Space Oddities

Lunik 

Being sat at home does have its drawbacks, but also the advantage of being able to complete some of the little side projects that I never seem to get around to, such as my ongoing fleet of mock satellites.

The latest little model is inspired by a recent purchase I made on ebay, currently in postal hell, but also by the Brooke Bond Race into Space cards. After looking at them again for reference on the Early Bird satellite, I recalled another memorable model that I could make quite simply with a leftover Xmas bauble, the Soviet moon Probe, Luna 2.

Early Bird

So after hastily building a small Early Bird out of a plastic tube and some straight pins, I raided the bits box and very soon had a passable model of Lunik too! Of course, once I had the superglue and bits on the go, I had to see what else I could fabricate and soon I had the Navigator Deep Space Probe made from a torch reflector, a bubble wand an handful of kit parts. Unfortunately, Navigator isn't quite complete, as the superglue dried up before I could finish!

Navigator Deep Space Probe

Model of Soviet Luna 1 probe

The fascination for me is with the industrial look of the early probes, especially the soviet era ones, which look like they have been made from leftovers in a boiler factory. This has the advantage of allowing me to put together something which retains the overall 'look' of the actual model, without having to resort to exhaustive detailing. 

Probing the Secrets

Its just as well I wasn't going for absolute accuracy as after I did a couple of test shots of my Lunik, I realised the smooth chrome finish of the bauble also caught a reflection of me, the doorway and the mancave!

Ranger 6

Cosmos 10

 

Sputnik 7

The Race Into Space cards are a great source of information and reference on early space probes and satellites, with some lovely illustrations. Here are a few which have influenced my early obsession with obscure spacecraft.

Venera

Grand Tour

Ranger

Luna 9

Zond

Early Bird