Thomas Sasser has passed away

[Forbin]

Tom was sort of a founding father in the Trek garage kit industry. Thomas Models and PNT models, which was basically just Tom in his garage, produced resin Trek kits, parts, decals and conversion kits, including the Abbe Class, and the Franz Joseph conversions for the Polar Lights 1/1000 Enterprise, and the first NX-01 kits available.

We also have Tom to to thank for designing the Polar lights 1/1000 E, 1/1000 Klingon D-7, and 1/350 refit model kits. He was about done with designing a 1/350 K'Tinga kit when Polar Lights sold out to Racing Champs and the project was cancelled.

According to a story Tom told me, he sort of saved the 350 refit kit from oblivion too - just before PL sold out to RC, he'd heard the first run of 350 refit kits were manufactured and ready to be shipped from China. He called his new contacts at RC and asked about it, anxious to see his work come to fruition. He told me the RC rep said "That thing? Oh, we were going to cancel it." Tom said "What? It's READY. It's MADE. It's PAID for. It's on the docks in China, ready to ship!" "Oh? Well, then, I guess we should follow through." If Tom hadn't made that call, we may not have gotten the kit.

Tom died yesterday of complications from diabetes.

 

[Q2UnME]

Thanks for sharing the sad info, Forbin. Tom's scratch builds were truly a thing of beauty too. The particle modeling world has lost a truly great talent.

:sad:

Q2

 

[Robert Simmons]

My condolences to his family and friends. What little time I interacted with him he seemed friendly and happy to accommodate others. Crafting skill is in short supply these days and hard to replace.

 

[Albertese]

I only dealt with him a little and there were problems. But he did eventually come through and he was an exceptionally talented modeler.

To be honest, this guy's work was one of the big factors that got me into modeling at all, but modeling Star Trek specifically.

RIP

--Alex

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

That's too bad. There were so few kitbash parts available when I was building in the early 2000's.

I remember his site from the time, though I don't think I purchased anything there (it was a long time ago).

R.I.P.

 

[Rattrap]

Thomas was an incredibly talented, creative mind. Like many, I had some problems with delays, but he always made the product worth the wait. I have both his 1/2500 Miranda and his 1/1400 NX-01, and both are beautiful pieces of work. He'll be sorely missed in the modeling community.

 

[Richard Baker]

He was a friend and one I feel honored to have known- his work was exceptional and he was always ready to help others. Seeing his work in person is astounding- the photos never do them justice.
If you have bought the 1/350 Refit or any of the Art Asylum/Diamond Select ship replicas you own some of his work.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Dear God... Horrible...

John, do you know how old he was?

 

[aridas sofia]

Wow. Very sad to hear this. I have his contact info on my phone as we used to talk on occasion. Weirdly, I saw his name pop up recently and wondered how he was doing. We are all at a defecit for the loss of his expertise and enthusiasm, to be sure.

 

[Forbin]

Don't know how old he was, Jim. I expect "around our age" - somewhere in his late 50s?

I have a couple of boxes of reject resin parts he sent me many years ago for helping him print back-ordered decals. Good fodder for bashing shipwrecks. I must get around to that some day.

 

[Maurice]

While he could be difficult to work with (hence the parting ways with Exeter), he did fine work. Condolences to his family.

Looks like there is a GoFundMe campaign to help his family (link).

 

[USS Intrepid]

I only knew of him from his work, but his talent was readily apparent. Very sorry to hear of his passing.

 

[Richard Baker]

Dear God... Horrible...

John, do you know how old he was?

He was 51.

 

[Kaiser]

RIP Mr. Sasser ;_; o7

Im happy I have a Kitbashed Micro Machine made into a Sasser Class ship

Which Ship Designs did he create? I know Jackill worked with him also I think.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I only know of this one

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

He came out to the Potemkin Studio 1 (carport) sets and gave his advice and provided some graphics, many of which we put into use. I appreciate his help.

 

[Kaiser]

I only know of this one

ahh ok was hoping there was more =(

 

[StarCruiser]

Tom's old site is still around:

http://www.thomasmodels.com/

 

[Forbin]

I think he created the Abbe class. I'm not really sure if he designed it and Jackill came out with the drawings later, or if Jackill designed it first and Thomas came out with the resin conversion kit later.

Pretty sure the Indomitable class was Tom's, though.

 

[publiusr]

Oh No!