[Paper Kosmonaut]

It seems I am on a new roll again. Yippee!
I started a new build, this time it's Ranger 7. The good old probe that flew to the Moon bravely transmitting images until it crashed on the surface.

I took Yogi's model as a starting point for the basic shapes and further used different types of paper. I redid the camera opening in the tower. It was upside down. I scratchbuilt the interior of the camera housing and took a blunt needle to make rivets in the metallic paper that makes up the tower part. I really liked the outcome. Next up were the lighter riveted bands the tower bears around its hull. Same method, thinner and lighter paper. The top of the tower also was further detailed and coloured bronze.

The main bus was made from scratch, using the one from Yogi's model as a guideline. As usual, the model will be displayed on a rod, so the bus was made with an inbuilt brass tube.

Next were the solar panels. The underside was kind of ribbed, structured and had a big reinforcement bulkhead on the inside of it. I made something out of thick grey paper with a mesh tape glued over it. It normally is used to plaster flush the seams between plasterboards. I painted the stuff anthracite (picture shows a test) and added some paper strips to give it a nice frame. The front side of the solar panels is made from blue metallic paper I often use for solar arrays. Carved in to give it structure and a thick glob of clear gloss acrylic on top. That's the score now. Tomorrow there'll be more.