Gary: Great work there. And nice looking Vostok!!!

Steve: Very cool! Nice looking shop!

Bakster: Cool! There are a few good 1/72nd and 1/35th Jeeps out there but frankly I dunno about 1/48th. Hope the one you picked up works out for you. 

modelcrazy

Looks great Bakster,

Oh dioaramas, they just keep requiring more and more 

 

Looks great Bakster,

Oh dioaramas, they just keep requiring more and more 

A little something to show; the wheels are secured. I used sprue-goo to glue them in place. Doing that allowed me time to position the wheels exactly how I want them. It is a little time consuming because the glue takes a bit to set. Generally, it gives a good bond when it does.

As you can see I dirtied up the wheels some. Afterall--the aircraft was towed across the dessert basin. 

I explored GMs idea about using a Jeep and I think it might work. The buggar is finding a kit in 1/48th scale. I looked at Gary's Hasegawa option, but I had a tough time finding a kit in stock, that was reasonable. The prices are outrageous. It makes me wonder if it is out of production. You guys are better at finding kits than me, so I may have missed something. I was about to give up when I found an old Bandai kit on Ebay. I waffled back and forth about it, but in the end I pulled the trigger. It was $19 and change plus shipping. It's an old kit, but they said it was sealed. The decals could be an issue. It comes with a trailer and I could use it to construct a compressor for the hose.  Anyway--we shall see. 

Update: Dessert, desert... I always seem to get that spelling wrong. Blasted.

Looks great Gary, did you scratch the tower?

Steve>  Glad to see you made it back to Boise and got the station in working order!  Looks like you're cleared for action!

Update:  Got things filled and sanded on the three AMT Man In Space boosters.  I gave them a black base coat, then hit the Redstone with some flat OD.  She actually looks pretty good for having the upper portion scratch-built.  She needs some decals now to finish her up.  On the Atlas and Titan I'm going to do a bit of work around the engines.  I need to add a support for the turboboost pump exhaust on the Atlas, and some piping around the engines for the Titan.  Nothing accurate, but just enough to suggest the mass of wires and pipes on the real one.  Then I'll hit them with some silver spray.  Need to start detailing the capsules also.

Gary

Today In Space History:

1959 May 17 - .

• PKA Spaceplane Draft Project - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Korolev, Tsybin. Spacecraft Bus: VKA. Spacecraft: PKA.

  Tsybin's design was called the gliding spacecraft (PKA). The draft project, undertaken in co-operation with Korolev's OKB-1, was signed by Tsybin on 17 May 1959.The piloted PKA would be inserted into a 300 km altitude orbit by a Vostok launch vehicle. After 24 to 27 hours of flight the spacecraft would brake from orbit, gliding through the dense layers of the earth's atmosphere. At the beginning of the descent, in the zone of most intense heating, the spacecraft would take advantage of a hull of original shape (called 'Lapotok' by Korolev after the Russian wooden shoes that it resembled). After braking to 500 to 600 m/s at an altitude of 20 km, the PKA would glide to a runway landing on deployable wings, which would move to a horizontal position from a stowed vertical position over the back of the spacecraft. Control of the PKA in flight was by rocket jets or aerodynamic surfaces, depending on the phase of flight.

2004 May 17 - . 18:13 GMT - . Launch Site: Black Rock Desert. Launch Vehicle: CSXT.

• GoFast test - . Nation: USA. Agency: CSXT. Apogee: 116 km (72 mi).

  First civilian rocket, built by volunteers, to reach outer space. Launched from Black Rock Desert, Nevada - Latitude: 41.00 N - Longitude: 119.00 W. The payload was recovered the next day and the data download showed the rocket had reached 124 km altitude and a maximum velocity of mach 5.5.

Hey Steve, welcome back. Good to see your new crib. It looks great! Looking forward to seeing your next project...

Gentlemen, I'm back.

