My space models

mikezax

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Sputnik 1
the first artificial satellite of the Earth

(Soviet Union)

The author: Václav Šorel, Jaroslav Velc/ ZAX

Publisher: ABC magazine

Scale: 1:14,5

sputnik real.jpg

My next addition to space technology is the first artificial Earth satellite. When I recently glued together the Magion 1 satellite, I thought it would be nice to look at the very beginning of spaceflight and glue together the first satellites launched by mankind. and what else to start with than Sputnik 1. So ladies and gentlemen, this is how it started ;):

The Sputnik program was a Soviet space program that began in the late 1950s to demonstrate the use of unmanned Earth artificial satellites (Russian: cпутник). As part of the space race between the great powers of the USA and the USSR, the Soviets decided to speed up the existing programs and launch into orbit the simplest possible satellite weighing up to 100 kg. In the early stages of design, it was designated as Sputnik
It was constructed in the late 1950s by Sergei Koroľov in the Soviet Union. It was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh SSR on October 4, 1957 at 19:28:34 UTC using a modified two-stage R-7 launch vehicle, which was modified from the military version for cosmonautics and renamed the Sputnik rocket. It belongs to the category of scientific satellites. Sputnik contained a transmitter that broadcast a beeping signal on frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz from October 4 to October 25, 1957. this signal in its time became a symbol of the beginning of the cosmic era. The transmitted signal made it possible for the first time to check the distortion during transmission from orbit, thus also the properties of the atmosphere and ionosphere. The satellite orbited the Earth until January 4, 1958, when after 1,440 orbits it entered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up. (source. wikipedia.org)

zem a sputnik.jpg

The description of the construction of the model was published in the magazine ABC, I actually only took from it that I used a ping-pong ball, the central strip and the length of the antennas. I finished the other things myself according to the photos I found on the internet. I sprayed the model with a base color, corrected the mistakes and finally sprayed it with chrome paint. The model received a standard stand (like Venera and Prognoz) with the name and year of launch, and since I am planning more satellites, I will also put the flag of the country that launched the given satellite, a few photos:

DSCN5620.jpgDSCN5627.jpgDSCN5630.jpgDSCN5637.jpgDSCN5639.jpgDSCN5642.jpg
DSCN5645.jpg
 

mikezax

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...just briefly, I don't spray paint the model right away, I use a base color as soon as possible, which will unify the entire model in color and show all the flaws that I can't see after gluing...
when I have it in one color, I thoroughly check the entire model and correct the mistakes by gently sanding the given place with sandpaper (for example, the edges of paper parts can sometimes curl after spraying, so I sand them), if the part does not fit somewhere, I first fill the gap with putty ( I use ordinary putty for wood, because it is easy to sand), after the putty has dried, I gently sand it again with sandpaper and spray it again with the base color, if I still see some mistakes, I repeat the whole process until I am satisfied, and then I spray the final color (preferably more thin layers like one thick one that would run off me) and that's all, I don't use anything special...
I will also glue the Vanguard 1 satellite, which is similar to sputnik, I will try to take more photos when I do it...;)
 

zathros

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That is the best Sputnik model I have ever seen in any media. The only one that looks better is the actual Sputnik satellite!! :)
 
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mikezax

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Explorer 1
(the satellite of the Earth-United States of America)

The author: Pavol Dubovec

Publisher: Zenit magazine

Scale: 1:15

Explorer-I-spacecraft-in-orbit-above-Earth-image-credit-Erik-Simonsen-posted-on-SpaceFlight-In...jpg

After the first Soviet satellite, I have here the first American one. Interestingly, like the Soviets, this was not supposed to be the first US satellite. (satellite Vanguard 1 exploded on launch and went into space later)
The launch took place on February 1, 1958 from the LC-26A launch complex at the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch vehicle was Juno I, which was developed from the Jupiter-C suborbital rocket. Just before it, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 was launched, and on November 3, 1957, the Sputnik 2 satellite was launched.
The main scientific instrument on Explorer 1 was the so-called cosmic ray detector. A Geiger-Müller counter designed to measure radiation in Earth orbit. This experiment, led by Dr. James Van Allen of the University of Iowa, revealed a much smaller amount of cosmic rays than expected. Van Allen thought that the instrument might have become saturated with very strong radiation from a belt of charged particles trapped by the Earth's magnetic field. The existence of these radiation belts was confirmed by another American satellite launched two months later, and they were named the Van Allen belts after their discoverer. Explorer 1 made its first broadcast on May 23, 1958. After more than 58,000 orbits, it entered the atmosphere and burned up on May 31, 1970. (source wikipedia)

I didn't modify the model, I just added a standard stand, a few photos:

DSCN5674.jpgDSCN5677.jpgDSCN5682.jpgDSCN5685.jpgDSCN5687.jpg