It has been a long time coming. But as any successful builder will tell you, it's wize follow the axiom, "measure twice, cut once" - meaning plan and then double check everything before you start the work so as to avoid going back to "repair" an error later (which could add weeks to the process).

   One of the unique aspects of this project is taking the available measurements from multiple sources, and then making them work. This would seem to be easy, but soviet era measurements standard were as mysterious as thier political system. By their very nature, they seemed to conflict. The height wouldn't match with the width, the cabin measurements wouldn't match the height or width, and the Block E engine didn't match with any of the aforementioned measurements. The reality is that when using soviet era measurements you have to determine from which point to which point were used as reference. For example: was the measurement between the deployed landing struts face-on or diagonally, and are they measuring the outside edge to edge, or from the center of the landing pads to each other? What I really needed was assistance from someone able to make actual measurements of one of the five remaining LK ... and a Rosetta Stone! And after months of searching, I finally acquired that Rosetta Stone... in two parts

    The first part was a copy of an actual Engineer Construction Drawing* (blue print of sorts) which contained the precise measurement to the millimeter of the height with distinct lines showing where these figures applied: a to b, and b to c. The other half of the Rosetta Stone was an Engineering Drawings of the Power Supply. There are the five batteries used to power the LK; three on the landing section, and two on the Ascent Stage. This document contained a 2-way drawing with enlarged details and with all measurements.

     With these pieces of information I was able to decipher complete measurements and begin the process of preparing my own construction drawings . Here is one of the MANY working drawings I've made in preparation for this project.

* I'd love to say how I obtained this Engineering Drawing, but I gave my word not to. 

Additionally at no point am I to show this document to any other person. To violate

 either of these would risk the reputation and confidence of this high profile source.

     There are separate drawings detailing the Block E, the Landing Struts, the Antenna Dish, the Radiator/Docking Plate, the size of each sphere, and on and on and on. That said, I am almost ready to begin construction!

Now comes step two: The Studio!!!!

A Perpetual Common Mistake

You will find something similar in many of the drawings of the Lunniy Korabl made by people who were not involved with its' creation. It's the size, shape and position of the Lading Radar. It's a Doppler Antenna located at the bottom of the LK's Starboard side, right below the Strap-on Instrument Pod. But what's really strange is that anybody who has seriously studied the Lunniy Korabl would know this radars shape and size quite well.

And yet, they don't.

If you look at these two very popular images released a few decades ago, you'll see the answer to the shape and size of the Planeta Landing Radar is very clear:

No. 17 in the top image is of the LK Radar Landing system. But we only get to see it from the side. However No. 1 in the T2K image is the same instrument. But unlike the LK image, the T2K image has this seen from the side & the frontt. Now, if you use the logic our furry little ancestors gave us, you'll come to the inescapable realization that the Landing Radar doesn't look like an Acorn from the front. It's only the side view that has that Acorn profile.

In 2011 the Russian periodical  Радио published a history of this radar in thier #8 edition. Copies of that account can be received by contacting DavidLRickman@GMail.com.