Big Bang Theory - Howard Wolowitz Rockets

Hello everyone,
I'm a big fan of Big Bang Theory and I realized that in Howard Wolowitz bedroom there are three rockets. Two of them I already known: Space Shuttle Atlantis Display Model and Saturn V 1/200 Display Model, but there is one that is white and blue that I don't recognize so I was wondering if someone could tell me where I can find him.
This is the image:
Thanks anyway.

One of the Soyuz rockets i think..

Russian Soyuz Rocket. Remember when Howard was asked to be a part of a mission? Maybe it's that particular rocket.

More specificaly it looks like the R-7 rocket that launched Sputnik in 1957.

I do not know where you could find that model.

I suppose what you should do is figure out how big that model is, what the scale of it is, and then use google to figure out if any likely plastic model kits of it have been made. It also might be a premade model such as those wooden ones that are sold on ebay.

It might even have been specifically built as a prop for the show.

k

phase pistol said:

I do not know where you could find that model.

I suppose what you should do is figure out how big that model is, what the scale of it is, and then use google to figure out if any likely plastic model kits of it have been made. It also might be a premade model such as those wooden ones that are sold on ebay.

It might even have been specifically built as a prop for the show.

k

Click to expand...

Ok, thanks for the answer, I will search it.

Something like this Starship Modeler - Cutting Edge's 1/144 Vostok & R-7 Booster Preview

It looks like a Vostok, though it is too small in the pic to be 100% sure. At least it looks like the A-1 version that Vostok used (upper stage has a single engine, while the A-2 version has a 4 engine upper stage). However, It does look to be in 1/48 scale. Most of the R-7 booster spacecraft plastic models seem to be in 1/144 scale. You might have to look to a card model version, a few of which are in 1/48 scale. One good place to look is at ninfinger.org. I think it has a free card models link page that includes the Soviet/Russian stuff.

Mark

robn1 said:

Something like this Starship Modeler - Cutting Edge's 1/144 Vostok & R-7 Booster Preview

Click to expand...

Thanks very much!

Darth Humorous said:

It looks like a Vostok, though it is too small in the pic to be 100% sure. At least it looks like the A-1 version that Vostok used (upper stage has a single engine, while the A-2 version has a 4 engine upper stage). However, It does look to be in 1/48 scale. Most of the R-7 booster spacecraft plastic models seem to be in 1/144 scale. You might have to look to a card model version, a few of which are in 1/48 scale. One good place to look is at ninfinger.org. I think it has a free card models link page that includes the Soviet/Russian stuff.

Mark

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Thanks Mark, I really appreciate your help, I will search it.

Big Model Rockets

Hello everyone,
I am looking for some big model rockets to decorate my room so I would like to have the help of you guys that are specialists.
If you see this video from 11:37 to 12:31 you will see the rockets that I'm talking about.
How Leonard and Sheldon met - YouTube
Thanks in advance,
Alexandre

Re: Big Model Rockets

Could someone check the needle on the record? It seems to be skipping:lol

Re: Big Model Rockets

ursus43 said:

Could someone check the needle on the record? It seems to be skipping:lol

Click to expand...

I made a mistake yesterday because my computer broked so I posted four time the same thread and they deleted them four today to help me. I've posted the real one now to someone help me to find the big model rockets that I'm talking about.

Re: Big Model Rockets

Still forgetting your pleases and thank-yous. No elephant stamp.

Re: Big Model Rockets

Alexandre, most everything in the room are various types of flying model rockets. Available all over Ebay.
You can guess the plastic kit rocket on the left of the bed, on the right is the 1/72 Vostok by Mach 2.

Re: Big Model Rockets

ShowCraft said:

Alexandre, most everything in the room are various types of flying model rockets. Available all over Ebay.
You can guess the plastic kit rocket on the left of the bed, on the right is the 1/72 Vostok by Mach 2.

Click to expand...

When was the first episode with that rocket filmed on the bedroom set? Reason I ask is I don't necessarily think it is the Mach 2 kit since it is a relatively recent kit issue (only within the past two years). For one thing, the Mach 2 kit is kind of difficult to build and secondly the display model is white in color (Soviet R-7s are mostly gray in color, they only get white when they form ice from fuelling and not everywhere). If somebody had built a kit, I think the paintjob would have been a little more accurate. BTW, 1/72 R-7 rockets are BIG (they were taller than the Atlas used in Mercury). Given how small this thing is, it looks like it might be bigger than 1/144, but I am pretty sure it is not 1/72.