My move back to the Boise area went very smooth, The floor in the hobby room has been replaced and my stash reorganized. Most of my other stufe has found a place back in the house and the lawn mowed, feed and weeded. I am now ready to resume my dutys here at the console.

You won't see it this clean again

My organized stash

Thanks!  I think she'll turn out great as a regular model.

Mach71>  I don't think it would be too hard.  The kit has all the plastic parts for the flying model, including the launch lug on the side.  I have to cut that off for mine.  All you need is an engine mount for the Estes motor and a parachute.  Shouldn't be too difficult. 

Gary

PS> Here's a build log of someone who built the flying version.

https://www.rocketreviews.com/model-rocket-building-mpc-vostok-build-part-1-parts.html

I agree the Vostok kit is very cool! I wonder how hard it would be to turn it into a flying kit?

Hey Gary, nice progress there. And thanks for the Vostok model images. That kit looks soooo cool. I love it. 

Update:  The launchers from the AMT Man In Space kit are almost preped.  I think I have a few last sanding jobs, but things are about ready for a base coat of black.  I've gotten the engine nozzles for the Titan attached, plus finished the nosecone for the Redstone and attached the guidance fins.  A few minor adjustments and they'll get paint tomorrow.  With luck, I might even get a finish coat of aluminum on them. 

Sorry about the flash!  In front the Redstone looks like some exotic pencil. 

As promised, here are shots of the "sprues" for the MPC Vostok model.

The bottom of the box with a write-up on the Russian launcher and displaying the two versions that can be built.

Overall view of the rocket parts.

These are the four boosters that attach to the main body (in the center).  There are two bases and the engine parts.  One base will not be used as it was for the "flying" model.

The base on the left, large fins and internal supports will not be used as they were for the "flying" model.  Extraneous stuff for the parts bin.  The chrome pieces are supports for the boosters that will be used, though they will be painted over.

This is the upper portion of the rocket, showing the Vostok capsule.  The upper shroud is composed of two pieces with a transparent half that allow the Vostok (or Sputnik) to be seen.  I intend just to paint this over.  I may even build the Vostok manned spacecraft as a separate item that can be displayed in front of the rocket.  We'll see how it goes.

The instructions.  Luckily, they're not in Russian!

That's it for now!

Gary

Today In Space History:

1957 May 16 - . 03:18 GMT - . Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar V-2. LV Family: V-2. Launch Vehicle: R-2A.

• First operational R-2A launch; carried dogs. - . Nation: Russia. Agency: AN. Apogee: 212 km (131 mi).

1963 May 16 - .

• Landing of Mercury MA-9 - . Return Crew: Cooper. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cooper. Flight: Mercury MA-9. Spacecraft: Mercury.

  After 22 orbits, virtually all spacecraft systems had failed, and Cooper manually fired the retrorockets and the spacecraft reentered the atmosphere, landing safely in the Pacific Ocean at 23:24 GMT, 34 hours, 19 minutes, and 49 seconds after liftoff. Cooper was reported in good condition, and this turned out to be the final Mercury flight.

1969 May 16 - .

• Venera 5 lands on Venus - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Keldysh. Spacecraft Bus: 2MV. Spacecraft: Venera 2V. Keldysh first revealed the new 'party line' at a press conference on the mission. When asked about Soviet lunar plans, he revealed that Russia would only use robot probes, that it wouldn't risk men's lives in such an endeavour..

1969 May 16 - .

• Myth 'we were never in the moon race' disseminated by the Soviet Union - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Babakin, Keldysh. Program: Luna, Apollo, Lunar L3, Lunar L1. Flight: Apollo 11. Spacecraft Bus: Luna Ye-8. Spacecraft: Luna Ye-8-5.

  Keldysh first revealed the new 'party line' at a press conference on the semi-successful Venera 5 landing on Venus. When asked about Soviet lunar plans, he revealed that Russia would only use robot probes, that it wouldn't risk men's lives in such an endeavour. At the same time Babakin was hard at work finishing the first Ye-8-5 robot lunar soil return spacecraft, to be launched before Apollo 11.

