Jim Haught, Editor

Jim Haught came to Scale Auto in January 2003 after a stint as an Associate Editor at FineScale Modeler. He joined Kalmbach in May 2002, following two years as a freelance writer/editor and seven years as editor of Model Aviation. Jim built his first car model in 1963. "As a kid, I built many aircraft, spacecraft, and car models," he says, "especially the AMT 3-in-1 kits with the wire-through-the-block axles. I was a big Ed Roth fan, so I always chose the Custom building option." Jim's spare-time activities include many hours following the San Francisco Giants, the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and an inexplicable fascination with his first car, a 1976 Chevy Vega Kammback.

Tom Valenta

Monica Freitag, Editorial Associate

Monica has been a member of the Scale Auto editorial staff since May 2003. She has spent much of her career at Kalmbach Publishing Co. as the Editorial Assistant for FineScale Modeler magazine. Aside from keeping the operations of the magazine office running smoothly, she is also responsible for reporting new products. Monica lives in Milwaukee with her two children and a tuxedo cat named Mitten. She enjoys gardening, reading the Sunday paper (before anyone else is up!), movies, and music.

Jenny Maaske, Editorial Assistant

Jenny joined the Scale Auto editorial staff in July 2007. She graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin with a BA in business communication and public relations with a minor in marketing. Aside from her duties for Scale Auto, Jenny also serves as editorial assistant for Model Retailer. Her interests include photography, volleyball, traveling, and reading.

Carole Ross, Art Director

"I really love working on Scale Auto! I’m amazed at the level of detail that goes into making the models, and I look forward to learning about the different techniques that are featured in each issue," says Carole.

During the 12 years that she's been employed at Kalmbach Publishing Co., Carole has had the pleasure of art directing many different publications, including Scale Auto, Astronomy, Art Jewelry, Bead&Button, Model Retailer, BeadStyle, and BirdWatching. Previously in her career, she worked at a children's book publisher, several graphic design studios, a non-profit organization, and taught graphic design to college students.

Carole lives with her husband, Ed, who is an architect, dogs Daisy and Charlie, and a cat named Midgy. Her other interests include decorating her 1961 "Super-ranch" in authentic 1960s style, gardening, playing cards, going to the movies, eating out, traveling, shopping, and hanging out with friends.

Jay Smith, Graphic Designer

Before joining the Scale Auto team in September of 2002 as an illustrator, Jay attended Milwaukee Area Technical College and graduated with a degree in 1978. He freelanced for over 22 years in the Milwaukee area until joining Kalmbach Publishing Co. He has serviced national and international clients, illustrating everything from ties for Ralph Marlin to medical diagrams for textbooks. Jay lives in a suburb of Milwaukee with his wife Debra and their two cats Crucie and Burkely and enjoys hosting dinner parties, watching movies, taking motorcycle trips, running and scuba diving.

Terry Thompson, Publisher

Terry has been a modeler for as long as he can remember and has built model cars, trains, tanks, and even a few airplanes. He's also an avid auto enthusiast and occasional drag racer who enjoys working on his 1986 Buick Regal T-Type. Before joining Kalmbach Publishing in 1996, he studied and taught at The Ohio State University, and he's a native of the Cleveland area.