Cutting Edge 1/144 Sputnik 1 / R-7 Launch Vehicle
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Introduction
On October 4, 1957 – 50 years ago this month – the Soviet
Union inaugurated a new epoch in human history that was quickly dubbed
the “Space Age”. An R-7 rocket, a variant of the SS-6 “Sapwood”
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, thundered aloft from the Baikonur
cosmodrome in Soviet Central Asia and placed the spherical Sputnik 1 satellite
into low earth orbit. Its regular “beep, beep, beep” signal
could be picked up by radio operators around the world. The shiny orb
appeared as a bright, fast-moving star to observers on Earth before dawn
and after dusk, and served to inspire a generation of scientists, engineers,
and even astronauts. It also caused widespread panic in the U.S. government!
The venerable R-7 launch vehicle has been continuously improved over
the years and remains Russia’s workhorse platform for sending vehicles
into space. It is the world’s most used and most reliable launch
vehicle – nothing else even comes close.
50 years after Sputnik 1, the International Space Station is continuously
manned by a joint crew of Russians and Americans. When the U.S. Space
Shuttle fleet was grounded in the wake of the Columbia accident in February
2003, several American astronauts were transported to the ISS in Soyuz
spacecraft launched by – you guessed it – variants of the
R-7 rocket.
I wanted to observe the 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1’s historic
flight with an eye-catching model.
Assembly
My build of this historically significant machine was straightforward,
essentially out of the box except for minor fabrication of a broken/missing
fin.
The all resin kit consists of the core booster section, 4 strap-on boosters,
5 rocket nozzle bases, a set of small vernier rocket nozzles, and booster
straps. The Cutting Edge resin castings were quite good, with minimal
cleanup required. The area of most effort is removing the pour plugs from
the core booster and the 4 strap-on boosters, then ensuring flat surfaces
for mating the rocket nozzle bases. The nozzle base area does not exactly
match the shape of the booster aft end, which requires some additional
whittling.
I painted the 5 main booster sections separately, prior to joining them
together. The boosters have location holes for mounting wire to attach
things together. Use of wire is highly recommended, not only for location,
but to ensure sufficient strength.
Painting and Finishing
Sources differ on the color of this version of the R-7: light/medium
gray or olive green. Although the majority of R-7 vehicles and its variants
have been painted green, grainy photos I have seen of the Sputnik 1 launcher
lead me to conclude this baby was gray. I used a Model Master light gray
and didn’t event bother with a wash since the recessed detail was
more than plenty pronounced for this scale. I did dry brush the raised
detail with a slightly lighter gray for enhanced depth.
The Sputnik antenna probes on the nose cone and the booster heat shields
at bottom were rendered in Bare Metal Foil. It should be noted that references
differ on whether these antennae were external or internal to the nose
cone shroud. It would seem sensible to protect the antennae from the harsh
conditions encountered during launch and ascent, but some Soviet drawings
do show the antennae external to the shroud. As they say in Russia –
the only thing more mysterious than the future, is the past...
Since the flat gray finish is a bit subdued, I mounted it on a blazing
Red Star base using a wooden box my wife found at a Michael’s craft
store. I used Model Master Insignia Red and created a Cyrillic decal using
Supercal clear stock to finish it off.
Conclusion
This was a fun and refreshingly quick build of a very historic vehicle
that remains obscure in the West. If you are interested in factual space
modeling, or just a change of pace, this Cutting Edge kit is recommended.
Cutting Edge also produces a kit of the SS-6 “Sapwood” ICBM,
the Vostok launch vehicle, and other R-7 variants.
References
2. Rockets of the World, Peter Alway, Saturn Press, 2nd ed.
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