P
Paper Kosmonaut
Hi everybody. I just finished my build of Yuri Gagarin's re-entry which went a bit hazardous, as we probably all know now.
For those of you who don't: Upon using his retrofire rockets the Vostok should have split in two parts: the Sharik, which is the capsule, and the instrument module that was supposed to remain in orbit and eventually burn up.
The Sharik was connected to the instrument module with a big plug outside the spacecraft that was meant to break loose when the craft would split. It didn't.
Now Gagarin was thundering down the denser layers of the atmosphere, dragging the dead weight of the instrument module along, which kept on banging into the capsule that was wildly gyrating due to the extra ballast. The sharik couldn't straighten itself for a good clean re-entry and without the well-protected right side down, the craft was about to burn up.
Gagrin could do nothing but wait and hope.
As I kinda like diorama's I thought it might be a nice one to try and render in paper.
I used Leo Cherkashyn's Vostok model and downscaled it to 66% for a 1/72nd scale print. The build was pretty straightforward with a perfect fit. Leo has designed his model very well! After a coat of silver acrylic spraypaint at the sharik (as the Russians call the capsule) I tackled the diamond shaped engine compartment. Part one of the pics:
For those of you who don't: Upon using his retrofire rockets the Vostok should have split in two parts: the Sharik, which is the capsule, and the instrument module that was supposed to remain in orbit and eventually burn up.
The Sharik was connected to the instrument module with a big plug outside the spacecraft that was meant to break loose when the craft would split. It didn't.
Now Gagarin was thundering down the denser layers of the atmosphere, dragging the dead weight of the instrument module along, which kept on banging into the capsule that was wildly gyrating due to the extra ballast. The sharik couldn't straighten itself for a good clean re-entry and without the well-protected right side down, the craft was about to burn up.
Gagrin could do nothing but wait and hope.
As I kinda like diorama's I thought it might be a nice one to try and render in paper.
I used Leo Cherkashyn's Vostok model and downscaled it to 66% for a 1/72nd scale print. The build was pretty straightforward with a perfect fit. Leo has designed his model very well! After a coat of silver acrylic spraypaint at the sharik (as the Russians call the capsule) I tackled the diamond shaped engine compartment. Part one of the pics: