Scargsy Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 So I'll be building this... Not a huge amount of parts, originally appears to have been moulded in 1959 it would appear from Scalemates, in a rather odd 1/64th scale. This is a recent (well relatively) reboxing, using the box-art from 1961 - this is the 1994 reissue, judging by the copyright notice on the side of the box. After opening up the contents (it was still in the shrink-wrap) it does have a bit of a musty odour but the decals don't look too bad, might be serviceable if not too brittle (I have some decal film solution so hopefully that will help). Not much in the way of parts, though I noticed this date mark on the wing (1982), the parts have had a bit of rashing from rubbing about in the single poly bag (all the black parts were in a single bag, randomly the single clear part was just loose in the box). You can also see the underside slot in the image, used for the stand, a few sink marks (where the locator pins are on the other side) and the odd raise circle (not sure if that's meant to be some detail on the wing)? Well I couldn't help myself and decided to make a start - the cockpit is a very minimal affair (though the windows are tiny TBH) consisting of a single floor piece and a separate pilot figure (already moulded into a seat). By way of contrast the engine/rocket is a multi-piece affair though only a tiny part will be visible when finished (exhaust nossle interior). Hopefully it should be a simple, quick and fun build! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Welcome aboard … Its one Ive always wanted to build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 The 1982 kit was issued under 'The History Makers' label, have always wanted to build that one so will be watching yours with interest 👍 Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Another fine choice,great subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scargsy Posted July 22, 2022 Author Share Posted July 22, 2022 So I managed to get some more parts together... The rocket motor assembly is supposed to just fit onto the back (not be glued) but I'll be gluing it, along with the control surfaces and parts of the tail plane. In my excitement to get it together I glued the canopy in, then the fuselage together without fitting the clear glass! So I guess I'll either have to omit the glass or attempt to create some (I've seen videos of people using Microscale Krystal Klear to make windows so hopefully I can manage without making too much mess!) The horizontal control surfaces at the rear are currently freely rotating (as the instructions suggest) but sit at odd angles compared to one another, so I'll fix them in place once I've cleaned up the seam lines. I'm not sure what to do about the skid pads - I'm going to model it 'in flight', the scant instructions just say to not fit them in that case, I can't really find any good reference material about them though (should they be in pods folded up or do they shoot out of the body, meaning the skid surfaces should be exposed on the exterior?) I did find a video on YouTube and they seemed to shoot out pretty fast rather than hinge down but it's hard to tell. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ballman Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Nice start on a Old School kit. Keep your Sprues Empty. JB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 22 hours ago, Scargsy said: I've seen videos of people using Microscale Krystal Klear to make windows so hopefully I can manage without making too much mess!) Ive used similar stuff many times myself. Trick is to go slowly and build up the window. Patience though as it may seem milky at first and it will until it dries. But in the end they do come clear, if not you can redo them as it should be easily removable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 22 hours ago, Scargsy said: I'm not sure what to do about the skid pads - I'm going to model it 'in flight', the scant instructions just say to not fit them in that case, I can't really find any good reference material about them though (should they be in pods folded up or do they shoot out of the body, meaning the skid surfaces should be exposed on the exterior?) I Here check photo’s 19, 20, & 29 out. Looks like the skids a folded up against the skin. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/north-american-x-15/nasm_A19690360000 Edited July 23, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scargsy Posted August 8, 2022 Author Share Posted August 8, 2022 A small amount of progress - seemed to take me an age filling and sanding this thing before I've added the tail fins, though I've now notices some sink holes in there too! Still need to fix those rear control surfaces, work out how to mount the skids flush in flight position then a bit of cleanup and onto priming! 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAF Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 Watching as I've got one in line to be built. 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimJ Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 Nice work so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 On 8/8/2022 at 11:34 AM, Scargsy said: A small amount of progress - seemed to take me an age filling and sanding this thing before I've added the tail fins, though I've now notices some sink holes in there too! Looking good - I'm guessing the primer will show up more sink holes as well.... 😏 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scargsy Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 So onto paint - I filled my window holes/mistake with a bit of sponge for masking... Here's the results, alongside the F-5 build. I primed with a mix of Mr Surfacer 1500 Black (3 parts) and Mr Surfacer 1000 Grey (1 part), that then thinned 1:1 with self leveling thinners. Yes there were a few small mistakes with the filling, mainly along the front section... I decided to try using some Mr Dissolved Putty as filler, since I haven't tried it before and I like to try new things - see if I'm missing out! It seems OK, though didn't shrink back as much as I'd been lead to believe. That's it for now, another coat of paint/primer required when I get round to it, hopefully I can mix a similar colour up since I only roughly eyeballed the mix - though as long as it blends it should be fine! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scargsy Posted October 7, 2022 Author Share Posted October 7, 2022 So another coat of primer/paint mix, then a light gloss coat and it was time to add the decals, scanned here (incase it all went to pieces)... The decals are pretty thick, annoyingly time seems to have welded them to the paper. Once they do loosen off they don't seem to want to slide much on the model so placement was a bit fraught, also they now seem more out of register than they were on the backing paper! Also I get the feeling some of the text is a bit out of scale and they are lacking in detail and sharpness compared to modern offerings. Still I got most of them on (I ignored the black 'no step' on a black body, etc.) and then gave it a bit of a sealing with another coat of clear - it's a bit rough and bobbly but I'm going to call time on this build, not sure I'll be able to improve on it. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 Looks great sorry to hear the decals didn't work great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 That turned out very nicely! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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