Orbital's Minotaur Launch Vehicle with 61-inch Payload Faring
After my foray into the world of designing my own paper models from scratch, I decided to take it a step further and make another. This is another model of the Minotaur launch vehicle, but this one has the 61-inch payload faring and is dubbed the 'Enhanced Capability' model by Orbital. The only real difference between this and the normal Minotaur is the size of the faring. All the stages are the same, and the capabilities are very similar. Its just that you can put in a bigger sized payload.
I made this model the same way I did the last one, with Metasequoia, Pepakura, Paint Shop Pro 8, MS Word and FreePDF XP. The only real headache was getting all the mission patches and other decals to put on the model. It took me a couple weeks or web surfing to get what I wanted, but I eventually found them all.
This model went smoother than the first one, since I learned from all the mistakes I had made. I even made a stand for it this time. I included it in a separate file and its available at the bottom of the page.
Pictures and Download
Here are a few pictures for you to compare and contrast with. This one turned out rather well too.
You can see here how big it is. It's taller than the normal version, but not by too much. I'm not the best of card model builders, but I like to think I'm pretty good.
Download the Model model here.
Revision 1 was released 2 Sept 07.
Instructions and building notes are included with the model. I recommend that you print this on regular white paper, around 20-24 lb. The stand should be printed on medium weight card stock.