N1 1/96 [6] - Blok G

Now the big scratch build part of this build begins. When I left you last time, I had finished Blok V, the last upper stage of the official N1. Now all stuff built is inside the LK3 train fairing. There's a complete trans-lunar space train inside of it. The fairing is huge and very long. I made a test version of it out of regular 200 gpm2 paper to test its dimensions.

The straight white top is hollow with a couple of reinforcement discs.

As you can see it becomes quite a huge model already.


 I also made a ring that fits into the Blok V top and around which the fairing snugly fits. This ring will hold the complete upper part of the rocket. Now what's inside that fairing?

The first part that ignites when the fairing finally is jettisoned and the Blok V falls back to Earth, is Blok G. A simple straightforward single engined stage.
The problem is that there is very little photographic documentation available online about the LK3 trans-lunar train. So there is nothing else left than improvise.

Top right, next to the circle cutter, you can see the ring that goes into Blok V and holds the fairing's bottom. 
I used the Proton's upper stage and the Briz orbital kick stage (both top middle) for measurements and inspiration. 
The wobbly cylinder just below the center is the new Blok G stage.

Bottom.

Shiny tank dome top

Bottom after adding engine chassis and ring onto which I will add four vernier steering rockets.

I assume the stages inside are not painted, since they are only revealed in space itself. So I used a metallic coloured sheet of paper for the hull.

I still had some old red stars in my leftover kit parts box. Maybe there were two on this stage. It looks nice anyway...

I made a situational sketch of all the separate elements so I could 'measure' it all a little better. And even though the Russians always have been a big fan of open trusses between their stages, I decided to close this one. It needs to carry another shroud, an inner fairing if you will, on top.

Inside there will be Blok D, which on its turn, carries the upper part of the inner shroud to protect the LK lander until the last minute before its use. The lower part of the inner fairing for that matter needs to fall off before that. That gives me yet another challenge. Blimey, what a complex structure this behemoth is.
The next stage will be complex too, because it it a complete naked structure when it finally is revealed and the shroud has fallen off. A torus shaped fuel tank and a big oval-shaped oxidizer tank. An upside down skirt around it holds a latticework to connect the torus to the upper tank. The skirt holds another truss which leads to a ring on which the upper shroud is attached.
Next time hopefully some progress and steps forward. Until then, cheerio!
--PK