Scale Data for Soviet SA-3

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

kbfrazier

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
95
Reaction score
11
Hello,

I'm looking at building a Soviet SA-3 (S-125 Neva/Pechora) for NSL 2015. Mid-Power Two Stage. Around 3-4 ft long.

Does anyone have a decent set of plans for this missile?

I love the Soviets unique designs and the amount of detail on their missiles.

Any help would be benifical,

Keith
 
Subscribed.:pop:

A lot of folks here will be supportive of your Effort, but a lot will also not because they either don't like Soviet/Communist Stuff or they don't like Weapons in general.
I for one love both, and will gladly help you find the Information you seek, as I too wish to do a Scale Build of one of these eventually.
I'll come back to this Thread when I have some Data.:)
 
There's a dimensioned drawing in "Fourteen Soviet Missiles of the Cold War" available from NARTS: https://blastzone.org/nar/narts/store.asp?groupid=1080035015601

I based the drawings on some very good detailed drawings from a Russian or Eastern European modeler.

Peter Alway

I saw "14 U.S. Missiles of the Cold War", then "12 Soviet Missiles of the Cold War", but no "14 Soviet Missiles of the Cold War".
The Cover on the 12 Soviet Missiles does not appear to feature an SA-3.:(
 
I saw "14 U.S. Missiles of the Cold War", then "12 Soviet Missiles of the Cold War", but no "14 Soviet Missiles of the Cold War".
The Cover on the 12 Soviet Missiles does not appear to feature an SA-3.:(

You are correct that it is "Twelve Soviet Missiles..." not Fourteen. The little missile, second to the last, between the SA-2 and the Griffon ABM, is the SA-3

Peter Alway
 
You are correct that it is "Twelve Soviet Missiles..." not Fourteen. The little missile, second to the last, between the SA-2 and the Griffon ABM, is the SA-3

Peter Alway


Sweet! Looks like I know what Book I'll be ordering next. Thanks!
 
I have been gathering pictures, drawings, links on this AGM for the last 6 months. I have been toying with the idea of doing a scale for my L3 (premature at this point). If I get there and if I am not discouraged by my eventual TAPs it's currently my top candidate to be built as a two stager but launched as a single stage (no booster) for my L3. If it survives and I earn my L3 it will then be launched with the booster...lots of "ifs"

I am happy to share the details I have gathered if you PM me, I can zip them up and email them over as there are too many to post.
 
I have been gathering pictures, drawings, links on this AGM for the last 6 months. I have been toying with the idea of doing a scale for my L3 (premature at this point). If I get there and if I am not discouraged by my eventual TAPs it's currently my top candidate to be built as a two stager but launched as a single stage (no booster) for my L3. If it survives and I earn my L3 it will then be launched with the booster...lots of "ifs"

I am happy to share the details I have gathered if you PM me, I can zip them up and email them over as there are too many to post.

It's a SAM, not an AGM.:confused:
 
Mpitfield, what he means is:

SAM --- Surface to Air Missile

AGM --- Air to Ground Missile
 
To those who want to build a scale model of the S-125, I suggest that you do some interwebs scrounging to find "just right" pix of the missile before you decide that the entire forebody is one continuous curve. The Soviets/Russians are very good at designing simple shapes (like conics) that are easy and inexpensive to build. Look for photos taken at shallow angles to the length of the missile; many of these photos will emphasize the detailed contour by showing specific light reflections. A continuously curved body will often show a light reflection at only one spot along the length, while a cone will show a line of reflected light that runs the entire length of the conic. Dig for those pix, and look closely. If you are lucky enough to get close to one of these in an actual museum display, look for a photographic angle to highlight these light reflections.

And no, I do not have the detail shape of this missile.
 
Funny you should say that. In 2007 I visited a number of rocket-related places in former East Germany, some of which had SA-3s. Perhaps these will show the way the missile is made of cones rather than curved parts:
466sa3.jpg 302sa3_small.jpg 066sa3_small.jpg

(The second one, on display at Peenemünde, appears to have the foremost cone bent out of line.)

Incidentally, if you're using Russian designations, what you're building is either the V-600, alias 5V24; or the V-601, alias 5V27, those being the missiles themselves. The S-125 was the entire system. ;)
 
Last edited:
Man! It has to be just about one of the ***iest looking Missiles ever concieved!!!
A thing of Beauty for sure!
Adrian, those Pics' are great but the second one with the screwed up Tip of the Cone makes me want to kick someone in the Face.
How dare they fudge up the assembly of the Display!!!:mad:
That's like hanging the Mona Lisa sideways.
 
