Sci-fi models · 05
M.L.E.V.-5 Mars Hopper
Randy Cooper · Pegasus Hobbies · 1:32 scale
Randy Cooper’s Mars Hopper is one of my favourite models. The quality was sensational, and the level of detail fantastic. My finished build stands 40 cm tall.
The instructions gave me a solid basis for adding several aftermarket lighting sets. The photographs show the illuminated interior, the lights around the airlock and the blue lights down at the landing feet. There’s plenty to look at through those large cockpit windows.
About the designer and the kit
Randy Cooper is a professional model maker and designer whose film work includes Alien 3, Stargate and Starship Troopers. His work spans miniature construction, props and design. Cooper’s filmography ↗
The M.L.E.V.-5, or Mars Lunar Explorer Vehicle, is his Mars Hopper design, released by Pegasus Hobbies as a 1:32 model kit. Pegasus’s catalogue lists more than 300 pieces, a full interior, figures and photo-etched details. Kit catalogue ↗
The original photographs show my physical model with its lighting switched on. The AI-generated images place it on an imagined Martian landscape.
On Mars
The actual model