2009 May 16 - .

• EVA STS-125-3 - . Crew: Feustel, Grunsfeld. EVA Duration: 0.28 days. Nation: USA. Program: Hubble. Flight: STS-125. Removed COSTAR corrective optics package and installed Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Repaired Advanced Camera for Surveys including get-ahead by completing steps from EVA-5.[156].

2011 May 16 - . 12:56 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39A. LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

• STS-134 - . Call Sign: Endeavour. Crew: Chamitoff, Feustel, Fincke, Johnson, Gregory H, Kelly, Mark, Vittori. Payload: Endeavour F25 / ELC-3 / AMS-02. Mass: 121,830 kg (268,580 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: Soyuz TMA-21, STS-134. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Endeavour. Duration: 15.74 days. Decay Date: 2011-06-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 37577 . COSPAR: 2011-020A. Apogee: 345 km (214 mi). Perigee: 337 km (209 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.40 min.

  Final space station assembly mission. Also delivered spare parts. Endeavour docked with the Station at 10:14 GMT on 18 May. The ELC-3 carrier was unberthed from the shuttle at 13:27 GMT and installed on the Station's truss at 16:09 GMT. The AMS-02 Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer was unberthed at 06:59 GMT on 19 May and bolted to the Station's S3 truss at 09:46 GMT.

Bakster>  I'll get them up next post.  It will be more "parts" than sprues, as a lot of them are separated.  Like I said, some odd quality control.

Gary

Nostrovia Comrade Gary. That rocket is cool! I would like to see you post pics of the sprues, I would love to see them. Looking forward to this build, Gary.

Comrades!  Zdravstvujtye!

Today marks a glorious chapter in the history of our great Soviet Union!  Today we unveil the new and incomparable addition of our greatest scientific achievement in the field of rocket science and man's quest to conquer the stars!  I give you -- VOSTOK!

Got this today and have already fondled the parts.  This is the MPC 1/100th scale Vostok.  It can be built in two configurations, the Sputnik launcher and the manned Vostok.  I'll be doing the Vostok version.

This kit scared me a bit, as it came with the plastic bag open and some of the parts off the sprue.  After checking, I found all the parts were there.  Some brief searching on the internet told me that this was not uncommon with these kits.  Not sure what kind of quality control this company has, but no harm.

The kit orginally was able to be built into a "flying" model, but the engine tube, parachute and various model rocket accessories are not included in this version.  I guess I can always get some firecrackers if I really want to destroy it!

I'm going to get started on this one and we'll see how it goes.  I've read reports of poor fitting parts, but some preliminary testing doesn't show anything too bad.

do svidaniya!

Gary

Today In Glorious Russian Space History!

1960 May 15 - .

• Death of V Zavadovski. Reported killed in an orbital flight sometime in 1960/1961. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Zavadovski. Russian phantom cosmonaut. Phantom cosmonaut. 1959 Moscow newspaper showed a Zavadovski testing high altitude equipment. Later presumed to have died on Korabl Sputnik 1 in May 1960..

1960 May 15 - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72.

• Korabl-Sputnik 1 - . Payload: Vostok 1KP. Mass: 2,500 kg (5,500 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Vostok. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Vostok. Duration: 1,979.00 days. Decay Date: 1962-09-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 34 . COSPAR: 1960-Epsilon-1. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 284 km (176 mi). Inclination: 65.00 deg. Period: 92.50 min.

  The Soviet Union launched a Vostok 1KP prototype manned spacecraft (without heat shield; not recoverable) into near-earth orbit. Called Sputnik IV by the Western press. On May 19, at 15:52 Moscow time, the spacecraft was commanded to retrofire. However the guidance system had oriented the spacecraft incorrectly and the TDU engine instead put the spacecraft into a higher orbit. Soviet scientists said that conditions in the cabin, which had separated from the remainder of the spacecraft, were normal.
  Officially: Development and checking of the main systems of the space ship satellite, which ensure its safe flight and control in flight, return to Earth and conditions needed for a man in flight.

