The first Mach 6 X-15....

[dhanners]

For my 10th X-15 build in 1/72nd scale, I chose to model the first X-15 to reach Mach 6. On 9 November 1961, Robert White flew X-15-2, 66671, and hit 4,093 mph (6587 km/h), setting an unofficial speed record.

At the time of the flight, 66671 had a worn appearance. Of particular note are two patches of white paint on the port side — one on the forward fuselage near the front of the side tunnel, and the other on the front part of the canopy. The other side of the canopy was standard black. There was also a white rectangle in front of the canopy. They were testing whether the paint reduced surface heating during hypersonic flight.

Also of note was the vertical stabilizer. The port side had the yellow NASA band but no serial number. The starboard side looked peculiar; a stripe of gray temperature-sensitive paint that had been carried on earlier flights had been removed, but there were still remnants of the stripe. The serial number was very heavily worn and scorched and is hardly readable in photos.

To build the basic vehicle, I used a variety of parts from some of Yukonjohn’s repaints of Henry Yuen’s X-15. Since I don’t do repainting, I replicated the white panels by cutting out where they were on the fuselage and grafting in pieces of white cardstock.

I replicated the wear and scorching on the vertical stabilizer by drybrushing with black paint. As usual, I scratchbuilt a more accurate XLR-99 motor, the various jettison tubes, etc.

(In posting the photos, I noticed I forgot to add the speed brake actuators. Oops. Gotta go back and do that....)