Delta-winged X-15, in 1/72

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by Paper Kosmonaut

You're welcome, Mike. colourwise, I guess the Aircraft might have been natural metallic in colour. Paint would strip off anyway and the orange Bell used was in the early days when they thought orange was a good hi-viz colour for high flying aircraft. Maybe some white was used but I think it would be natural metal.
I think the wider rear end section of the Douglas version is really odd.

My layman’s guess would be they’d be the color of whatever exotic alloy they were built from. All three X-15s were painted semi-gloss black at rollout, but the paint was removed or came off and so the vehicles took on the dark color of the Inconel X750 alloy. (The thrust chamber of the F-1 engine on the Saturn V was made of Inconel X750.)

As the X-15 program progressed and speeds got faster, technicians found the heat turned paint into a goopy mess. Keeping the airframes fully marked wasn’t a high priority. By the time 66670 flew its last flight, aside from the normal warning markings, it carried only the U.S. AIR FORCE legend on the fuselage and serial numbers on the tail. (It also had camera targets painted on the tailplanes.)

[Paper Kosmonaut]

I suppose you're right, David. Paint and heat are not the best of companions anyway. Now the question is would they all be made of Inconel X alloy types or would, say, stainless steel also be an option?