Baikonur rollout [4]

Time to build a Soyuz. Again. You get to know these things well when you build them a lot. The R-7 has not changed that much in appearance since its origins in the mid 1950s. Although when you take a look underneath that familiar appearance with those four strap-on boosters the Russians lovingly call "carrots", you'll discover a lot of significant changes that make this rocket very modern although it still looks like its ancestor.

I might have built it more than once before all right, this is the fifth time, to be precise, but this is the first time I build it in this tiny scale. A challenge to maintain some of the details.
So after the jump there's a short pictorial recapitulation of its build.

That's a very small Soyuz rocket core stage.

The core stage was very easy to build. I used Lars Folmann's 1/100 model which I reduced to 25%. The colours still look good and the parts still fit reasonably well although I use my regular 200 gram paper, which sometimes make the model having a little trouble with the fitting. Not this time.
 

The trusswork of the interstage. for hose of you not in the know: the Russians fire the next stage when it still is attached to the almost burnt out previous stage. this prevents the stack from a huge jolt when the engines cut off and the rocket has to coast for some seconds before the next stage kicks in. This method is easier on the payload and crew. The U.S. Titan rocket also used this method.

The parts of the last "carrot". All engine housings got a nice shiny silver tape appearance. The small greeblies on the orange bit were cut from orange card to prevent visible white cut lines. The parts were a bit too small to colour them with pencil.
  

The business end of the Semyorka: five powerful engines, each of them with four separate combustion chambers and integrated vernier engines for thrust vectored steering. (so not 20 engines!)
 

The bottom lining was made from aluminium tape. It still looks good, even though it is very small. I first was a little afraid it would bee too much in this scale. But it just looks fine to me.

The third stage (The carrots being the first, the core stage the second, although it also is working from the start). I used Leo Cherkashyn's model I have made half a year ago as the guide in this build.

The engines. So you can see that they're really there. I did not make the 4 vernier engines though, because you would not see them anyway after assembly.

...see?

There! a 1/400 Soyuz launcher. Now the payload fairing.

And there's the beginning. It has quite some greeblies on its hull, and that's next, just like the escape tower. The early Soyuz escape towers were stubbier and shorter than the modern ones, so there the rocket will look different. When the rocket is ready, the focus will be redirected back at the diorama base and I will start working on the rail road track. Looking forward to that! (not! - hundred or more small sleepers to cut and lay down before I can put the rails on them...
that's all for today, peoples!
Until next time!