R7/Vostok in 1/144 scale designed by Lars Folmann

[Paper Kosmonaut]

That's a very nice little Semyorka. Like the white surface shows, it's clearly fully loaded with fuel and ready to go.

[jimkrauzlis]

Thanks, mate!

This is an interesting photo, where, save for the shiney metallic parts of the boosters, she appears all white:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...no_RAF0540.jpg

Cheers!
Jim

[Paper Kosmonaut]

A nice (and big) picture indeed, but it's clearly one of the many full sized mock-ups of the R7 you can see all over Russia. The flown boosters are gray. Fully fueled the supercold liquid oxygen makes the air around the rocket condense and freeze upon the surface of the rocket. (the R7 is not white al the way down, The parts where the kerosene is are not frosted. You can see where it stops, that's where the Lox tanks end and the kerosene tanks are uderneath) When it lifts off, the ice falls off. This Vostok mock-up is crudely painted all white for cosmetic reasons.
Here you can see an R7 in the later Soyuz-era, unfueled on its ride to the pad. Its gray. Here's another Vostok mock-up but it's clearly grayish. And a bit rusty.
And here's one on the factory floor, and all gray. It's the frost on the rocket's body that makes the R7 white.

[jimkrauzlis]

Thanks, Mate!

It has been a while since I built this model but your photos and information refreshes my recollection about a question raised concerning the correct colors for the R7, particularly the use of the green shade that Lars used on this model. I didn't recolor it at all, of course, not having the expertise to make a considered choice about the issue, but I do remember a series of photos which did show the original grey color of the booster, and the question was posed whether it was the quality of the film being used to document the earlier launches that gave the launcher an odd greenish tint, rather than the true to life grey color. The issue of what parts might be white due to the condensation and icing condition you also note was also discussed, which was surmised as the reason for the white areas shown in the model.

Really a very interesting discussion, at least to me, as there are many instances when I build models, and consider the coloration, particularly in the smaller scales, to give the impression of color difusion caused when viewing form a distance through the atmosphere, as well as other weathering considerations.

Again, many thanks for the discussion and photos, they are a wonderful record of this very historic craft which truly deserves the attention we are giving to it, at least in my very novice and humble opinion.

Cheers!
Jim

[Paper Kosmonaut]

"this very historic craft which truly deserves the attention we are giving to it, at least in my very novice and humble opinion"

Jim, you are so right. Most people tend to give all credits of legendary statue to the mighty Saturn V, but that beast only flew 13 times, almost flawlessly but just 13 times.
The R7 has been used since its conception in the mid fifties and still is going strong. It had its failures allright, but name me any other rocket with the status of reliability, sturdyness and well-designed features as the Semyorka still flying today. There is none. The U.S. Delta and Atlas rockets find their roots in the same era but are all redesigned and more or less completely different rockets compared to their ancestors.
Even though the ICBM version of the R7 and the newest version might have a lot of internal differences due to modernizing, the principles and design still are the same.
Three cheers for Korolyov's R7!

Golly, these rants inspire me. Gotta build me another R7 soon.