Update:  Found a nosecone for the Redstone, though it still needs a tip.  I'll apply some putty and sand it into shape.  Next I'll scratch up some guidance fins for the upper section and send her out for a base coat.  The engine nozzles for the Titan are sanded down, though they're still awaiting some engine parts I'll try to fabricate.  All in all, they're coming along nicely now.

Gary

Today In Space History:

"For A Brief Moment, Gordo Cooper Became The Greatest Pilot Anyone Had Ever Seen!"

1963 May 15 - . 13:04 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC14. LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Atlas D.

• Mercury MA-9 - . Call Sign: Faith 7. Crew: Cooper. Backup Crew: Shepard. Payload: Mercury SC20. Mass: 1,376 kg (3,033 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cooper, Shepard. Agency: NASA Houston. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Mercury MA-9. Spacecraft: Mercury. Duration: 1.43 days. Decay Date: 1963-05-16 . USAF Sat Cat: 576 . COSPAR: 1963-015A. Apogee: 265 km (164 mi). Perigee: 163 km (101 mi). Inclination: 32.50 deg. Period: 88.70 min. Final Mercury mission, Faith 7, was piloted by Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.

Mach71>  It's looking good, sir!  I think once the black is on it'll really pop.  I was wondering if you had missed the Apollo 15 Corvettes, though.  The red, white and blue ones?  That might have been easier to paint!  

Gamera>  Wouldn't they charge you double occupancy with him in the room?  

Bakster> "The astronaut reports that everything is A-OK!"

Update:  Not much to report today.  I've scribed a dividing line on the upper part of the Redstone, and am looking at photos for hatch placement.  Sanding the nozzles for the Titan II to shorten them.  I think I'm going to give the missiles a base coat of black before painting, so I need to finish detailing them before that.

Got the message today that the MPC Vostok has shipped.  Should be here a bit earlier than I was expecting.

Today in Space History:

1946 May 13 - .

• Committee formed to implement German rocket technology in Russia. - . Nation: Russia.

  Council of Soviet Ministers (SM) Decree 1017-419ss 'Questions of Reactive Armaments-formation of Special Committee for Reactive Technology (later Special Committee No. 2) of Council of Ministers for the co-ordination of work on missiles' was issued. This decree set up a number of new research institutes to exploit German rocket technology.

1948 May 13 - . 13:43 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Complex: White Sands LC33. LV Family: V-2. Launch Vehicle: Bumper-WAC.

• Test / solar / ionosphere mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: US Army. Apogee: 127 km (78 mi). First two-stage Bumper-Wac fired. Short duration Wac Corporal test; round successful. V-2 reached 112.4 km, 1220 m/s; Wac Corporal 127.6 km, 1345 m/s..

1949 May 13 - .

• XS-1 Flight 114 - . Crew: Champine. Payload: XS-1 # 2 flight 45. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Champine. Class: Manned. Type: Manned rocketplane. Spacecraft: XS-1. NACA flight 25. Spanwise pressure distribution, stability and control. Mach 0.91..

Checking in. Looking good guys.

Progress continues on my base and assorted things.

Over and out.

Gary: That looks really cool!

Mach71: She looks ok in the photos. Main reason I don't do auto kits, I just can't get a gloss finish to look good to save my life.

Wish now I'd brought my astronaut along with me. I could have got a lot of sanding done while sitting around the motel room.

Glad to hear Scottrc is drying out!

Wow Gary, you are the king a scavaging parts! Well done.

I got a coat of gold on the Vette today and it was terrible! Dust and crud in it. So some sanding and another coat. This one is better, but not perfect. I'm on the road again for a few days so this is it for a while.

The sparkplugs are AC Delco R43XLS. ;-)

Mach71>  Ah, that's neat!  You're going all out when you worry about having the correct air cleaner for the engine.  What type of spark plugs are you using? 

