Modell of the month

Model of the month September 2026

             Humans in Space:

                                   The Vostok Mission

From Original to Model

A distinct part of the collections at the Hannover-Laatzen Aviation Museum consists of more than 1,000 scale models, primarily in the international standard scales of 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32.

Such true to original miniatures allow visitors exploring the history of technology in the museum to gain a “big picture” view—not only of individual exhibits (sometimes even as the only way to see them in real three-dimensional shape when no original remains), but also of the evolutionary lines of aircraft and missile construction through the sequencing and comparison made possible here. Their craftsmanship alone is a delight to behold.

The Vostok

Today, dear readers, with our Model of the Month—the Soviet Russian Vostok space capsule in 1/24 scale of Revell Inc. USA—we commemorate the first manned spaceflight in human history.

The Model

The Revell/Monogram kit in the large 1/24 scale was first released in 1969 and depicts the Vostok space capsule along with its service module and the final, third stage of the R7 launch vehicle. In this configuration, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit our planet in April 1961. The individual modules of the miniature, which is over 30 cm long, can be separated via twist locks for display. Likewise, the cosmonaut’s ejection seat can be pulled out of the cabin, revealing the capsule’s simulated instrumentation.

The level of detail in this kit—last reissued in 2011 as “Revell Classics”—was astonishing when it was first released in 1969: In the midst of the Cold War, just a few years after the Vostok program with six successful flights—the details of which were state secrets of the USSR—and shortly before the U.S.’s “own” moon landing, the manufacturers presented a highly accurate miniature complete with a cosmonaut figure. (It is conceivable that this popular-educational aspect was also deliberately politically supported and utilized in the intelligence and espionage race between the superpowers.) 

We were content with an “out-of-the-box” build, but the kit offers many opportunities for individual super-detailing—photos and plans are now freely available…

For example, at www.scalemates, we admired a model with complete colored wiring on the supply module, going beyond the kit’s relief rendering.

The Original

But now to the model that inspired this miniature, which sits alongside the U.S. lunar module and the Soviet R7 launch vehicle for the Sputnik satellite in the “High-Speed Flight” section of our model collection: the spacecraft that carried the first human into space.

Following the development of scientific and technical foundations for rocket and space flight in Germany, those in Russia—and later, increasingly, in the Soviet Union—became the world leaders. With the availability of the German A4/V2 program after the end of the war in 1945, the victorious countries—the USA and the USSR, followed by France and Great Britain—developed space programs oriented equally toward science and the military. To the surprise (and horror) of the West, the Soviet Union proved to be superior for a long time. In addition to a high degree of technical ability, this was facilitated by a totalitarian system that arbitrarily defined priorities, eliminated resistance, and optimally concentrated resources.

Following the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik (“Trabant / companion ”), in 1957, and two further successful research flights of more advanced probes, the first manned spaceflight took place in 1961.

In this race for prestige, scientific achievement, and military superiority (the R7 was originally designed as an intercontinental weapon), the U.S. consistently came in second until its manned moon landing in 1969.

The Day

Nothing was the same after that April 12, 1961. From the Soviet Baikonur Cosmodrome, the launch site for the earlier Sputnik satellites, a three-stage R7 launch vehicle lifted off into the skies over Kazakhstan, carrying 27-year-old Air Force Major Yuri Gagarin in a space capsule as its payload. After a flight time of 108 minutes and one orbit of the Earth at a maximum altitude of 327 kilometers, the capsule—after separating from the various propulsion and supply units—landed with the first cosmonaut by parachute on Earth near the launch site. Nothing was the same as before. A human being had seen Earth from space, had orbited the planet, and had returned from the sea of stars. He had not found God as an old man on a throne of clouds, but instead had gained a sense of the magnitude of creation. (Although the communist state doctrine phrased it somewhat differently at the time.)

In total, six Vostok missions were successfully carried out from 1961 to the summer of 1963—including Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman in space and cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky’s 119 hours of flight time and 81 Earth orbits.

The International Aeronautical Federation (FAI) has designated April 12 as “International Day of Aviation and Space.” This day honors not only the pioneering achievements of Gagarin and the entire Vostok program, but also humanity’s first steps into space—and, ultimately, a new awareness of the conditions of our existence.

Curious to learn more?

Have we piqued your interest in our collections, featuring over 40 originals and faithful replicas of gliders, light aircraft, commercial aircraft, and military aircraft, as well as twice as many engines and hundreds of pieces of equipment, not to mention our model collection? Then we look forward to your visit to Ulmer Straße at the Hanover Exhibition Grounds!                            

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You can contact the author of the Model of the Month series here:Autor-MdM