UFO featured a couple of updated designs from previous Gerry Anderson television shows. There was the Shado Mobile that was adapted from the Joe 90 Explosives Truck, and then the Moon Mobile which came from the somewhat crazy, but memorable, bouncing Moon Hopper in Captain Scarlet.

I have always liked designs that feature spheres and also intricate framework so I have built a few Moon Mobiles over the years starting in my youth with the usual modified ping-pong ball models.

These latest versions are built to the same size as the main studio models that were around 17 inches.

I started the project with four 6-inch hemispheres, from EMA Supplies, and a bit of leftover plastic waste pipe from my XL5 scratchbuild.

The pipe wasn't quite wide enough so I split it and put two Plasticard disc's inside to increase its diameter.

The hemispheres were glued to the tube; screws embedded in the smooth domes (above) gave the glue something to hang onto.

Here I had begun to cut out the window areas but this was wrong, and they had to be filled in, as this master was going to be copied in fibreglass and it was easier to cut the windows out of the final casting.

After the basic round shapes the rest of the hull is made up of flat areas made here in plastic sheeting. As I was going to mould it in two halves I had to ensure that the two lower sections (which were removed and cast separately) and the two side extensions were made with perfectly parallel sides - if the outer ends were even slightly wider the plaster moulds would not be able to be removed.

An initial mix of resin and car filler is applied to the plaster mould followed by two layers of fibreglass matting and resin.

The cast halves were superglued together and then more resin and fibreglass matting added to the inside join.

The windows and rear hatch openings are roughly cut out then carefully adjusted to their correct shape.

Several coats of spray filler were applied and the model rubbed down with wet & dry paper to get a smooth finish.

The slightly uneven base was levelled and two wooden blocks glued inside the open edges to provide a platform for securing a Perspex plate, which would later allow me access to the inside of the model.

On this version the lower sections are all made from 2mm Plasticard whilst on later ones I cast some of the parts in fibreglass.

The trickiest part of the project was fixing all the legs in place. Much of this is 1/4 inch Brass soldered together and embedded deep into the hull and anchored with glue and car filler.

The hull was now detailed with kit-parts and the Moon Mobiles distinctive ribbing - that is created by the application of Letraset Letraline tapes. On this latest version I also applied many pieces of self-adhesive paper labels to help break up the flat surfaces.

The window recess areas are made in a thin layer of P38 filler, smeared across pieces of plasticard that are held in position whilst the filler sets and are then peeled away. The same for the rear hatchway, filler applied from the inside around a plastic shape that is then removed.

Revill Gemini pilot figures were modified to match the UFO spacesuits and attached to a bulkhead.

The leg pieces were fabricated from more Brass sections with the feet being cast in car filler.

The main telescoping leg struts have small springs inside to give a cushioned bounce when the model is set down.

I've spent a great many hours looking at the few photo's of the original studio models and it's hard to really understand exactly how the legs were put together.
In the end I came to the conclusion that all the parts are just bolted together loosely and then have pieces of wire wrapped around the joints to hold the parts together and restrict the movements.
Of course it could be that the wires were not on the models originally but added during the shoot as the designer, Mike Trim, stated 'The legs stopped working after a short time of filming, probably clogged up with dust.'

The leg design is not very good from a practical standpoint. Each leg strut only has one horizontal support, which attaches to the top not the middle, and as the legs go up and down this support pushes and pulls at each leg causing them the twist. As a result it's a good idea not to have the legs move too much anyway.

The wire wrapping on the originals is different on each leg so I tried to standardise it so each leg looked the same.

The heavy kit-part detailing on the bottom is attached to the Perspex plate that is screwed into position and can be removed to get access to the interior of the crew cabin.

The model was sprayed with acrylic white motorcar paint. The big red band is also sprayed on whilst the thin red lines are Letraline tapes. The number 5's were created by applying the black spray paint over numbers cut from masking tape. Weathering was done by rubbing on graphite pencil and black powder paint, sealed on with clear lacquer.

The rear ladder assembly was finally scratchbuilt in brass after I kept on breaking the plastic ones everytime I picked the model up.

All photographs by David Sisson

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