"MPC Astronauts — Suitable Rover?" Topic

I've decided to gear up for Black Site Studios' game Lunar, and go full retro with 2" MPC figures (aka More Plastic Cosmonauts).

Does anyone recall if they had a Lunar Rover that the seated figures could actually sit in? I've seen a number of toy LRVs on EBay, but having a bit of trouble sorting out the possible seating. The pose of the figure is spread pretty wide, more suitable for riding in an El Dorado than any space buggy.

There's a Doran toy that looks to be ~1/48, probably small for 1/35 figure even if it was scrunched in better. There's a Dinky Toy at ~4.5" long which would put it about 1/27, but the seating might work.

Marx/Marx recast makes astronauts. I don't know if they ever made a rover or not.

There is an MPC lunar rover. I watched a couple on eBay years ago and broken ones went for good money. I haven't checked since and have never seen one in person.

I should have added that there are nice 1/35-ish lunar rovers that were sold within the last decade with space figures. Might want to look under the Billy V brand name.

I would suggest scratch-building them. It is not terribly difficult if you use chipboard, or 2mm thick pressed cardboard: cuts with an X-actor/razor knife; takes spray primer paint, superbly; can be glued with inexpensive School White Glue (very low quality PVA Glue) -- use it sparingly, and it will dry within minutes.

If you want it to be stronger, more flexible, less likely to come apart, and to last decades (School Glue is not archival quality, so the paper fibers may yellow and become brittle over time), use pH Neutral PVA Glue intended for book binding. Be aware that this glue, once fully cured, will remain tacky, very tacky -- and flexible and non-brittle (School Glue dries hard, and brittle), so it must be painted (acrylics are your best bet). Cheers!

auction

For anyone else who might wander by this thread in the future — I did find a 1/35 4D Puzzle Model listed on EBay for a decent price.

But then I made my saving throw and realised that the Apollonian lander would be too 70s futuristic for my project — I'm really settling in to a retro SF image of the late 60s as envisioned c.1963.

While the Amphicat would technically be perfect as the buggy of the Banana Splits in 1968, Space 1999 has set it in everybody's head canon that it is more futuristic than that.

Did find a pair of ATVs that just arrived: a 6-wheeled Buddy L toy and a 4-wheeled Dinky Toy. The Dinky rides high, but the lower chassis is plastic and can be cut down and the wheels extended out to the side. Both of these match the MPC astronauts just fine. Although as usual with many model vehicles, I'll have to adjust the seated drivers legs to fit, and possibly need to do footectomies.

Hey, looking forward to seeing photos! Sounds like a fun conversion. Cheers!