R-7 model 1:20

The R-7 was designed as an intercontinental ballistic missile but served briefly in that role: oxygen loading took hours and the launch facilities were bulky. As a space launcher, however, it proved ideal. The packet layout with all engines ignited simultaneously on the ground solved the problem of reliable in-flight ignition, and the conical load structure of the strap-ons transferred loads to the core. Those solutions still work today. The model is displayed beside the Soyuz-2 model — showing how little the scheme has changed in sixty years.