The nose of the thing is a little strange as well. It "might" be a Vostok as I think the silver band implies the break for the first and second stages (Sputnik was a single stage core with the strap-ons only), but the top looks a little more pointy, like perhaps it is a Luna. Now the Soviets did display a full size Vostok rocket painted white (first displayed at the Paris Air Show in 1969 I believe and in a pavillion in Moscow now) with big red "BOCTOK" letters painted on the side.

So, given how weird it is, I am thinking this might be a wooden model of a Vostok, possibly made in the Phillipines. It is close enough to tell me that whomever built it might have been using a plastic model kit or a photo as reference, but with enough weirdo errors on it to imply to me that whomever built it was only looking at a photo of the white Vostok for reference and nothing else and isn't normally the kind of person that builds rocket models.

I don’t think it is as big as 1/72. Even though the nose looks to be pointier than a Vostok, I still think it is intended to represent one. Given the geometry of the 3rd stage/spacecraft compared to the 1st & 2nd stages, I think the Luna configuration would be a little too short. Assuming the Saturn V is a 1/144 scale model (it looks like it to me), and given the poor image with which to work, it could be a Dr. Zooch flying model rocket, which is listed as 14" tall. That would make the scale about 1/107. I can find only one wooden Vostok launcher model, and it doesn’t look quite like Wolowitz’s. In fact, the nose shroud suffers from the opposite condition as the TV model - a bit too bulgy. However, it is painted all white, and stands at 14" tall, which would put the scale at about 1/107 to maybe 1/120, depending on if the stand is included in the height, and how accurate the description of said height is. Of course it could still be a wooden model, just one I haven’t run across. Could also be an out of production kit model, like the MPC Vostok RD-107, with a scale of 1/100, which would put the rocket height at just under 15". I suppose it is possible that it could be an obscure model at 1/96 scale, making it about 15 1/2" tall. Or it could be a hastily made model (wood?) for the show.

Mark

I know it isn't the MPC model kit as I've seen that one and it looked rather good compared to this. A model rocket is indeed a possibility. One thing is for sure though, proportionally it looks rather strange. I compared it with my references and it looks too short to be a Vostok, yet too long to be a Luna (both were R-7 variants with the A-1 upper stage, the Luna was used to send probes to the moon). Again, that is why I think this might be a hand built wood model from Asia, such as the Phillipines.

As for the Saturn V and the shuttle, they look to me like they are 1/200 desktop models (such as what one finds at NASA gift shops). I've got a 1/144 Saturn sitting on display in my room and it is rather tall (about 25" tall). The Leia on display looks like the Sideshow Collectibles 1/4 Premium Leia figure, which is 16" tall. A 1/200 Saturn would be about 18" tall and from what I can see, the Saturn is only slightly taller than the Leia. If it was a 1/144 model, it should be 9 inches taller.

I'm glad this thread has appeared as I was wondering the same, about the rockets etc on display in the show. I've always wanted a large size shuttle model, like the one in Leonard and Sheldon's place and also a shuttle with launch tanks, as seen in Raj's office at the university. Any ideas where to obtain such large scale models as I only ever seem to find the smaller ones as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Thanks

Well, if the one at Leonard and Sheldon's place is the same ole Shuttle that has been around since season 1, that one I believe is just a built Revell 1/72 kit (gear up with the flight deck section missing). I admittedly don't watch the show faithfully (only an episode here or there, although I did watch Howard "Fruit Loops" Wolowitz take his Soyuz ride), so I haven't seen what is in Raj's office.

Display models of about 1/200 or 1/144 scale (1/100 scale shuttle orbiter is the largest I've seen for sale, nothing bigger than that UNLESS it might be possible to place a special order) usually can be found at the NASA giftshops. They are not cheap though. Some of the better aerospace museums also carry them. Anything above those sizes IF they are display models from NASA was likely donated since one typically does not see them for sale. But sometimes if you scour the auction sites or can check around towns that have NASA centers (or the places where companies like Lockheed and Boeing build space hardware), sometimes you can get lucky if there is an estate sale or somebody is cleaning out their garage.

The NASA centers like JSC, Marshall and Kennedy have their own dedicated model shops to produce replicas for display purposes, in offices and stuff (wood shuttles with opening payload bay doors for instance). In one case, the Marshall SFC model shop sent Niel deGrasse Tyson a BIG Saturn V model as a thank you gift. But they do NOT do that sort of thing for the general public. Contractor companies also have model shops to make stuff like this as well, but the same things apply (i.e. not for sale, internal use only).

One excellent resource on the web to check out is collectSPACE.com as there are a few space collectors over there that watch "Big Bang" from time to time and they might have an idea where to find some of the rocket models.

Of course, if one has modeling skills, big display models of shuttles can be done with available commercial kits (such as the Monogram 1/72 shuttle stack). Although they may lack the pedigree of a real "Big Bang" prop :