One more X-15 for today….

[dhanners]

One more card X-15 build in 1/48 for today…. This is the first X-15, 66670, as it looked on its last flight — the 199th and last flight of the X-15 program. By the end of the program, technicians had essentially stopped reapplying painted markings after flights. Paint turned into a gooey mess at the X-15’s speeds anyway. On its last flight, 66670 carried only the U.S. AIR FORCE (albeit heavily weathered) on the side tunnels, the serial number on both sides of the dorsal tail, and camera targets on the upper surface of the tailplanes. Although there were no national markings on the wings, technicians either inexplicably repainted the “NO STEP” markings on the flaps, or used flaps that had been in storage. (Mixing parts from one X-15 to another was not uncommon.)

 

The basic model is available online, but I had a friend do a “repaint” (common in cardmodeling) to represent the last flight. The model was in 1/72nd scale, but I enlarged it to 1/48th. I added a number of scratchbuilt items to improve accuracy. Among the added items were the wingtip experiment pods and the experiment box behind the tail.

 

After its last flight, 66670 was placed in storage and then shipped to the Smithsonian; it is displayed today at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Before being shipped to the museum, NASA repainted markings on the vehicle.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by dhanners

[Pete in Lincs]

Very impressive model and the Aircraft itself is still a good looker.