Mat Irvine: The 1:25 scale Deserter is a reissue of an earlier MPC kit from the mid-1980s. To give the pickup its full title, it’s a GMC Rounded-Line K-2500 Wideside, equipped with the Sierra Grande package.
The real thing was a true off-roader, and the model reflects this by including scale replicas of the chassis, four-wheel drive system, V-8 engine, and giant ‘Desert Dog’ tyres. There’s a winch at the front for those moments when even the DDs won’t grip, and a roll bar with four spot lamps for those night runs along the trail.
The kit components are moulded mostly in white plastic (below). They are crisp and accurate, with little or no flash.
Instruction booklet (below) and the included two sets of decals.
The Fall Guy version itself has been long out of the catalogues, but it does appear every so often on online auction sites, in both original MPC and Airfix reissue guise. However, you could reproduce the TFG vehicle because the German Scale Production company makes a reproduction set of the relevant decals. Scale Production also has a Colt Seavers figure (‘Colt Guy’) available to 1:24 scale.
I created a Fall Guy diorama in a suitable desert setting, though it would be easy enough to add some dirtying up in the form of sand and maybe even some mud. The figures (Colt Seavers at left) are both from Scale Production.
The original TFG box (below), here used by Airfix for its own version.
Scale stats
MPC: Deserter 1984 GMC Pickup
Scale: 1:25
Parts: 122
Assembled length: 190 mm (7.5 in)
Manufacturer’s ref: MPC847
SMN note: We're not sure how much the hunk figure really looks like Lee Majors, but the two of them do provide a suitable sense of scale and some heightened drama, welcome additions to a diorama setting like this.
Thanks to Round 2 for the review kit