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     Rocketry Product: MPC - Lunar Patrol {Kit} (R-215) [1969-1978]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol Clone Part 1 (2017-03-15)
    Way back in 1974, during the fledgling days of my model rocket career, I placed an order with Model Products Corporation for some rocket kits and engines. The order included the Fl ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 2 (2017-03-15)
    To start off this build, I must get ahold of a set of Lunar Patrol plans.  Since there is a proliferation of this sort of thing on the Wonderful World Wide Web, this part of the build was ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 3 (2017-03-17)
    Welcome to the Lunar Patrol build, part 3. While the booster fins are undergoing the grain filling and sanding exercises, it's time to begin work on the gliders. The wings and rudders are traced from ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 4 (2017-03-26)
    Construction is still progressing on the Lunar Patrol… Glider wings and rudders are now glued into place and light fillets applied. The two ’V’ fin assemblies are now filled/finish sanded and ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 5 (2017-04-07)
    Today's post covers some progress on three different sections of the model. 1. Gliders - The wing elevators have now been attached to give the gliders a little negative incidence.  As soon ... [Read More]

    Model Rocket Building: PML Lunar Express Build, Part 7, Fin Slot Fill (2017-04-09)
    The two smaller, opposing fin slots were cut just a bit long. This will need some sort of fill. Epoxy would drip and run into the slot and might take three or four runny applications to fill it. ... [Read More]

    Model Rocket Building: PML Lunar Express Build, Part 11, Launch Lugs (2017-04-11)
    There are two 1/4" diameter brass launch lugs on the model. They are set on the bottom, side by side. Both lug ends are pre-cut at a 45 degree angle. Straight pencil lines were made using my ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 6 (2017-05-12)
    Today, I finally had some time to resume work on the Lunar Patrol.  The balsa stock for the glider nose cones has been mounted on the lathe for a few weeks now, while I have been engaged in ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 8 - Glider Pylons (2017-08-24)
    After a long hiatus, I’m finally back on track to realize completion of the Lunar Patrol. The pylon/standoff pieces and dowel pins that attach the gliders to the booster pods are the next items on ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 9, Booster Assembled (2017-09-06)
    It's back to the workbench to plug away at the Lunar Patrol Build. For starters, I procured Mrs. BlastFromThePast's hair drier to attempt a fix for the body tube warping mentioned a few posts back. ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol : Part 10 (2017-10-10)
    It's back to the bench for some more progress on the LP.    The glider nose cones are now equipped with pylons and attachment pins, and have been through the filling and sanding process. ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 11 (2017-11-29)
    Finally..(cough, cough)    .... all of that filling, priming, and (hack, hack) sanding is done on this bird !! Ready to start on painting and detailing.  I might actually have ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol: Part 12 - Let The Painting Begin ! (2017-11-30)
    The first task in getting the LP finished is painting the interiors of the booster pods and glider fuselage tubes.  I went with some matte black acrylic for this part. Back in my 'old fleet' ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: No Resolutions! (2018-01-15)
    I never make New Year's Resolutions. I don't ever keep them, so I never waste time making them. Instead, I tend to make detailed plans, lists, and schedules to outline progress on my ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: No Resoultions: Part 2 (2018-01-16)
    I spent part of last night outlining my upcoming 4-month project agenda, and even gathering the parts kits for some of them; 1.  MPC Lunar Patrol - I started this one in 2016, and it's going ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: Busy Weekend In The BlastFromThePast Rocket Laboratory (2018-03-26)
    Greetings, Blog Followers This past weekend I finally was given a substantial block of time to get into the shop and actually work on some rocketry projects. First item on the agenda was to drive up ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol: Part 13 - An Engine Hook Retro-Fit. (2018-04-04)
    The build of this version of the Lunar Patrol was originally intended to employ friction fitting of the engine for flight. Since the model is not an exact replica of the original kit, I had mulled ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol: Part 13 - Booster Rocket Painting Completed (2018-05-14)
    Saturday, May 12th ..... I finally found some time to get paint applied to a few rocket builds, the Lunar Patrol being one of them. The model was masked for a simple two-color scheme of white for ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 14 - Booster Decals (2018-05-16)
    The home-print MPC decals are now ready to be applied to the Lunar Patrol Booster rocket. I am using a brand of clear decal stock for ink jet printers purchased at HobbyTown.  The decals used ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 16 - Painting The Gliders (2018-06-18)
    I'm getting much closer to finally getting this project wrapped up.  On Friday, June 15, I was able to get the gliders outside to shoot the red and black trim colors. The following photo shows ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 17 - Glider Decals (2018-06-21)
    Last night, I spent the evening applying decals to the Lunar Patrol gliders.  The decals are all home-print, consisting of left-overs from the MPC sheet as well as a few custom number and ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 18 - The Final Decals (2018-07-05)
    This morning, I was up at 4 a.m. merrily affixing the final decal to one of the gliders.  This is a remake of the same decal I hopelessly muffed up on a week ago, and had to discard.  This ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 19 - A Near Disaster! (2018-07-09)
    In the two years since I became a BAR, every single rocket that has been added to the BlastFromThePast fleet has had some kind of small imperfection or problem.  I try to be as careful as I ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 20 - Glide Trimming (2018-07-11)
    The final process of the Lunar Patrol build is to trim the gliders for flight. The noses have been left unglued to the body tubes to facilitate this. For trim weight, I am going with a ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: BAR Fleet #113 - Lunar Patrol 3 (2018-07-12)
    Yup, Folks, Here it is.... 21 blog posts and nearly a year and a half in the making.... Model Info and Specs Lunar Patrol 3 Based on the Model Products Corp. Lunar Patrol, Kit # R-215 Original ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: An Interesting Lunar Patrol Photo Sequence ! (2018-10-26)
    While I was pulling a still frame out of the Lunar Patrol flight video I took on my Android phone last Sunday, October 21st, I noticed something very unusual - At ignition, the starter plug struck ... [Read More]

    Blast From The Past: Back In The Day, Part 34 - The Ru-Jan Demos. (2020-10-27)
     The Rocky Mountain Association of Rocketry/Skywatchers Rocket Club of Colorado Springs was featured in a series of annual Spring demonstration launches that spanned the group's entire eleven ... [Read More]