Update: Color question answered
I went to Youtube, and found there are lots of Buran videos. Most are of the launch, the landing, or the building collapse which destroyed the orbiter. But I found one which shows the transport to the pad and the Grasshopper standing up. At the time of the launch, the Grasshopper was grey, so that's what the model will be.
My goal is to make my Grasshopper able to stand up or recline. The really difficult part is determining how all those hydraulic rams work together with the girders to tilt the cradle. Leo's transporter has a hydraulic ram, which I downloaded and built so I could understand how it works.
Leo kindly gave me permission to copy his rail trucks for my Grasshopper. It makes sense to do this, since it's the same launch facility and the same approximate time period, so they are going to be very similar, if not identical. The Grasshopper has 32 rail wheel trucks, with 4 wheels each.
:steamtrain: Add the locomotives, and that's a lot of wheels to make.
This project is really 8 separate models coming together: Buran (which is finished), Energia (which is almost finished), the Grasshopper, four locomotives, and the display base. When finished, the full display will be about 3 1/2 feet (1 1/4 meters) long. My wife is being very tolerant of this, which I appreciate. Of course, I plan to display it in my office, not at home, which does not bother her one bit.:twisted:
Another interesting thing about the Youtube videos. One of them was a Soviet propaganda movie, which shows Buran launching cruise missiles from it's payload bay, which proceed to strike several major American cities. I never thought of Buran, or the American shuttles, being used as long-range bomber platforms, but apparently someone was.
I always thought a cool fantasy model would be the ISS with Buran and an American shuttle both docked at it. But one project at a time.
