‘SPACE SUITS - A GUIDE FOR SCALE MODEL BUILDERS’ ON RELEASE NOW

MAT IRVINE REPORTS 

Here’s the latest in the series of ‘Space in Miniature’ black and white books from Mike Mackowski. This eighth in the series concentrates on that basic necessity for working in space, the space suit.

AIRFIX VOSTOK ROCKET PART 3 - SPUTNIK OR LUNIK?

Mat Irvine discusses Vostok's background

To finish this three-part appraisal of the reissued Airfix Vostok launcher, it’s worth pointing out that you don’t just get the version that launched the Vostok spacecraft. Because 2011 is the 50th year of humans in space, the kit has been issued with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s orbital version to the forefront, but other options have included Soyuz and Sputnik - or have they?

The first satellite

First, a bit of background. Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be launched, on October 4, 1957, and so began the ‘Space Age’. The launcher as a whole, usually called the A-type in the west, or R-7 or Semyorka (‘Seven’) by the Soviets, was based on the SS-6 Sapwood ICBM.

REVELL INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO 1:144 SCALE

David Jefferis reports
Science fiction enthusiasts are pretty well catered for by the toy and model industries - from Star Wars to Iron Man, the choice of available subjects, in both and ready-built form, is nearly endless. But it’s not such good news for ‘real space’ enthusiasts, and especially not from the main manufacturers. Would that the likes of Airfix produced a ‘Man in Space’ set, with a 1:72 scale range of US and Russian capsules, plus a lineup of astronuats and cosmonauts standing by them. Hey ho, there’s a dream that’ll never happen, but Revell’s International Space Station (ISS) kit does at least offer a taster for the real space modeller.

Moving solar panels
Even to the relatively small 1:144 scale, the Revell ISS assembles into an impressive beast, with the huge solar panel arrays giving the model an overall size of 745 mm x 500 mm (29.3 in x 19.7 in). Like those on the real thing, they are moveable, though you probably won’t want to shift them much - the model is more than a little delicate, even when perched on its rectangular stand. This neat component comes in a charcoal shade, but will look even better if you paint the Earth hemisphere in the middle blue and white; then the ISS can float proudly atop the lot, supported on a set of slim aluminium legs.

Miniature astronauts
The Revell ISS kit contains 183 components, which include all the dozens of panels, modules, platforms and robot arms (three of them) that make up the real thing orbiting high overhead as I write this. The Revell ISS also comes with two Russian Soyuz space capsules, and a trio of 13 mm (0.5 inch) spacewalking astronauts.

Space Shuttle add-on
Now, this will represent the ISS in operational configuration after 2011 or so, because the US Space Shuttle’s last few missions are due to be flown during the coming months. But, because the Shuttle has been the main cargo hauler for ISS assembly, it seems a shame not to have one on display, in addition to those far smaller Soyuz spacecraft. It’ll also make an even more impressive space display piece, but for that, you’ll have to obtain another kit, and handily, it’s one that Revell also supplies. The Revell 1:144 scale Space Shuttle comes in ‘full stack’ mode - that is, with external tank and solid boosters, standing atop the huge hauler-transporter used to take it from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.

The ISS is a must-have kit for space modelmakers, while adding a Shuttle will make for a spectacular piece that shows off what will soon be a page of spaceflight history.


The pictures show, top to bottom:
1 Revell 1:144 scale Iinternational Space Station.
2  Revell 1:144 scale Space Shuttle Full Stack.
3  An ISS book I wrote a while ago, with excellent graphics by Sebastian Quigley. You can buy it here.
      
There's more info at Revell here.

You can buy the ISS here, though it’s worth pointing out that the one review reveals a buyer unhappy with missing parts and a damaged box, so as the review states: ‘Caveat Emptor’.

Buy the Space Shuttle here.

LUNOKHOD MOON LANDER - THE LITTLE ROVER THAT COULD

Mat Irvine reports
Today is the 37th anniversary of the second - and last - landing on the Moon by a Soviet automated rover, the eight-wheel Lunokhod 2, taken to the lunar surface by the Luna 21 carrier vehicle.

Following the Lunokhod 1 that landed on November 17, 1970, Lunokhod 2 performed even better, sending back more than 80,000 TV images and travelling nearly 37 km (23 miles) over a period of some four months, until it stopped working. The precise reason for this has never really been determined, but it’s thought that either moon dust covered the radiators and it overheated, or perhaps it fell into a crater - or both.

The Lunokhods (Russian for 'Moonwalker') are arguably the most delightful-looking spacecraft ever designed, fact or fiction. They actually look more as if they were created by Rowland Emett (famed for his whimsical creations) than as working scientific equipment. A Lunokhod would make a great model kit, and although none has appeared to date, there is the terrific battery-powered toy I show here, from the Russian Ogonjek company.

I’d heard rumours of a Lunokhod model kit, and as Ogonjek made kits of Soyuz and Vostok among others, it seemed perfectly feasible - but no one had ever seen one. Then a photo of the box was found, but there were still no details. Finally I managed to get my hands on the real thing, courtesy Tony James of Comet Miniatures in London. The Ogonjek Lunokhod is not a kit, but a toy, and comes with that classic ‘Russian toy’ look. It is motorised (six C-size batteries), and is ‘remote controlled’ via a stout cable - forget radio control!

The original Lunokhod 2 is of course still on the Moon, but it is now officially owned by Richard Garriott, the computer games developer and space tourist, and son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott. Richard purchased Lunokhod 2 and Luna 21 in the 1993 Sotheby’s Soviet Space Sale in New York.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1 A Soviet-era drawing showing how a Lunokhod sat atop its Luna carrier vehicle, before rolling down a long ramp.
2 A full-size Lunokhod replica on display at the Cosmosphere and Space Center in Kansas.
3, 4, 5 The Ogonjek Lunokhod, the name applied in both Russian and English, one on each side. The box is a typically Russian item with very basic colours, made from thick, but not exactly sturdy, card.

Visit Comet Miniatures here.

Visit the Cosmosphere here.

Look at Rowland Emett's work here.