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In July 1969 the first human set foot on the lunar surface, and the United States had won the moon race. Few people at the time realized how narrow was the margin of victory. Despite tremendous difficulties, the Soviet Union came remarkably close to launching a cosmonaut to the moon using a heavy booster known as the N-1. For decades this rocket remained shrouded in secrecy, and only in recent years has information about the project been revealed to the rest of the world. The N-1 story, though ultimately one of failure, provides a fascinating look at what might have been. In spite of a late start and underfunding, the Soviets came near to having a successful heavy-lift booster which might have led to the first moon landings, a permanent moon base and even manned interplanetary missions.
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This model builds into a 1:144 scale replica of the N-1 3L in the markings of its first launch in February 1969. With its display base, the complete rocket stands almost 30 inches tall. You will need a printer capable of printing on card or cover stock to print out the parts sheets. To keep the file sizes manageable, I have released it in two separate kits, each with its own instruction document. Begin with the first stage kit. NEW - A second set of parts files is now available, enlarged to 1:96 scale (almost 45 inches tall). These sheets are roughly 13 inches by 18 inches, and will require a large-format printer. Thanks to Olaf Deen for making this available! Click here to see photos of the finished model. Note to webmasters! If you want to offer this kit on your site, please read this first.
The model files The parts and instructions are in Adobe PDF format, and have been compressed into ZIP files for faster transfer. They should work on any Windows, Macintosh, OS/2 or Unix/Linux computer. You will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader and an un-ZIP program.
First stage files (build this kit first!)
Upper stages files
If files are unavailable or slow to download, try at a different time of day, when the file servers may be less busy. Primary site: Follow these links to download the instruction and parts files.
Secondary site: If you have trouble downloading files using the above links, you can try getting them from another site.
Instructions in Magyar - Hungarian designer Laszlo Vadasz has kindly translated the instructions into Magyar.
Related links Classic Paper Space Models - Designer Lars Folmann has card models of the Soviet R-7 booster with either Sputnik or Vostok payloads. Vadasz Paper Rockets - Designer Laszlo Vadasz has designed a Soyuz add-on to Lars Folmann's R-7 booster (on the Downloads page). The N-1 Story - From Mark Wade's amazing Encyclopedia Astronautica site, a detailed history of the development of the N-1. The N-1 Moon Rocket - Nick Stevens' site contains a large variety of N-1 photos and information. N-1 Photo Clearinghouse - Greg Bondar has collected a huge assortment of N-1 photos from around the 'net. Soviet Manned Lunar Program - Karl Dodenhoff's site covers the N-1, the LK lunar lander, and other aspects of the Soviet lunar program. |
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Last updated on May 8, 2008 Copyright 2000-2008 by Ralph Currell |
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