Frank May's Mobile Lunar Lab Custom

Frank's Mobile Lunar Lab

Submitted 2007.04.16 by Frank May

One of my favorite vehicles of the little Golden Astronaut toy line is the Mobile HQ. I can still remember getting my first one as a kid. Anyway, I couple of years ago I started this on again-off again project & finished it yesterday. The Major & crew didn't need a mobile HQ & since there really were several proposals for MOLABs, as they were shortened to, I figured they could use one. Hope you enjoy the pics.

John's Notes

The Triang Mobile HQ/Mobile Moon Headquarters from Paul's site

Image above, the two variations of the Triang Mobile H.Q. (original UK release) known as the Mobile Moon Headquarters in the Golden Astronaut line issued in the US. The toy is just shy of 4 inches in length and the inspiration of Frank's build. More info may be found on Paul Vreede's excellent Triang Space X Toys site.

Frank's Mobile Lunar Lab with MMM figure for scale (also an original for comparison)

More from Frank

Now I'll give you some details on its construction. The body is made from 6" plastic tubing with a 6" plastic dome for the front (it was left over from one of my Space Tanks, an ill-fated attempt at tinting it blue). The back end is another dome, convex I think they call it. The radar dish on top is a 6" elliptical (I think) dome attached to PVC pipe fixtures. The whatever dish on the front is a 3 1/2" dome. The cockpit cover is another dome, tinted using a model spray paint from WalMart, Kandy Cobalt Blue. All the tubing & domes are from Plastruct. 

The fenders are aluminum angle, the rocket pod on the back is cut from a GI Joe Mercury Capsule, (a now defunct MMM Gemini Capsule project). The tracks are from a Hasbro GI Joe Iron Knight tank (Space Tanks), shortened, & the rollers are 3 1/2" V-belt pulleys (I needed 4", but the price was right on these). The chassis is made from wood.

The figure just stands in there. It's a piece of tubing with a floor. I put some stickers inside for a little detailing. There's another vehicle in the works. If things go well, I may finish it in the next few weeks. Sorry, it's classified at the time. ;) I'm pasting the construction details below. No build photos.

You can write Frank about his amazing custom here, but please note that he built the Space Rover for his personal collection, and doesn't intend to offer any for sale.

All Mattel images and captions are copyright Mattel and used without permission. All other content, including images and editorial, is Copyright © 1997-2023 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton.