Vintage MPC Rockets?

I can't seem to find a more appropriate place to post this question. I was wondering why there doesn't seem to be a Photo& Video tips gallery for MPC? It might be logical to include this under Quest, as Quest inherited some of their parts, molds, and tooling, but apparently a new company has inherited the MPC name and is making rockets again.

I can't imagine it's that they're too unimportant, though they're admittedly obscure and little known now. But MPC was the first company to put model rockets in non-hobby stores in a big way, and they were as big a part of my early days in rocketry as Estes and Centuri were, simply because they were easier for this then-country-boy to buy.

As a young, inexperienced, and impatient builder, I liked the plastic fin units, transitions, and cones. I also loved the tree of plastic accessory parts that came with some kits, allowing you to customize models with thruster quads, booster rockets (launch lugs with plastic nose cones and rear bulkheads with rocket nozzles, antennas and other stuff. I must have built half a dozen of them before they went away. I also had the infamous MPC Vostok plastic conversion kit (which, probably fortunately, from other reports, I did not try to fly), and the similar Titan 3. The Titan was a great flyer for me, though I was constantly gluing the fins back on, and I had trouble with chutes opening because of the small parachute compartment (which probably also contributed to the broken fin problem). I finally scratch built a Centaur upper stage for it to serve as a larger parachute compartment. It was semi-scale at best, because it was based only on my memory of a newspaper photo of the Viking launch, but it didn't look bad (used a conventional spiral tube, a paper lower transition, and a nose cone made by rounding the top of a balsa transition by hand) and certainly improved the reliability of the rocket.

I had far poorer luck with their motors, which catoed and were hard to light (in retrospect, I'm thinking my batch had some extra nozzle clay that kept the BP from being exposed to the igniter). I've never heard of other old-timers having motor problems with MPC, so it may just have been a bad batch and luck of the draw.

Sadly, I don't have any photos of my old models and while I think I have a few parts around somewhere, none of the models survived intact. If anyone out there has any MPC photos or literature, I'd love to see it.

Here's a few pictures of my MPC models.



(L-R: Martian Patrol, Nike Patriot)

Where to start...

First there was Model Rocket Industries. They were later bought by Model Products Corp. out of Michigan to add model rockets to their plastic model offerings. That was where all of the plastic fins, nose cones, and transitions came from, along with the plastic flying (if you can call it that) Vostok and Titan IIIC kits (I have one of each kits that are open). G. Harry Stine was a consultant, designer, and cheerleader for MPC. MPC had 18mm motors and introduced the 13mm Minijets that were slightly longer than the Estes Minibrutes. BTW, MPC got out of modrocs and is bring a few back including the Vostock and Titan, although I am not sure in a flying form. Myke Berzenske bought out MPC's interest in modrocs and opened AVI (Aerospace Vehicles Inc.). AVI sold the existing stock from MPC and their own products. They had a large assortment of motors that were expensive and of limited availabilty. Anyway, AVI faded away and Bill Stine of Quest got some of the products and molds etc.
Some of the old MPC kits, like pictured in Bob's pics above are available through Uncle Mikes Rocket Shack. Also see ninfinger.org for some old catalogs. Some of the above history may be off a bit, just going from memory. I am sure any inaccuracy with be corrected by others...
I have an unopen MRI Zenith II kit, the MPC version of the Zenith II kit, and the Quest version of the Zenith II.

Chas

My first rocket was the MPC Moon Go, and I have a pic of either my first (or one of the first) rocket launch with it.

Since I was familiar with building plastic models, it wasn't a stretch at all for me to build it.

Just in case you haven't seen this link:

https://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc.htm

BTW, I've toyed with the idea of building an upscale Moon Go.

Greg

Thanks for the rundown, Chas. Wow, the MPC lineage is even more convoluted than I knew.

I'm a little confused about the potential re-release of the Vostok and Titan III. Is this a historical report, or a thing that is happening? I'm not sure the Vostok could ever be a practical flying rocket as it stands, but I'd love to have another Titan III.

Thanks for the oldrocketplans link, Greg. I think I'd seen those before, but had forgotten they were there.

I first tried model rockets around 1966 or 67. A Centuri Lil' Herc. But I didn't glue fins on and when it went skittering unstable up the street, that was it.

Later, I found the Handbook of Model Rocketry in the school library, the interest was there and I understood why fins were needed. But I did not try again until MPC rockets were in Kmart in early 1970.

My first try, a Moon Go. 3-2-1, misfire, the tape that came with the ignitor let go and could not be reused. So, I used scotch tape and tried again. 3-2-1, ignition we have ignition of the scotch tape, with a nice bright flame. And then a second ignition, of one of the plastic fins! And then the body tube caught fire….

I threw a rock at it and knocked it over, and put it out.

Then, a week or so later, I finally had my first good flight. I think it was a MPC Viper. I also got a Pioneer-1 and later another Moon Go, plus other MPC kits. For a long time, I used an MPC pad and launch control.

When Ares-1X was rolled out, it made me think of…. something. So, I produced the following in Photoshop.

- George Gassaway

I've been picking up the odd MPC kit when the price is right. The Flare Patriot (https://www.rocketreviews.com/bill-eichelbergers-flare-patriot.html) and Icarus C (https://www.rocketreviews.com/bill-eichelbergers-oop---mpc-icarus-c.html) were among the first. I was excited about them when I bought them, but the boxes looked to have been stored under a stack of cement blocks. I remember detailing the repair of one of the nose cones a few years ago. It had been crushed so bad the tip had to be rebuilt. Next was the Nike Patriot (https://www.rocketreviews.com/bill-eichelbergers-oop---mpc---nike-patriot.html) which is a pretty decent flier on the small field that I use most. It was initially flown as unpainted, but the tubes were badly yellowed and it looked a little grim, so I decided to paint it. That was almost ten years ago. Soon. I promise. I also picked up a Lunar Patrol and Tomahawk that I've yet to build, a finished Zenith 2 Payloader (https://www.rocketreviews.com/mpc---zenith-2-payloader-6345.html) and a Lambda Payloader that I'm hoping to finish this weekend. Today in the mail I received a G.T.S. 1, one of the new "vintage" MPC kits that litter Ebay. Vintage is a misnomer, to be sure. Nothing about these suggests vintage MPC at all, but it looks like it could be a decent bird for B6-4 Field when it's finished. Fit and finish are okay so far.

I went through dozens, literally, of MPC kits back in the day. Almost everything they made, at one time or another. They were the first kits available retail in my area; I remember building a Redstone-looking thing in 1971.

In '76 I won an AVI design contest, and got a $50 merchandise certificate. I bought a lot of MPC and vintage MRI kits. I still have a couple: A Moon Go and a . . . I think it was the "Pegasus." A "here are a bunch of parts, build some rockets from them" kind of kit.

I'd like to refurbish the Moon Go.

I bought some in-the-box MPC kits a couple of years back. A Lunar Patrol, two Pegasuses, a Nike Patriot, and one other that escapes me at the moment. I plan on giving these "catalog" paint jobs and flying them sparingly.

Vostok reissue will not be flying.

https://www.round2models.com/models/mpc/vostok-rocket

Ditto the Titan IIIC
https://www.round2models.com/models/mpc/titan-rocket

MPC was the first model rocket company to have products sold through a major store chain (K-Mart).

The product packaging was in shrink-wrap boxes designed to sit on store shelves. This was a major requirement for getting the product into a mass-merchandiser.

K-Mart bought a lot of MPC product, pallet-loads. The 'Space Race' was still in the news around 1970-71 so sales would be good and margin/profit also good.

However, the selling of product to K-Mart brought about the downfall of MPC.

Back in this time, there was not an widespread acceptance of a 'national' model rocket codes for governments. NFPA-41 existed at the time but it was not until later that NFPA-1122 came about and was adopted by many municipalities.

What this meant at the time for K-Mart was that the MPC rocket motors may be legal in one city/county/town but not in one next door to it. Every city had it's own fire regulations.
Several K-Mart stores received fines and had MPC product seized by local authorities.
K-Mart could not spend time to determine the legal status of model rockety in every location where they had a store.
In the end, K-Mart decided to just return all the unsold product back to MPC for a refund. It was a huge amount as MPC sold more rocket product that year than Estes or Centuri.
MPC took a bath financially and had all this product made for K-Mart sitting in warehouses.
It was decided to close down the model rocket divison and sell off the remaining inventory.

I was told this information either by G. Harry or Bill Stine many years ago.

for those of you who do facebook...there is an MRI/AVI memories page on there (there is also a fun FSI page as well)

As pointed out, MRI was the forerunner. Here is what one of their starter kits looked like complete.

Only contact with MPC for me was the smoke generator motors. I built a couple of 3-in-a-row clusters just for the smokers. I used 2 launchers and light 1 smoker just befor eigniting the main miotor and the 2nd smoker with thermalite fuse, lighting that off the main motor exhaust. I could only use a C6-3 it was so heavy at lift-off but it sure put out a smokey trail

...I seem to remember getting them at KMart and I got a lot of them, a clearance might have been involved...

from the Facebook MRI/MPC/AVI page

dave carver said:

Only contact with MPC for me was the smoke generator motors. I built a couple of 3-in-a-row clusters just for the smokers. I used 2 launchers and light 1 smoker just befor eigniting the main miotor and the 2nd smoker with thermalite fuse, lighting that off the main motor exhaust. I could only use a C6-3 it was so heavy at lift-off but it sure put out a smokey trail

...I seem to remember getting them at KMart and I got a lot of them, a clearance might have been involved...

Click to expand...

I think you are confusing MPC and MRC (Model Rectifier Corporation). MRC was responsible for those little smoke- generator motors.

NikeRam said:

As pointed out, MRI was the forerunner. Here is what one of their starter kits looked like complete.

View attachment 161397

Click to expand...

Wow, that's a real rarity! A unique launch pad and launch system, no doubt.

Any chance of getting a scan of the instruction booklet?

NikeRam said:

As pointed out, MRI was the forerunner. Here is what one of their starter kits looked like complete.

View attachment 161397

Click to expand...

Now that is cool.

dave carver said:

Only contact with MPC for me was the smoke generator motors.

Click to expand...

You are thinking of MRC (Model Rectifier Corp), not MPC (Model Products Corp). They existed about twenty years apart, but both had a Stine working for them. G. Harry for MPC, Bill for MRC.

StefanJ said:

I think you are confusing MPC and MRC (Model Rectifier Corporation). MRC was responsible for those little smoke- generator motors.

Click to expand...

Correct.

Here's a picture of one of the MRC FX smoke generators.



I still have a factory package of these somewhere in my collection.

We tested one of these FX 'motors' on the thrust stand when I worked at AeroTech. We're still waiting for any sort of thrust/impulse to be displayed. :wink:

Here they are Bob... I stole yours while you were out of town :grin:

I am amazed there is this much interest in the old MRI stuff. My attempt to sell off some of my older Estes BP motors did not go well so I am surprised by the interest.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?60049-Estes-13-amp-18-mm-BP-motor-collection-CANCELLED

@ StefanJ - - yes I can scan in the instructions. It may take a few weeks to complete.

@ Initiator001 - - thanks.

If someone is sufficiently deep as a collector, I can put one of the MRI starter kits up for sale; I have 2 of them currently in storage. Anyone who is interested please let me know.

I have been wanting to shoot some up close photos of much of my collection, motors, kits, etc. and post to the photo gallery, but have not had time yet.

