[Paper Kosmonaut]

I had to try and design the Soyuz myself, because there isn't a paper model of a returned Soyuz capsule. The orbital capsule is covered in a green insulation blanket but all of that is burnt off when the capsule returns. I used lots of pictures of landed Soyuzi to figure out where all the parts are. I made a top view drawing of it to guide me through the build. Two hatches for parachutes, one main (open), one spare (closed), RCS thrusters, antenna panels, an umbilical patch panel, a hole where the periscope was jettisoned from, a jettisoned heat shield revealing yet ore antenna hatches, braking rockets and an altimeter behind a hatch, and last but not least, a crew access hatch.

I created a cross section drawing of the Soyuz and decided how many rings I would need to get a smooth shape. I decided on six rings. Long story short and three trials later, I had my definitive shape and started to draw the locations of the hatches an the other stuff onto it.

Cutting out was the easy part. No Xacto here, just tiny scissors. I then scratch built a hatch ring for the parachute canister. And the canister itself. A balloon pushes the 'chute out and remains inside of the canister. Surprisingly I just made it piece by piece, cutting out of pieces of card and I didn't even drew them first. The ropes are made from twisted pieces of thin paper. I brushed thinned PVA over them to make them a little sturdier. A bit of aluminium tape was used for the connecting part.

The opened antenna compartment was made likewise. Just on the fly. Only the measurements of the inward sloping cone were done with an online shroud calculator. The umbilical panel also was done in one try.

Here's where I am now, the part where the umbilical and periscope hole are always is burnt to the bare metal so lots of scorch marks made by lots of layers of paint. Maybe some more to follow... The blackened side of the capsule will get a surprising treatment to get the desired look.

Hope you like it. I do ;-)