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Not all my "X"'s live in Texas. Edwards maybe.... Northrop X-4 Bantam


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The first of my Edwards X's. Collect-Aires Northrop X-4 Bantam. 

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Nice and small, compact. So small it only took 2 images to show everything. With build space at a premium at the moment just the ticket. Let's see what kind of mystical magical mystery tour this will become.

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Well, you know how Special Hobby is: They do subjects other makers won't touch, but their fit is often dreadful. The instructions are vague and no locating pins. That said, the  X-15 has tons of gorgeous resin castings. And, as I was working for Scale Aircaft Modeller at the time, I got it gratis, so I can't really complain.

I do wish we had more modern X-plane kits. There's the ancient Lindberg X-3 in box scale and the '50s vintage Revell X-5 is in something close to 1/32. If you can find one, Eduard's 1/48 X-1 is a little gem.

Eager to see how your X-4 turns out. Chuck Yeager said the thing was a beast to fly.

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Another X-plane. We're getting the early numbers well covered in our GB already :thumbsup: This kit doesn't look to need much if any augmentation Loren.

 

51 minutes ago, Thomas Bell said:

Nice, I've always wanted to do an X-4, but Collect Aire is out of my range. You've inspired me to finish my D-558-1 and my 1/32 X-15, both by Special Hobby.

How far on are your D-558-1 and X-15 Thomas? Both would be most welcome in our GB and we're taking a rather open-minded view of the 25% rule to encourage projects that can be finished to continue here rather than languishing on the Shame Shelf.

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8 minutes ago, Col. said:

Another X-plane. We're getting the early numbers well covered in our GB already :thumbsup: This kit doesn't look to need much if any augmentation Loren.

 

How far on are your D-558-1 and X-15 Thomas? Both would be most welcome in our GB and we're taking a rather open-minded view of the 25% rule to encourage projects that can be finished to continue here rather than languishing on the Shame Shelf.

I did not know there was a GB. Neither of mine are more than 25%. What's the deadline? If I can master the wing and tail butt joints on the 558, I think I can finish pretty quickly.

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3 minutes ago, Thomas Bell said:

I did not know there was a GB. Neither of mine are more than 25%. What's the deadline? If I can master the wing and tail butt joints on the 558, I think I can finish pretty quickly.

We are here 'til 15th January :)

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11 minutes ago, Thomas Bell said:

Great. Plenty of time for both. Is anyone doing the X-15?

Not yet but there's no bar on two or more people doing the same subject.

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Well since I've until the 15th of Jan. I might be just able to finish off some of my "X"s.  Bell's X-1B, Bell X-2, Douglas X-3, of course the Northrop X-4, and the Bell X-5. All 1/48 except the X-5, It's the oddball in 1/40  I might be able to come up with some more but this should do for a start. Like I said not all my X's are in Texas.:innocent: The X-1 Mach buster though I had to start in the main forum to finish by the 75th Anniversary on Oct 14th. God knows why I do this to myself every time.

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The engine housings and fuselage are totally asymmetric on my kit,  not sure if that’s the master/mould or just a bad casting…it gets continuously worse from front to back. Maybe check your parts first and devise a plan :)

Mine has been on the shelf of doom for over 10 years now…

J

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3 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

Well since I've until the 15th of Jan. I might be just able to finish off some of my "X"s.  Bell's X-1B, Bell X-2, Douglas X-3, of course the Northrop X-4, and the Bell X-5. All 1/48 except the X-5, It's the oddball in 1/40  I might be able to come up with some more but this should do for a start. Like I said not all my X's are in Texas.:innocent: The X-1 Mach buster though I had to start in the main forum to finish by the 75th Anniversary on Oct 14th. God knows why I do this to myself every time.

May I ask who makes your X-1B? I'd love to have one. My beloved Eduard XS-1 got smashed by the moving company I hired, and the Eduard kit is long OOP, I believe. Of course, if you trust your models to movers, you deserve what you get.

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1 hour ago, Thomas Bell said:

May I ask who makes your X-1B? I'd love to have one. My beloved Eduard XS-1 got smashed by the moving company I hired, and the Eduard kit is long OOP, I believe. Of course, if you trust your models to movers, you deserve what you get.

Its an old Strombecker 1/48 re-re-released by Glenco a few years ago. Its going to need a lot of work to update. Very old 50's model. I think its still available.

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On 9/26/2022 at 7:24 PM, JeffreyK said:

The engine housings and fuselage are totally asymmetric on my kit,  not sure if that’s the master/mould or just a bad casting…it gets continuously worse from front to back. Maybe check your parts first and devise a plan :)

Mine has been on the shelf of doom for over 10 years now…

J

After you mentioned it Jeff I went back and checked mine. it's slightly asymmetrical. the bottom matches perfectly, the top twists up on the left a little less than a MM and the right twists down a little less than a MM. Strange but not insurmountable. Actually for a Collect-Aire model, it's in better shape than others I've built. It may even be pinhole FREE! Which for me is amazing. but I'll know better when I get a coat of paint on it.

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Speaking of "fits" let's see how far this gem is progressing. This is the second smallest plane I've built. the other was  an XF-85 Goblin a while back. so there's not much to this build.

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The cockpit isn't bad but I will have to make my own bang seat, the white metal seat supplied in the kit is sorely lacking. but the tub got a coat of light grey and aluminum in spots. a dark wash to pick out what details there are and silver pencil to highlight the instrument panel gauges.

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Joining everything together as far as cockpit, wings and rear , as mentioned earlier, showed the rear part slightly off. Not too bad though, I've done some of these Collect-Aire kits that would curl your hair,if there was any left. but that's what makes these fun and challenging to do in a twisted sort of way. From what I've read, Collect-Aire subcontracted various eastern European artisans to design and produce limited releases. so the quality not only sung wildly from company to company, but from individual kit to kit. each one has its own peculiar "quirks". Usually micro pin holes, but sometimes, warped castings or worse.  They do make you get your "A" game on when doing one.

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Since this is a resin kit I masked off the joins to keep the excess filler and subsequent damage from sanding off the filler to the resin.

 

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The tail is one of those "quirks". no locating pins. so I carefully used a micro bit to drill corresponding holes in the tail fin and the fuselage to hold the tail securely in place.

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Then I used a thin piece of brass rod to hold everything securely in place.

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Now its just a matter of filling in all the seams.

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This will dry overnight then I'll sand down and probably have to re-apply in spots. But all things considered "knock on wood":banghead: it's coming together better than I expected. then I'ss see what kinds of extra detail I can add to improve the  look.

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I use 3M Acryl-white auto body glazing putty. It dries fairly fast, sands down real well and will feather out to a fine degree. It's pricey but a 400g tube will last me a couple of years.

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