Scott's Notes:
- Female astronauts: All customs. They're made from a modified MMM body; I basically shaved some off some of the sides to give them slimmer waists, smoothed that out, and then added the two...prominent features...to the torsos. The heads are first series She-Ra heads, which fit perfectly on the head peg with no modifications at all.
- Capt. Lazer Customs: The green Lazer is actually a Battlestar Galactica 12" Colonial Warrior from the 70's, re-using a modified Lazer mold. Just repainted him. The other 12" is the Cylon from the same line, also using Cap's body. Mattel never let a good mold go to waste..
- Green guys - upper left: Based on the nameless aliens in the Matt Mason puzzle
2020.06.10 Facebook Group Post:
Scott's Notes:
- Do you restore them? I stick new wires in when needed, use different heads in the same scale, and then repaint them. I do have to do a little re-sculpting on the female figures for obvious reasons. 😊 The above use a Jubilee, Black Panther and another Marvel Legends head (I can't recall who I got it from).
2022.04.15 Facebook Group Post:
A new astronaut for Major Matt Mason's Mars crew: Ernst Dietrich, rocketry expert.
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| Ernst Dietrich - Rocketry Expert |
2022.04.25 Facebook Group Post:
Haven’t posted an updated pic of my Matt Mason stuff in a while. A few notes: All four of the original astronauts, Callisto, Capt. Lazer and Scorpio are the actual figures I played with as a kid. The astronauts and Callisto have been cleaned up, rewired where needed, and repainted. Scorpio has replacements for his arm and shin guards. Lazer has a few touch ups to the silver and hair paint, and one space shoe had to be replaced because my dog chewed on it back in the day. All the translucent Capt. Lazer parts are repros. A lot of the other things are originals, as well. The Unitread and bubble, Star Seeker, Power Limbs, many of the space sleds and cat tracs, space shelter pack, and most of the space station are all things I played with as a kid. The rest I’ve built up over the years. Wound up with a couple pieces from the Sea Devils line along the way, so adapted them into Matt’s world.
The custom figures utilize heads from New Adventures of He-Man, She-Ra, Demolition Man, Toy Biz Marvels, and other lines in the same scale. There are a few Leadworks figures with new heads mixed in, but the vast majority are built on actual Matt bodies (I get the beat up figures with broken wires since I’m going to change them up anyway. And they’re cheaper). All the female figures do have re-sculpted torsos. The little figure of Or is something I picked up off eBay a couple years back. The two very 50’s-60’s green aliens are based on the MMM puzzle; I was always disappointed they never made figures of them in the line. Also, the setting is very red because this is the Mars mission, years after the moon mission of the original line (thus Matt’s gray at the temples).
Side note: Extremely eagle-eyed folks might be able to make out that Doug Davis is in red, and Sgt. Storm is in yellow. That isn’t a mistake; I always like the red suit more, and Doug was my favorite astronaut, so I switched heads with Storm as a kid. I decided I still like it better that way, so I continued the tradition here. Second side note: Looking at the pics, I see Mars needs some dusting…
2024.04.26 Facebook Group Post:
Two new additions. Ricardo Suarez, cartographer and planetary survival specialist. Based his suit colors on one of the Leadworks figures. He’s carrying my original space shelter pack. Also, Krruello, dictator wannabe from Callisto’s home world. He’s got a re-sculpted chest and boot tops, as well as glow-in-the-dark eyes and head veins.
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| Ricardo Suarez - uses Marvel Legends Hawkeye head |
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| Krruello the Alien |
2024.04.26 Facebook Group Post:
Fixed up an old figure, Mathew Mason, Jr. I originally used my original Matt Mason head (the one from the first batches made, slightly smaller, rounder and younger looking than the more common head). Problem is, he had a noticeable chunk out of his nose, so I replaced the head with a repainted regular Matt head. Thing is, I liked the younger look of the early Matt. I did come across another original head a while back when getting a beat up figure for custom fodder, but thought that had the same problem. Recently, though, I was digging through my Matt fodder and took a real close look. I cleaned the head off with both soapy water and a little Testor’s liquid cement, and discovered the nose was fine, just had some hard to remove dirt. So a quick repaint, and I’ve got the Matt, Jr., I really wanted back.
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| Mathew Mason, Jr. |
Scott's Notes:
- Did you do a repaint on MMM or Leadworks, if repaint what kind? It's an original MMM head and figure; I get broken figures with peeled paint and fix them up. I just use regular acrylic paint from Walmart, and then coat the non-black parts with clear nail polish (that's why a lot of the suit is shiny). There are better ways to coat and protect the figures these days, but I wasn't using them back when I started making these back in the 90's. I don't want to go back and re-do all the old figures, so I keep doing it the same way so they all match.
2024.05.06 Facebook Group Post:
A new alien challenge: the Ancient Astronaut. Got the idea from a pic of an early pressure suit for high altitudes.
2024.05.08 Facebook Group Post:
A couple more additions to the Matt Mason mission. UN Liason Aetes Shaaban and an astronaut taken over by a new alien creature, Vampyropoda Ares. Had Aetes done for a few days, but had to wait for repro helmet visors to arrive to finish him.
