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I just guess it's because it is a less complicated set of shapes to design that way. An X-15 chine is in this case just a kind of parallellogram with more or less outward bent sides. The fuselage with the chines incorporated would have to follow the cross-section. That means segments of fuselage parts which are then clad with a paper hull. This leads up to a much more blocky shape with a less fluent, curvaceous shape.
Another method could be the way Maksim of Maksart models designs his aircraft fuselages: A whole load of crossing bulkheads that create an internal structure which is then clad with an outer layer of paper as the hull. With the right shapes, you could get it very very rounded but this is one of the hardest ways to get curves into a paper model, I think. Also one of the best. Just look at his Su-27.
I also am no designer but I can see why Ken (and the others) made the X-15 chines as separate parts.
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