Forty three recast five inch MPC spacemen, likely manufactured in Mexico during the early 1990s. Brought them home for less than a dollar a head, with a sackful of recast equipment for my vintage figures as gravy. Time for our Immersion in the Culture of Collecting moment for those not yet hip to what these are:
The figures were first manufactured c.1963 by a company called Multiple Toymakers (or MPC) and I had two or three as a child. Destroyed by the age of eight and lost to the Sands of Time. MPC manufactured them between 1964 and 1972 or so after which the space toy craze had puttered out. The molds ended up in Mexico and during the early 1990s were utilized by unknown parties to apparently cast several railroad cars full. I re-discoverd the form last spring and began a collection of both vintage figures as well as the Mexican recasts. Which are looked upon with a certain amount of scorn by collectors as they were very cheaply made from the original MPC molds using a horrid plastic which has not aged well. Original examples are still soft & supple, these will crack if dropped onto a cement floor and cause grown men to weep in regret for having wasted their money on them when there's so many vintage figures going around. Just gotta know where to look.
In fact, the vintage five inch MPC spacemen aren't even that hard to find, but the equipment they came with darn near impossible & the figures lacking without it. Or at least that's how I felt about it, and upon realizing the score would provide ample accessories for the eighteen vintage figures I've obtained was sold. If I can paint and sell even a few of the figures at a modest rate it all pays for itself. And if I can sell them all, including as elements in space artworks, I can score a boxed 1962 Marx Toys "Operation Moon Base". Man Alive.
Decent, and there's plenty of helmets to go around. Only six of my vintage figures lacked helmets so, there's more. But the plastic is stiff and brittle, so the oxygen packs will stay with the recast figures as I paint them.
Worked out to forty one figures to paint with at least two examples of the 10 original MPC poses. Two of which I do not have vintage 60s/70s examples of in my collection so two get bagged up with those for the time being. Two smaller spacemen by Crescent Toys at lower left from my man "Finklehop" on e-b4y. He's good.
I picked sixteen figures to start with, all sporting broken guns or tools so I won't be so self-conscious about screwing them up. Utilizing the Golden's metallic Iridescent Acrylic Colors to create foil suits in Sgt. Pepper and Major Tom colors. I'd imagine Major Tom would have wanted a nice day glow lemony green space suit. Something "trippy", maybe shimmering under the lights.
Also: Acrylics are not the right material to be painting on plastic with but it's what we have in the house. And it's time to make art out of this stuff so, away we go.
Ogle shelf time. I'm looking at the vintage packaging for ideas on how to present the painted figures. And just looking at it. Some of it has survived even longer than I have, so far. It's re-assuring.
Sadly the red did not make the cut. The metallic shades have little microscopic bits of reflective stuff which seem to bond well with the surface of the figures, cast in the kind of plastic used to make filing cabinets or waste baskets for sale at less than reputable dollar stores. So using acrylic paints is trying to use petroleum on petroleum and it either slips right off or scratches if sneezed on.
The metallics also scratch super easy, so a can of spray acrylic clear coat is incoming, both to help preserve the metallic foil suits which worked and to hopefully give some flexibility on using primary colors like those above. Rubber suited goons from a James Bond movie, or DEVO.
Space Pyramid in progress, with the picture being all that remains of the rubber red goon suit color.
My rule is that if just stacking them into their box overnight scratches the surface they get re-done. Soak in warm water for ten minutes and it lifts right off with a dish scrubber.
Step three is crafting bits of moon terrain on the topside of their bases using Golden's miraculous Crackle Paste compound. Does exactly that, and if applied correctly with just the right staining & a surface coat layer of Clear Tar Gel will look like they are standing on (and in) the surface of an alien world.
The green didn't survive either. And as a testimony to how well the metallics adhere to the filing cabinet plastic the figures are cast in, applying the crackle paste to their bases results in it just sliding off when dry. Here its adhering nicely to a primer layer of Iridescent Copper Light fluid acrylic. Also using an Iridescent Silver (Fine) which is full body.
Looks like a kick line rehearsing the big "Planetoid" scene from ALIEN: THE MUSICAL.
Working with mom, who is a badass artist in her own right. The painting is all taking place up in her dining room as it has the best natural daylight in the house. Certainly better than my Lunar Module down in my dad's basement which has all the charm of the Nostromo's C-deck. I pretend I'm on Skylab, and yesterday marked 31 days since I'd last been at my apartment in Utica. It'll be there, but we agreed that I cannot re-enter the house after interacting with anyone until the pandemic stage is over. Both parents in their 80s. We sit it out and why should I be the only one who gets to have all the fun.
Four which didn't make the grade. Note the flaking on the yellow suits especially.
Bingo. Note how the metallics used to "prime" some of their boots hung on, and all of the crackle paste as well.
ALIEN: THE MUSICAL
"We're on this Planetoid ... following an Alien noise ...
We only gotta walk two clicks ... to get to the Derelict ..."
Kane's solo just before they find the Derelict. Am pleased with how that yellow came out.
Word on a Wing. A Stranger in a Strange Land.
"Please, don't be long."
Two more of the moonscapes in progress, for use both as a giant "backing card" for sets of spacemen and as diorama backdrops in window box structures. Sculpting terrain into which the figure can be removed, played with and replaced is also on my mind.
The Broken Gun Squad, having stared first with the figures which had broken or damaged toos/guns. Blue guy second from bottom left is an example of the "reverse-detailing" method I'm trying, where I prime the figure with a lighter color then leave his oxygen hose and web gear straps alone when painting the body a darker color. Hoping it allows a cleaner result, though in the end they are meant to be painted objects rather than customized toys.
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