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| UN Liason Aetes Shaaban |
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| Astronaut infected by Vampyropoda Ares |
2024.05.13 Facebook Group Post:
I had a moon suit without arms and in pretty bad shape, so decided to fix it up as a fixer upper and make a space mechanic to go with it. His welder is a piece of bent wire with a tube of paper around it and a couple scrapbooking jewels stuck on for buttons, then painted. The visor is poster board, a couple scrapbooking plastic dots, and a piece cut out of a translucent plastic notebook folder.
Scott's Notes:
- What paint did you use? I just use acrylic paint from Walmart. I coat it with clear nail polish (mainly because it's all I really had available way back when I started making these, and I want the newer ones to match). A matte clear coat like Testors does seem to work to protect them, though. Just have to be careful moving them, as they are rubber and a bit pliable, so the paint can crack if too much stress is put on it. I do take the time to peel off all the old paint first, though, as it's thick enough that any chips in it do show through any new coats.
2024.05.23 Facebook Group Post:
Eric Swiftwater, transport specialist. Using a Marvel Legends head beneath the helmet, and trying to get a little creative with the visors as the repros are expensive.😁 He's riding a refurbished Billy Blastoff vehicle with a space sled handle attached and an added seat.
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| Eric Swiftwater, transport specialist 1 |
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| Eric Swiftwater, transport specialist 2 |
2024.05.24 Facebook Group Post:
A ghostly astronaut haunts Matt and his crew. Used a spare head from an old Pirates of the Caribbean model for the skull. The lighter parts are glow-in-the-dark, as are his eyes. Well, the empty sockets where his eyes should be...
2024.05.27 Facebook Group Post:
Xydia'a, alien member of the Matt Mason Team who can breathe in Mars atmosphere (so I don't need a helmet or expensive replica visor). A She-Ra head re-sculpted on a resculpted Matt body.
2024.05.29 Facebook Group Post:
Fred Castille, decontamination specialist. I've been trying to get all my Matt vehicles and accessories out on more prominent display; the decontamination pack was just sitting on the second level of the space station, but now it has a user. The replacement tubing I got off eBay came in after I took the pic, so he does have a hose twixt the gun and tanks now.
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| Fred Castille, decontamination specialist |
Scott's Notes:
- What paint and prep did you use for the suit and joints? Stuck some new wires in for a few broken joints, then just used some Apple Barrel paints from Walmart. I usually do some primer coats with Country Gray (light color but decent coverage) before brushing on the main color. I usually don't paint the joints anything but black, but here I did have to touch up the joints once I got him posed. I sprayed him with Testor's Dull Cote and then coated the non-joint areas with clear nail polish (so he matches all the older figures I did that with). Not sure how my method would hold up to a lot of posing, but if the figures are pretty static, it seems to work okay.
- So shiny though. The downside to using the nail polish. But I don't want to go back and re-do all the 30 year old figures with a dull coat now.
2024.05.31 Facebook Group Post:
Mano Kekoa, weapons expert, wearing a special targeting visor to man the Firebolt Space Cannon (and the first time I typed that, it came out "Frieblot." It's Friday). Went with more traditional colors here as I found a close match to the red paint I used on the older red suited figures long ago.
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| Mano Kekoa, weapons expert 1 |
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| Mano Kekoa, weapons expert 2 |
2024.06.03 Facebook Group Post:
Dr. Anatoliy Melnyk, astrobiologist. Another Marvel Legends head and an infra-red visor.
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| Dr. Anatoliy Melnyk, astrobiologist |
2024.06.05 Facebook Group Post:
Briar Fernsby, military strategist. I had a few bodies missing a lower arm, so I pulled out the figure I had in the moon suit and used one of those bodies here; can't even see the arms looking in the windows. Cheated a little by not re-sculpting the body for a female character, but can't see that, either. Head was a slightly damaged She-Ra Frosta, so I decided the damage was a scar and added the eyepatch. The moon suit was fixed up decades ago with some wire, black material, and the gloved hands from a Mego CHiPs figure from the 70's.
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| Briar Fernsby, military strategist |
2024.06.06 Facebook Group Post:
Started taking some individual shots of my MMM figures. Most of these are around 30 years old, maybe more. Lunexus actually has parts that glow in the dark.
2024.06.06 Facebook Group Post:
Some of the alien friends and foes of the crew. Grissom's eyes and veins glow in the dark.
2024.06.07 Facebook Group Post:
Some more of the Matt Mason Marsbase crew:
2024.06.11 Facebook Group Post:
Continuing the roster for Matt's Mars mission:
2024.06.12 Facebook Group Post:
More of Matt's Marsbase crew reporting for duty:
Scott's Notes:
- Where did you find all the different heads? She-Ra, New Adventures of He-Man and Marvel Legends figures, mostly. A lot of 1/12 scale figures have heads that can work, though stuff like Legends heads need some mods that wouldn't really work without a helmet to cover the neck up.
2024.06.14 Facebook Group Post:
More of the Matt Mason crew:
2024.06.14 Facebook Group Post:
More of the alien beings the Matt Mason crew has encountered:
2024.06.20 Facebook Group Post:
A couple new additions to the Mars crew: Gali Yosef, biophysicist and resident psychic. Also, Joe Storm is beside himself as he uncovers an alien shapeshifter, codenamed Infiltraitor.
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