Man! It has to be just about one of the ***iest looking Missiles ever concieved!!!
A thing of Beauty for sure!
Adrian, those Pics' are great but the second one with the screwed up Tip of the Cone makes me want to kick someone in the Face.
How dare they fudge up the assembly of the Display!!!:mad:
That's like hanging the Mona Lisa sideways.

But the Mona Lisa is still ugly no matter how you hang it!:D
 
Greetings
Here's a couple drawings from soviet manuals I downloaded.
Enjoy
JM:dark:
xsts/ss

What's best about your Post and the Soviet Drawings is that it disproves the "Easy Way Out Solution", to assume that it is just a bunch of Cones, rather than an elegantly curved Body. Somehow do to "Ease of Manufacture" or an assumption that the Soviets somehow were inferior in thier Methods/Skill Level when it come to Missiles.:mad:
Screw that "Bunch of Cones" Theory!!!!:bangbang:
 
I tend to agree that the sustainer body is definitely a curved surface not a series of cones. My next attempt to build this particular missle will be done with a curved body instead of the two cone prototype I built.
 
What's best about your Post and the Soviet Drawings is that it disproves the "Easy Way Out Solution", to assume that it is just a bunch of Cones, rather than an elegantly curved Body.
Take a closer look at "sa125 dim.pdf". Not only does it show that most of the forward body is a series of cones, it even gives their lengths and diameters at each end. The sustainer is divided into five compartments ("отсек"), of which number 1 appears to be a curved edge cone. Numbers 2 to 4 are straight-sided cones. Number 5 is mostly cylindrical.
 
Take a closer look at "sa125 dim.pdf". Not only does it show that most of the forward body is a series of cones, it even gives their lengths and diameters at each end. The sustainer is divided into five compartments ("отсек"), of which number 1 appears to be a curved edge cone. Numbers 2 to 4 are straight-sided cones. Number 5 is mostly cylindrical.

Actually, I am kinda' wondering about the Drawings, as in the conduits Drawing, it shows the Kooky Nose Cone Tip, just like that Mock up Model???
 
Actually, I am kinda' wondering about the Drawings, as in the conduits Drawing, it shows the Kooky Nose Cone Tip, just like that Mock up Model???
That's only showing the conduits. It doesn't need to get the main body accurate. :) On the other hand, "sa125 dim.pdf" shows the booster to be deformed as well.

But there's another way to be sure. Find the highest resolution photo of an SA-3 you can. Open it with Photoshop, GIMP or any other image-processing program of your choice which can draw straight lines. Zoom in on the body and draw a line along an edge. Either the edge is straight and you'll be able to get the line to fit, or the edge is curved and you'll see the curvature relative to the best fitting line.

Also, take another look at the first photo I posted on 17th October. Due to the cramped space in the museum, I couldn't get a decent side-on view for modelling purposes, but the near head-on shot here shows clearly the distinct, straight-edged cones of the forward body. And, for that matter, the nose cone. Some Soviet missiles had smooth, curve-sided noses; the SA-3 wasn't one of them. (The SA-5 did have a curve-sided nose cone; you can see two of them in the background of that photo.)
 
Last edited:
If I ever win the Lottery I'm just going to buy one of the Real ones. My Dream is to own my very own Missile Museum.
I'm sure that there are a few Countries in Europe that would probably let you "Push the Button" on a real one for the Right Price to shoot down a Drone or a Flock of Geese.
There is a Place in China where Weapons Tourism is pretty hot. I've read about it in Gun Digest. You get to pay to shoot RPGs, Mortars, Artillery Pieces and Anti-Aircraft stuff.
 
Take a closer look at "sa125 dim.pdf". Not only does it show that most of the forward body is a series of cones, it even gives their lengths and diameters at each end. The sustainer is divided into five compartments ("отсек"), of which number 1 appears to be a curved edge cone. Numbers 2 to 4 are straight-sided cones. Number 5 is mostly cylindrical.

Your right, its a series of cones with a short straight in between the long cone in middle and the short cone that has the canards, the nose cone maybe 2 conical sections as well.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top