Soviet LOK Moon Ship (1970)

Scale: 1/48
Initial Release: 2021
Medium: Resin
Kit Rarity: 2

About the Design

The Soviet 7K-LOK, or simply "LOK," was Soviet Russia's answer to America's Apollo moon program. Unlike Apollo, which carried a crew of three, the LOK was designed to carry only two cosmonauts; one would stay with the mothership in lunar orbit while the second would descend to the lunar surface aboard the LK Lander.

The LOK also differed from the Apollo spacecraft in that it did not have a transfer tunnel leading from the command module to the lunar lander with which it was docked; this would have required the lunar astronaut to make the dangerous move of transferring between vehicles via EVA.

Three unmanned LOK missions were launched between 1970 and 1972. The first flight took it only into Earth orbit. The second two, intended to send the craft to the moon, were aborted when their N-1 boosters failed. Ultimately, with America continuing to score points with their Apollo moon landings, the Soviets chose to abandon their lunar program and stick to simpler missions in low earth orbit.

About the Kit

This 1:48 scale LOK kit was released by Fantastic Plastic Models in early January 2021. It was a multi-media kit, featuring a combination of cast-resin, printed resin, photo-etched brass, and styrene and steel wire components.

The first scale model of the LOK ever produced, it pared nicely with the 1:48 LK Lunar Lander Fantastic Plastic had in perpetual release since 2013.