#1
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Ken West's X-15A-2
The X-15 is probably the most famous of the "X" planes. Over the course of 199 flights from 1959 to 1968, it expanded our knowledge of rocket-powered flight and winged re-entry. Three X-15s were built -- 66670, 66671 and 66672. After 66671 broke its back in a heavy landing, it was rebuilt with a 28-inch fuselage extension and other modifications and rechristened the X-15A-2. The fuselage stretch held a tank for liquid hydrogen to fuel a supersonic ramjet. (In a bit of irony, the working ramjet never flew so the tank was never used.) It also was capable of carrying two large external tanks for liquid ammonia and liquid oxygen; they provided about 60 extra seconds of powered flight. In October 1967, William Knight set a world speed record for a manned powered aircraft: 4,520 mph.
Despite hitting Mach 6.7, it could be argued the X-15A-2 was a dog. There were numerous aborted launches and in-flight failures. In fact, the X-15A-2's record-setting flight was its last. Although it wascovered in a white ablative coating, heat burned through the structure of the lower tail where a dummy scramjet was attached. The vehicle suffered other damage as well. Ken West's model of the X-15A-2 hit the market in 2009 (it is available at https://www.ecardmodels.com/index.php/) and its quality and detail easily eclipsed the X-15 models then available. Still does. It included a detailed cockpit and landing gear. I put off building it for years because I'm not a fan of the 'A-2 and I was waiting for the shorter, un-stretched X-15 which Ken said he planned to do. That version has not been forthcoming, so I decided to build the 'A-2. Ken's model is 1/32nd, but I shrunk it to 1/48th. I built it "in flight," with the cockpit closed, the gear up and the lower tail intact, and I modeled one of the flights without external tanks. Ken's model builds into a great replica, but I added some details to enhance accuracy. The big thing about modeling the X-15 is getting the weathering correct; the vehicle showed signs of heat stress and weathering, and the panels are a mish-mash of shades of blue-black (the vehicle's Inconel construction) or black paint. Ken's model depicts the black panels as gray, which I take issue with, but there's nothing I can do about that. It is also important to get the sheen correct. In looking at photos online, a lot of plastic modelers model the X-15 as matte black, which is incorrect. It was an enjoyable build. Maybe doing it at 1/32nd scale wouldn't be so bad, but I'd MUCH prefer to model the original X-15, 66670. If only a good kit were available.... |
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#2
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Beautiful! And a great job. Just leaving off the tanks already improves the sleek look a lot. How did you get the surface shinier? Toner-based prints instead of inkjet? Or did you use a satin spray varnish?
Like we said in that other thread about this build, it indeed really is a pity there isn't a 'short' X-15 model in this scale/detail available. It seems odd to me that every model designer, be it plastic or paper, always tends to lean to the stretched version. I think the original version is aesthetically more pleasing, having better proportions and all. (just not the first appearance with the long christmas pitot tube, but the first ball nose appearance.) |
#3
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Quote:
And yeah, the original X-15 would be a welcome model; if you had alternate versions, you could build it with or without the pitot boom. I'm not convinced this model can't be shortened (Ken says it can't) and if a person has some scratchbuilding skill and ability to repaint graphics, I suspect it could be done. I should list my alterations. They include: -- Ken has you glue the horizontal stabilizers directly to the fuselage, but in reality, the stabs are attached at a pivot and in photos, you can see daylight between them and the fuselage side. I added a pivot, a small disk cut from black cardstock, to provide some clearance between the stabilizers and fuselage. (Similarly, you can see a sliver of daylight between the two sections of the vertical stabilizer. I should have modeled that but didn't. I did, however, add sections cut from black cardstock disks and glued them to the separation line at the pivot point; the disks show up in photos of the real thing.) -- Most rear photos I've seen of the X-15 show a thin row of black and white vertical lines along the trailing edges of the wings and stabilizers. Not sure what it is, but I modeled it. Typed a long row of the letter "i" and printed it out, then cut very thin strips and glued them to the trailing edges. -- I used a wooden ball to replicate the helium tank at the base of the upper vertical stabilizer. Ken provides a good dome part, but I hate building domes.... -- The rear of the moving section of the upper vertical stabilizer is corrugated, so I cut thin strips from black cardstock and glued them to the kit's piece to simulate the corrugation. -- The A-2 had some sort of narrow silvery metal plate added to the upper rear fuselage. I cut pieces out of silver cardstock and glued them on. -- Weathering was done here and there with a white pencil. |
#4
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Outstanding job. Still one of my favorite aircraft from those exiting times in aviation and space.
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#5
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Very nice for sure!
__________________
Ray Respect the Paper, RESPECT IT! GET OFF MY LAWN! |
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#6
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Now that's a great looking model. Well done.
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Regards, Don I don't always build models, but when I do... I prefer paper. Keep your scissors sharp, my friends. |
#7
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Most excellent work as always, David!
Les (The Voice of Authority) |
#8
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Like you I too have toyed with building this kit. Now that I’ve seen it finished I may have to move it up to the top of the, to be built pile.
Absolutely great job, very nicely done. |
#9
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That's a great-looking model there David.
__________________
This is a great hobby for the retiree - interesting, time-consuming, rewarding - and about as inexpensive a hobby as you can find. Shamelessly stolen from a post by rockpaperscissor |
#10
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Great looking X-15. Very nice build.
Gary
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"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything" - Wyatt Earp Design Group Alpha https://ecardmodels.com/vendors/design-group-alpha |
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