “I was always that out of high school, Tom didn’t have much 1961-’65 Chevy and GMC trucks.” knew about Tom Daniel from the car maga- hope of getting in, but he was invited to apply In 1965, Tom moved back to California to zines, so I approached Robert Reder with the recalls. “I just thought that one of those hel- Sales of the Tom Daniel-designed Red Baron and was accepted after instructors at the open his own design studio. “My wife just idea of having Tom develop the concept.” mets would look cool on a T-bucket. I started kit were so good that Monogram presented school reviewed his work and saw his talent. hated Detroit,” he says. “She was really Reder, one of Monogram’s founders, gave doing some sketches and came up with the Tom with a gold-plated version of the model in In 1958, Tom was finishing his studies unhappy there, so we moved back to Los the go-ahead. Red Baron.” 1972. Here’s Tom with Monogram founder when Lynn Wineland, then editor of Rod & Angeles.” After they returned, Tom went to Daniel laughs when he thinks about that Tom Daniel’s Red Baron was a T-bucket Robert Reder after the presentation. Photo Custom, contacted him about doing custom work for North American Aviation where he Mack. “I looked it over and I realized that the rod powered by a Mercedes aircraft engine courtesy Tom Daniel. car concept sketches for the magazine. designed components for the space program. model was going to be huge, and told them and equipped with a pair of Spandau machine “Lynn Wineland actually came up with “A lot of people don’t know about that,” about it. They said, ‘Well, scale it down a lit- guns. “The name came from a song about Would you let your kid play cars with this guy? the ‘Sketchpad’ idea,” Daniel said, “and did Daniel says, “But I worked on the Apollo tle.’ I worked on the idea, sent in the draw- Snoopy and the Red Baron. With that German Tom laughs about this 1973 publicity still and some of the first sketchpad articles himself.” space capsule and did several component ings, and they went for it.” helmet, it was just a natural.” says, “Everybody in California looked like that Together they worked up concept ideas and designs for that program.” Daniel’s first design for Monogram, the Sales of the kit took off. By 1972, the kit then!” This shot features several of his Tom submitted drawings. The idea was an “Beer Wagon,” was a big hit, so Monogram had sold so well that Monogram brought designs including the Red Baron, Unreal Roller, immediate success, and Tom began doing MAKING OF A MODEL DESIGNER. called Tom about other designs. “I didn’t Daniel back to Morton Grove where Reder Honest Engine, and Groovy Grader. Photo work for other Petersen magazines as well. “I Soon, Petersen beckoned once again. “I kind really have any hard-and-fast rules,” he says. presented him with a gold-plated Red Baron. courtesy Tom Daniel. got 50 bucks a page,” Tom laughs. “It doesn’t of picked up where I’d left off with them, “I just came up with ideas I thought they’d “I think by that time, it had sold about two seem like much, but it sure helped with school doing ‘Sketchpad’ columns for Rod & like. Sometimes they’d have a theme in mind, million kits,” Daniel says. “They were really Tom Daniel was featured prominently in expenses.” Custom and drawings for the other maga- but mostly I came up with cars on my own.” happy with it.” Monogram’s advertising. In this 1970 publicity Following graduation, Tom realized his zines.” One of his assignments was to review His second idea for Monogram turned into The model was so popular that Bob still, he’s shown with several of the new Snap big dream when he was recruited to work in new model kits and use them as the subjects a sales monster. “The surfers were all wear- Larivee of Show Promotions, Inc. obtained Dragins models. Photo courtesy Tom Daniel. General Motors’ design department. He of his sketchpad drawings. His “Off the ing these chrome-plated German helmets,” he the rights to produce a full-size version of 36 Scale Auto Enthusiast • FEBRUARY 2000 FEBRUARY 2000 • Scale Auto Enthusiast 37 the car for the show circuit. Chuck Miller, a the engines, that sort of thing. They did a I could. They were molded in colors, so all the project died with him.” (Gabelich was were going to be on a TV show, and said that Detroit customizer, was commissioned to super job, too. Those were great kits.” you had to do was paint the details. When killed in 1984 while riding his motorcycle in he needed them right away.” build the car. “He had the same problems According to Monogram’s design director you’re 12, that’s important. Those kits just Los Angeles traffic.) Daniel did his sketches overnight and with it I did,” Daniel remembers. “The Roger Harney, Monogram kit designer Ken went together so well.” “I’ve done a lot of different designs since,” delivered them in the morning. “He really Mercedes aircraft engine was just enormous, Merker did most of the final design work. Phil Davis, who started the Tom Daniel Daniel says. A series of model-railroad didn’t change much from the original aside from the fact that it was so rare. So “Tom would send us great drawings, includ- Fan Club, was another avid customer. “I was scenery backdrops was among them. Daniel, sketches,” he says. “Some minor details, but they used an overhead-cam Pontiac six-cylin- ing section drawings. But once we got those, a kid building models in the ’70s. Tom’s an avid model railroader, designed those for mostly the cars were built pretty much like I der engine in the car.” Ken was responsible for the final forms.” theme cars were so exciting. I really think his own company, HO West. Model railroad drew them.” The helmet was another problem. “Nobody “In addition to putting them into 3-D, he he started the whole weird show-car move- giant Wm. K. Walthers later purchased those Daniel is annoyed that he never received could chrome anything that big at the time. also had to come up with engines and sus- ment in that era.” designs, and continues to produce them under public credit for his work on the Munsters They had to settle for bright silver paint.” pension parts to put under the models” “And Monogram’s kits were just great to the Instant Horizons name.