On line, books, the Mike Dorfler collection...lots of places.

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Documentation:

For the R-7 and the capsules build, I used

1) Rockets of the World, Alway, Peter, Saturn Press, Ann Arbor 1999
2) Harry Stine's July 1970 Model Rocketry drawing;
3) Minakov drawings of both Vostok (May/June 2001 Sport Rocketry) and Soyuz (on-line);
4) Miniature Astronautics Soyuz T drawing via Sandman;

I also used:

Pocket Space Guide: Russian Spacecraft, Godwin, Robert, Apogee Books, Ontario, 2006
Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, Godwin, Robert (ed.), Apogee Books, Ontario, 2001
Encyclopedia of Soviet Spacecraft, Hart, Douglas, Brompton Books, London, 1983
Korolev, Hartford, James, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1997
Man's Conquest of Space(first ed.), Shelton, William, National Geographic, Washington, 1968
Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge, Siddiqi, Asif, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2000
The Soviet Space Race with Apollo,Siddiqi, Asif, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2000
Soviet Rocketry, Stoiko, Michael, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, New York, 1970

Numerous on-line sites including Bing image searchs for "Soyuz" and "Vostok" and "R-7";

I trust my documentation is in order . . . .

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

Comrades:

Big Progress (pun intended).

The picture shows the now almost complete Vostok. The embossed wrap is from a 12 x 12" scrapbooking sheet my wife "gave" me. The conduit and small wood details are extra 1/12 dowel sanded to half-round or 3/32 sq. spruce. The other details are cardstock, including the rocket nozzle and the bonnet that will enclose the capsule. Of course, I have the Ping-Pong ball for the capsule. It will need a cardstock shim or two inside the BT-60.

The reason for the bonnet indented into the fairing was because in the event of an emergency, Yuri, Valentina and the rest of the gang were in ejection seats and the capsule hatch would be the only thing needed to blow for them to get out. This seat was not zero-zero like a Gemini seat, in the event of a pad abort, the seat would shoot the cosmonaut into a net across the flame pit without deploying the parachute. Sounds kind of exciting . . . .

Note the little mounting stubs on the lattice. These turned out to be a little tricky. They are 3/32 sq. spruce with the grain running vertically; if you orient the grain horizontally, the spruce will delaminate.

Finally, I've started to hollow out the nose cone - - I'm gonna need a couple of ounces of nose weight at least.

92 days until April 12; I think I'm gonna make it.

As for the Soyuz, 1/16 dowels are darn near impossible to find. I finally located some 12" lengths in a discard box at my local hobby shop. I also found some Plastruct sheets to simulate the airbrakes on the fairing. I'm going to focus on finishing the Vostok for the next few days, but Soyuz (and the second R-7) will be right behind.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

The "airbrakes" on the Soyuz activate in the event of a launch abort. They swing down until they stick out horizontally and serve to stabilize the capsule as the escape tower pulls it away. The real ones are made of metal grate; look for fine metal screen or mesh at Michaels or Hobby Lobby to make yours.


Bill

re: the Vostok.

The ping pong ball is inspired, dude. A perfect re-utilization . . .

__________________
A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets. But high above the quiet streets on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions. Guy Noir, Private Eye.

Fox Valley Rocketeers: http://www.foxvalleyrocketeers.org

Thanks Mr. Noir,

It was really Bill's idea.

For the record: Yuri's capsule is a Sportcraft No.1 Netex, Made in England, (and it's really old).

Also for the record: making the little paper shrouds that streamline the opening around the capsule (ping pong ball) is very difficult.

I'm going to finish the Vostok this weekend. Pictures soon.

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

The wooden sticks on Q-TIP 6 inch single tip applicators. They make great glue applicators and when I'm done, I cut off the applicator tips and I have dowels that were the same size that came in my Semroc Little Joe II kit.

You usually can't find them in the store but my pharmacy ordered them for me. A box of 1000 was $8.00 and I have had it for years and have only used 2 of the 100 packs in the box.

__________________
Bob Harrington
NAR #62740 L1
AMA #46042
CMASS & RIMRA Member

From the Giving Credit Where It's Due Department, I got the idea from this thread http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=5071 many moons ago and had it stashed in a dark corner of my mind until MarkB starting building his Vostok.


Bill

That is good to know; I never thought about that. Doctors use them, so I thought they may be expensive. I currently use bamboo skewers for glue applicators. It will take a long time to use up/give away 1000 of them.


Bill

Hooray!

The Vostok capsule is complete!

Picture 1 shows the hatch side of the capsule in primer. I made lots of little do-dads from scrap balsa and cardstock based on the Minakov and Stine drawings. I think I should mention that the drawings don't all agree with each other as to the fittings or even the relationship or location between the parts.

Picture 2 shows the back side which is somewhat more sparce in it's detail.


And finally . . . .

Picture 3 shows the assembled R-7/Vostok stack painted and drying in the sunshine. It's painted Testors Euro I Grey and I completely understand how it might have been interpreted as green. Note that I left the capsule the dirty white of the original ping-pong ball. The first two Vostoks had a different ablative scheme from the last four. The first two were covered with small white hexagons over a silver layer giving them a giant soccer ball appearance ; the later capsules did away with the white hex layer and were just silver.

So what's left: Well, parachutes for one. Although I'm not a big fan of chasing two separate parachutes, I think I'm going to have a 24" on the rocket and a 15" on the capsule. Also, I'm debating going back and doing more work on the nose cone. It's the only piece dimensionally off; it's shaped more like a SpaceX than a Vostok.

Finally, one more word on the documentation: I don't think we'll ever know what exactly Gagarin's Vostok really looked like. Stine and to a certain extent Alway were influenced by the static Vostok the Russians displayed at the Paris Air Show in 1968 which I think is now displayed in Moscow. In any event, the scoops and fittings and other little do-dads almost certainly varied from flight to flight. The Minakov drawing certainly looks authentic but some of his measurements differ from the other two so you just never quite know. . . .

Soyuz is coming soon.

Attached Thumbnails

     

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7