Finished construction this weekend on three MPC kits, the vintage Lambda Payloader and Tomahawk, and the "vintage" G.T.S. 1. The Lambda Payloader was odd in that it called for the motor tube to have an engine hook and motor block to be installed, then slid into the body tube. I saw this and figured I was in for some problems. I figured right. I decided to do a test fit, which was a mistake. It caught and held halfway in, and nothing I could do would get it out. Instead I put the bottom of the motor tube against a flat surface and put it the rest of the way in. A thin scrim of glue is all that currently holds it in place on the aft end, but I'm planning to get a fillet around the top edge of the engine tube/block later today. For a change I went with the enclosed shock cord mount on this one and the Tomahawk, albeit with at 2-foot length of Kevlar to go with the cheesy foot long piece of elastic.
The Tomahawk had an oddity of its own. The 18mm motor tube was only about 1.5 inches long. A motor hook was installed with an engine block, which was then glued into the top oif the plastic fin can using gel CA. When dried it was glued into the bottom of the main body tube. Half of the length of the motor is held in place by the fairly fragile engine hook with a naked plastic fin can. Interesting, but it seems like it should work. Not so sure how the plastic will hold up to the heat of a motor casing, but we'll see when B6-4 Field resurfaces.
Lastly, the G.T.S. 1 was a surprisingly good build. I think I've seen these for sale at $16.99, which seems like an awful lot for what you get. I paid $7.99, which seems more in line with what you get. It seems sturdy, although how well the engine tube holds up will be interesting. It seems like an afterthought. I went with the enclosed Estes-style shock cord mount with a much longer piece of sewing elastic, sanding the inside of the body tube to give the glue something to grip on. I think if there is a potential failure point in this kit, this will be it. The inside of the tube feels very slick, even after the sanding.

And while I'm here, a question. A while back I bought an MPC Taurus 1 from an online vendor. I didn't open it immediately, but eventually got around to it this past summer. The main body tube is pretty badly mangled right in the middle of its length. I'd like to replace it and build the kit, but I have no idea what the i.d. or o.d. of the tube is. I've seen suggestions for other MPC kits as to alternate tubes. Does anyone know of a match for the Taurus 1?

StefanJ said:

I think you are confusing MPC and MRC (Model Rectifier Corporation). MRC was responsible for those little smoke- generator motors.

Click to expand...

...it was a very long time ago...I plead brain fade...

NikeRam said:

I am amazed there is this much interest in the old MRI stuff. My attempt to sell off some of my older Estes BP motors did not go well so I am surprised by the interest.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?60049-Estes-13-amp-18-mm-BP-motor-collection-CANCELLED

@ StefanJ - - yes I can scan in the instructions. It may take a few weeks to complete.

@ Initiator001 - - thanks.

If someone is sufficiently deep as a collector, I can put one of the MRI starter kits up for sale; I have 2 of them currently in storage. Anyone who is interested please let me know.

I have been wanting to shoot some up close photos of much of my collection, motors, kits, etc. and post to the photo gallery, but have not had time yet.

Click to expand...

I would have bought many of the motors you had for sale but it's a long drive from Boise to LA. I hope you didn't dispose of the motors. Put them back up for sale, it might take some time but I bet they sell...eventually. As it is it costs nothing to list them here and you never know, fyrwrxz just might make the drive from SD to get them

Fishhead said:

And while I'm here, a question. A while back I bought an MPC Taurus 1 from an online vendor. I didn't open it immediately, but eventually got around to it this past summer. The main body tube is pretty badly mangled right in the middle of its length. I'd like to replace it and build the kit, but I have no idea what the i.d. or o.d. of the tube is. I've seen suggestions for other MPC kits as to alternate tubes. Does anyone know of a match for the Taurus 1?

Click to expand...

MPC used the metric sized tubes, so a Quest T-15 should do the trick.

I concur with John that Quest is the way to go for the replacement tube. I am sure they have things you can use to round out an order. Unless you can find someone selling the MPC parts assortment that was offered way back then. I only have one in my collection. I do have three original T-15 tubes. Must be original, I wrote "t15" on them all those years ago to differentiate them from the CMR tubing! At NARAM-48, Bill Stine put out a ton of Quest parts for the participants to use to make a model to fly. I will go through the pieces I kept to see if I have any of the tubing. I donated a bunch of it to the Dallas section.

Chas

So, what vendors currently have old MPC stock?

Totally Tubular *might* have an equivalent tube.

I'm not sure if they are still around, though.

NikeRam said:

@ StefanJ - - yes I can scan in the instructions. It may take a few weeks to complete.

Click to expand...

Scans of docs and pictures of the equipment would be cool! No rush; we've waited forty years already, right?

I still have dreams -- literal dreams -- of stumbling into an old hobby shop with old kits and starter sets; a shop with a senile owner who doesn't know what he's got.

I scanned in some MRI kit instructions; they and others are available on the Ye Olde Rocket site:

https://www.oldrocketplans.com/mri.htm