I understand Scottrc got his basement pumped out.  In the "Ships" section he's building a model of the USS Lexington.  I assume it didn't float away! 

Update:  I've been working on various projects, but I'm still making progress on the small 1/200 scale rockets from the AMT Man In Space kit.  I cut the top off the Redstone / Mercury booster and using a cheap, large paint brush handle cut a section out to match the upper portion.  I found a diagram online that I used (with a little calculating) to determine the length.

I've glued the paintbrush into the lower section of the Redstone, and need to finish adding the nose cone, steering vanes and some small antenna to complete assembly.  Then I'll give her a nice coat of Army OD.

I've redone the engines for the Atlas / Mercury and added the exhaust pipe from the turbo pump (if you can make it out).

Also, I have cut some nozzles for the Titan/Gemini from some cheap, plastic mechanical pencils.  After some sanding and modification, I think they will work fine.  Thank goodness for cheap mechanical pencils!

I used some Testors paint thinner and a q-tip to clean up the rocket bodies which still had some gunk left over from the previous paint job.  They're about ready for a coat of paint, though I'm not sure if I will primer them first or just go with the silver base coat.

That's about it for now!  Thanks for looking.

Gary

PS> On another note, I went ahead and ordered the MPC Vostok kit.  It should be here Friday.  Hopefully, I can get it into the rotation before end date.

Today in Space History:

1950 May 12 - .

• XS-1 Flight 136 - . Crew: Yeager. Payload: XS-1 # 1 flight 81. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Yeager. Class: Manned. Type: Manned rocketplane. Spacecraft: XS-1. AF flight 59. Last flight of XS-1 No. 1 rocket research airplane, for RKO motion picture "Test Pilot," which was turned over to the National Air Museum at the Smithsonian on August 28th..

1950 May 12 - . 03:08 GMT - . Launch Pad: Pacific Ocean, 0.2 N x 161.4 W. Launch Platform: AVM1. Launch Vehicle: Viking sounding rocket.

• Viking 4 Ionosphere/Aeronomy mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: USN. Apogee: 171 km (106 mi).

  Cosmic radiation; upper-air pressures and temperatures research. Ship launch. Launched at 1608 local time. Reached 169 km. NRL Viking No. 4 research rocket fired from the USS Norton Sound, near Jarvis Island in the Pacific (0.19 N 161.42 W), at the intersection of the geographic and geomagnetic equators. It set an altitude record for an American single-stage rocket and was the first firing of the Viking from shipboard.

1953 May 12 - .

• X-2 explodes in air - . Crew: Ziegler. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Ziegler. Class: Manned. Type: Manned rocketplane. Spacecraft Bus: XS-1. Spacecraft: X-2 .

  During a Bell captive-carry flight test over Lake Ontario, X-2 number 46-675 suddenly exploded, killing Bell test pilot Jean Ziegler and observer Frank Wolko. The EB-50A mothership managed to land, although damaged. Only after several other mysterious X-plane losses was the cause found to be a rocket engine gasket made of Ulmer leather, which decomposed and became explosively unstable after sustained exposure to liquid oxygen.

I planed on making some progress on the Corvette this weekend, but an old Air Force friend dropped by for a no notice hospitality check. We had a great time catching up, but that didn't leave much time for model building.

I did get some paint on most of the parts.

The kit has a nice chromed triangular aircleaner but the photos I have of the car show it

with a circular one. I found a nice metal aftermarket one.

Yeah Scott, must have missed it hope the flood wasn't too bad and good luck with the recovery.

lewbud,

Thanks! I've been wondering if I should worry about the firing order for the plug wires and I saw the PE wire harness. We will see, I've already spent almost as much on aftermarket things as the kit! But thats the way of things.

As for the wire color, I know black it the correct color but the engine bay will be black and as this is the 1st time I've used an after market distributor I want the wires to be stand out. Thats why I chose the orange but the color is too close to the engine block.

I'm still thinking about the best way to deal with the Mercury.

scottrc, good luck with the flood, as long as everyone (and the SV!) is safe. Thats the important thing.

