LEGO Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (SPV)

The Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle is probably the most widely recognised vehicle from Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons and also presents a number of significant challenges for your average LEGO MOC builder. Its colouring, shape, and function are all thoroughly complicated and I don’t mind telling you that it took a number of attempts to get to this finished version.

As with my Zero-X build, selecting the right shade of blue was essential. The colour choice had to reasonably accurately reflect the models seen in the television series, while also providing a wide enough selection of parts to make the build possible. I settled on Medium Blue, a colour which is just common enough in the LEGO parts inventory to make it a viable option for capturing all the unusual lines of Derek Meddings’ SPV design.

The colour was not, however, readily available in my own inventory of bricks and pieces, and so I set to work on digitally designing the SPV in the Studio 2.0 software, so that I could then order the parts I needed from BrickLink. My first design attempt was a disaster. In my hubris, I had attempted to design a MOC large enough to house two minifigures and complete with working doors. A more talented designer than I may have been able to tackle the challenge, but I was unable to comfortably house the door mechanisms into the build without making the rest of the model twice the size that it needed to be compared to the figures. This is a common issue with toys of the SPV from Vivid Imaginations and beyond which sees the tiny figures in their seats dwarfed by the vehicle itself which is in fact shown on screen to not be much larger than an ordinary car.

Not only was my original vision proving technically difficult to pull off in the digital realm, it was also apparent that my minifigure-sized SPV could have broken the bank. I therefore went back to the drawing board and sought to come up with a more achievable, but equally satisfying, size to work with. I picked up my 1993 diecast SPV from Vivid Imaginations and concluded that was the sort of thing I should aim for.

Lining up 10 of the smallest LEGO wheels I could find, I set to work on constructing a base on top of which I could add the blue and white details of the SPV using tile pieces and some SNOT (Studs Not On Top) construction. Challenges at this point included providing large enough fenders in front of the wheels, but not so much that the wheels would be hidden away. The rear tracks were also tricky. LEGO simply don’t make tracks tiny enough to suit the scale. I ended up choosing black 1×2 rounded plates as a substitute, attaching them to clips so that they could hinge up and down just like they do on all the toys, but never do in the series itself.

After a number of revisions to try and nail the unusual shaping of the vehicle’s front and rear, I had a digital model that I was finally happy with. I uploaded the parts list to BrickLink and started ordering the parts, confirming that this was a much more affordable design to produce. Once everything had arrived from the sellers, it was time to assemble, using the digital model as a guide.

Most of the construction was fairly straightforward, aside from one noticeable error I had made during a last minute design change which had caused the fenders on either side of the vehicle to sit completely unattached from the main body of the model. With only a very limited supply of medium blue pieces to correct the error, I just about managed to move some 1×4 plates into position to hold the whole thing together during construction. The end result is only a little bit conspicuous but isn’t exactly as structurally sound as I would have liked. It’s a lesson in the importance of double checking all your work before buying parts!

That being said, I am happy with the overall end result. The SPV has so many strange curves and angles to it, which I think I have managed to capture despite the smaller size of the model. Some decals and a few part substitutions to make up for my initial mistakes would probably improve it further. For now, though, we’ll settle on saying Spectrum Is Green for this little LEGO SPV!

For more LEGO Gerry Anderson MOCs, visit my main LEGO page!