M is for MPC...Miniature Military 'Minis'

In 1997 - just as I was moving house and he was moving States! – I read about Bob Maschi’s publication on MPC Minis, due (if I remember correctly?) to the issue of an update actioned by his earlier reader’s feedback. He kindly sent me a copy with the fatal words “We can sort the money out later”.

Well, the more astute of you will be ahead of me on this one…I never managed to pay the man, lost the guides, lost his new address details and now 14 years later I find myself unable to locate him, even on the internet! So if anybody knows the current whereabouts of Bob Maschi, could they either let me know or pass my email [maverickatlarge@hotmail.com] on to him, so that I can remunerate him properly?


These little vehicles (They also did ships and Aircraft which I will cover another day and civilian cars of which I have hardly any) were issued in various forms and supplied to other people as premiums, but there was usually also a ‘standard’ pack with the complete set or a large number of the range contained within it.

This is the box for the military vehicle’s – also known sometimes as ‘Teenies’. When I got it; it was in two parts among several boxes of paperwork, the back panel/instructions having been torn away down the fold lines. However, as the tears were ‘clean’ it was a simple matter of supper-gluing it all back together again!


Some thematic shots, I’m missing 8 in total, which I think should have been in the box, so they’ve gone the way of flesh I’m afraid. My ‘Beep’ (Big Jeep) was found in the UK years earlier and is missing its aerial and a bit dirty, however I have the aerial for the missing set Beep, only it’s a different shade of metallic Blue! So far I’ve only seen these in metallic blue but seem to remember Bob saying they came in green early on.

There are also piracies by a Hong Kong producer in green marked IPA (I think? I’ve got a T54 somewhere but could I find it for the photo-shoot! I’ll have to add it another day). The subjects are all either late WWII or 1950’s kit, so would have been pretty incongruous to the child-collector of the 1960’s. The self-propelled 88mm (or 105mm?) and the CMP-cab’ed allied truck being the most unlikely vehicles to have served alongside the latter stuff!


American 6x6 trucks, THE military symbol of two generations, but increasingly only seen in home waters these days, among my favorites and the GS was seen here a while ago when I covered them separately, but I saved the other two for this post.

The Honest John is rather ruined by having its product information carved in relief down the sides, but considering it’s a three-part model in less than 1/100 scale, you can’t really kick-up too much, it’s a lovely little model.


The collection to date, less the Beep which is a darker blue and I’m missing one of the plug-ins for the SWS (a radar dish). The most felt absence is the Land Rover. I’d also like to locate the two missing British Armoured Cars and the Sd.Kfz.234 Puma.

Also missing are a Weasel, and an 8” Howitzer tractor, plus two French vehicles (no loss! They probably stayed in barracks).