Scottrc> Sorry to hear about the flooding!  Hope you get things dried out and straightened up soon.  Sounds like a real storm you're having!

Lewbud> Nice to know my memory's not shot.  Black was the only color I remember distributor wires as being.

Gamera>  No problem!  Just let us know you're okay every so often.  Have a good vacation!

Update:  Nothing new to report, but things are progressing.  I'm working on the top portion of the Redstone, and adding a vent pipe on the Atlas that is not on the original.  Still looking for engine nozzles for the Titan.  We'll see how it goes.

Gary

Today in Space History: 

1961 May 7 - . LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II.

• Titan II proposed for lunar landing program - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Gilruth, Seamans, Silverstein. Program: Apollo. Spacecraft Bus: Gemini. Spacecraft: Gemini LOR.

  Albert C. Hall of The Martin Company proposed to Robert C. Seamans, Jr., NASA's Associate Administrator, that the Titan II be considered as a launch vehicle in the lunar landing program. Although skeptical, Seamans arranged for a more formal presentation the next day. Abe Silverstein, NASA's Director of Space Flight Programs, was sufficiently impressed to ask Director Robert R. Gilruth and STG to study the possible uses of Titan II. Silverstein shortly informed Seamans of the possibility of using the Titan II to launch a scaled-up Mercury spacecraft.

1961 May 7 - .

• Initial Study Contracts - . Nation: USA. Program: Apollo. Class: Moon. Type: Manned lunar spacecraft. Spacecraft: Apollo CSM, CSM Source Selection.

  In initial study contracts, Martin proposed vehicle similar to the Apollo configuration that would eventually fly and closest to STG concepts. GE proposed design that would lead directly to Soyuz. Convair proposed a lifting body concept. All bidders were influenced by STG mid-term review that complained that they were not paying enough attention to conical blunt-body CM as envisioned by STG.

1962 May 7 - .

• Mercury MA-7 delays - . Nation: USA. Flight: Mercury MA-7. Spacecraft: Mercury. NASA announced that the Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7) manned orbital flight would be delayed several days due to checkout problems with the Atlas launch vehicle..

Great work guys, love the Corvette Mach71 and neat work on the base Bakster. Hope I didn't miss anyone.

BTW I am on vacation/holiday and the Wi-Fi here is really spotty, if I'm not around I am locked out and not being stuck-up!

Scott,

Sorry to hear about the basement. Hopefully nothing was lost.

GAF and Mach71,

The correct color for the wires was black with a braided metal sheath to aid in reducing interference with the radio. The engine is looking good Mach71. A couple of ideas to help make it look better. The first would to Google 427 Chevy firing order and wire it like it came from the factory. The second would be to get a set of photoetch wire looms from Detail Master or Model Car Garage to get the spark plug wires all neat and tidy. I checked with the Yahoo Space Modelers Group, and no one had an answer as to who made the badges for the fenders. I think they were part of an IPMS Nationals decal set, but the memory is a bit hazy.

I am liking the Corvette, its a great addition to celebrate the moon landing.

My update?  My basement flooded last night, so I have to pack up and move my Saturn V project out in the hurry.  I hope to be able to get back to working on it soon, but with all the rain lately, its been too wet and humid to paint.  

Scott

Mach71>  Hope those plans help out some.  At least give you a cutting guide at the right scale.

As for the distributor wires, I always remember them as being standard black, but my memory has been known to play tricks on me.

Gary

Bakster, Looking very desterty(?)! Very nice!

Thanks Gary, I'll check them out.

Here is where I'm at now:

I might try some touch up paint, I might try burnishing some aluminum foil in the area and then carefully cutting out a templet, or I might just get rid of the decals/mask/paint. I'll think about it.

Work of the corvette continues, mostly still the enging.

The distributor with orange wires. I'm not in love with the orange. It's too close to the engine block color. I'll probably replace them with blue wires.

Most of the parts are primed.