Reviews copied, with permission from Sky High Hobbies - Your Vintage Rocket Source.

Brief:

The Lunar Patrol rocket from MPC is one of the most unique and interesting rockets I've ever built. It's one of the Mach 10 series of kits. In addition to having two 7inch gliders the booster uses two tubes and two modified delta wings instead of conventional fins. The tube and delta wing fins also serve as the mounts for the gliders.

It's not an easy kit to build. It's designed for the advanced modeler. If you're up to the challenge though, you'll have one of the coolest looking rockets you've ever owned or seen, and your friends are sure to be envious.

It's a shame this kit is out of production. Sure, there are lots of model rocket kits that have gliders that detach at apogee, but none are quite like this one. It's silver and bright orange paint scheme not only looks great it helps you see and track its three aircraft.

The Booster rocket has a plastic nose cone, and the gliders have balsa cones and nose weights. The booster has parachute recovery and the gliders are engineered for long slow gentle spiral descents.

The kit contains:

This kit comes in a cardboard box and does not have any plastic or vacuum formed detailing parts. They are not needed nor wanted if this bird is going to fly, and not just sit on display. There are two sheets of waterslide decals to dress up both the booster rocket and both gliders. This rocket also comes with a block of permanent flameproof wadding and a 6 sided 10 inch parachute.

Construction:

The engine mount on this kit has an easy release clip and an engine block. These were glued into place and allowed to dry. Then the completed assembly was pushed into the 12" long booster tube with a liberal amount of glue which is smeared inside the booster tube first. The engine mount should be flush with the end of the booster tube.

As this was drying I measured and marked the 3 inch side fin tubes so that they would extend exactly 1 inch from the end of the booster rocket. Mounting these side fins to line up perfectly is easily done by running a 2 inch line of glue up opposite sides of the booster tube. Make sure the engine clip is offset. I laid the side tubes into the glue, making sure the one inch marks were lined up with the end of the booster tube. The entire assembly was then laid on a flat surface that was covered with wax paper. Make sure everything is laying flat and the alignment with be right on.

As this was drying I started on the modified delta fins. These fins lay flat across all 3 tubes. One on each side. They extend past the sides of the side tubes to serve as a cradle for the glider bodies. Each delta wing is composed of two trapezoidal pieces of balsa stock which are sanded feathered and glued together to form a chevron. Once each of the 2 chevron's sides were glued together I added more coats of glue to the seams, smoothing and sanding between coats to get a good strong bond. Once these were finished they were glued to the rocket so that the seam was aligned with the centerline of the booster and so that the leading tip is even with the leading edge of the side tubes. These delta fins should extend past the sides of the side tubes evenly on both sides. To complete the booster, the launch rod guide tube was glued into the one of the delta wings seams. I used a sharp razor to carve a shallow V channel in the seam for a neater and stronger fit.

Next the gliders were built. This of course is the toughest part of this rockets assembly. None of the balsa stock is die cut and the wings of the gliders are curved and only the glue edges are straight cuts. Once I carefully cut out the gliders wings and rudders they were pinned and sanded to insure that all of them were of identical size and shape. Ailerons are cut from the trailing edges of the wings and these were also pinned and sanded. The rudders were given compound leading edges, and all but the glue edge of the wings and ailerons were sanded into nice aerofoil shapes. A card stock template for getting the wing dihedral and aileron angles correct ,is included, and was cut from its sheet. If you have some extra balsa stock you might want to make balsa templates like I did. They are less prone to bending and make fitting with wings a bit easier.

The wings were glued on first, using the dihedral template, and once dry, the rudders were installed. The ailerons were then glued on using the angle template to get them on correctly. I increased the angle on one aileron on each of the gliders to get a nice spiral flight on their way down. This is optional and not mentioned in the instructions.

The mounts for the gliders are glued to the nose cones. They consist of a small curved piece of flat balsa that has a ½ inch of balsa dowel glued to it. This two piece assembly is glued to the side of the nose cones. Once they were well glued and dry I sanded them to seem as if they flowed into the nose cone like it was all one piece. A small sanding drum on a dremel is perfect for this. The nose cone is then glued into the glider body tube so that the dowel mount is lined up between the wings on the underside. To complete the glider mounts, small lengths of launch rod guide tubes are glued inside the booster rockets side tubes, as far outboard as possible. When everything is lined up correctly, the glider bodies, when mounted, should lay flat along the side tubes with the booster's delta wings cradling the glider body.

I finished up by building the parachute and mounting the shock cord. Everything was given another good sanding and prepped for paint. A couple good coats of clear coat first, or using some other sanding sealer, will not only save you some paint, but it also helps get a nice smooth finish for better aerodynamics.

Summary:

As mentioned this is a very challenging kit. It takes some skill and patience, and fin jigs and guides are useless on this kit. Do a good job building this rocket and you will have the pride of your collection and the envy of your rocketeering friends.