Special Hobby X-15A2

[BloorwestSiR]

Hi folks,

 

I've had this kit since it came out but was always a bit intimidated by all the pipe work for the external tanks. This new GB gave me enogh reason to break it out and git'er done.

 

Sorry for the lousy photo quality. I've mis-placed my digicam (again) so I just have the one on my phone. Here's the box and all its contents:

 

 

Sorry about the flash there

 

 

 

In searching out reviews on the kit and some of the build-ups, I found this set of instructions with addendum notes added noting any corrections and errors. They were done by Tony Landis so credit to him for providing some great info and tips. They're all done in red so it's very easy to pick them out from the kit instructions. He's noted some part number errors, position and orientation of some parts as well as the errors on the decal sheet.

 

http://www.edwardsfl...nstructions.pdf

Edited July 9, 2012 by BloorwestSiR

[Out2gtcha]

Cooooool, you almost NEVER see this kit being built!

 

Will definitely follow along...............looking forward to more.

[BloorwestSiR]

I started the kit by fitting the 4 sections of the fueslage together. After some trial and error (but no glue), I decided to go with cementing the fore and aft sections together (as per the instructions)and making just top and bottom halves:

 

 

Special Hobby molds in a flange to help with the alighment of the halves but the shoulder was a bit tall and i ended up scraping some plastic off the areas to create a better fitting joint. Most of the kit's parts do not have square edges where they end so they need to squared off as well.

 

The rear sections of the fuselage don't meet in a butt joint but actually overlap, with the upper part being molded integral with the short vertical sections. It's simlar to the F-16 in that area of the fuselage. The problem is that you can easily squeeaze the fuselage and the joint will break as there are no internal supports for the lower fuselage except for the joint itself. As a result, I added some styrene squares inside the fuselage to give it some support:

 

 

Here's the upper and lower halves held together to give an idea of the extra support:

 

[BloorwestSiR]

Cooooool, you almost NEVER see this kit being built!

 

Will definitely follow along...............looking forward to more.

 

 

Thanks Brian,

 

There was a step by step build article on Cybermodeler a couple of years ago of the original kit without the tanks. It was an incredible build, especially the paint job but the links are no longer there.

 

There are definitely some fit issues but the main bits seem to be fine. One thing that is interesting is Special Hobby includes the full lower vertical fin. This gives you the option of building it in flight. Seeing as the X-15 had such sleek lines, I may have to consider this and forego the landing gear and dolly.

 

Carl

[Out2gtcha]

One thing that is interesting is Special Hobby includes the full lower vertical fin. This gives you the option of building it in flight. Seeing as the X-15 had such sleek lines, I may have to consider this and forego the landing gear and dolly.

 

This would be a perfect candidate for a gear up build................sleek in flight lines, nothing can really be seen in the closed pit, so not much work needed there...........and the lower fin down would add a cool dimension to the final build.

[Youngtiger1]

Totally awesome...you picked one cool subject dude. I have the original kit without the dolly and tanks, but I'm thinking about getting this just so I can have the dolly and added tanks. I will follow this very closely to see what you do with this kit. Keep up the good work.

 

Mike

[xmh53wrench]

Too cool!!!! I used to draw the X-15 all the time as a kid, it was one of my favs growing up. Have fun!!

 

PS, and WELCOME to A-OOB

Edited July 10, 2012 by xmh53wrench

[scvrobeson]

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65439&hl=Deanflyer

 

This should help you. A great build by a great builder

 

 

 

Matt

[Derek B]

That is one unusual and exotic (and large) kit Carl. I have never seen this kit before, so I shall follow your build with interest - it should look awesome!

 

Cheers

 

Derek

[Kagemusha]

Fanch made one on here http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=17431&st=0 got one in the stash so will be following with interest, I'm quite tempted to do mine "in flight" too.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/X-15A-2-North-American-Aviation-1-15th-scale-NASA-contractor-build-/180919511426?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1fa4a982 just looks the business!

[Out2gtcha]

YAR!

 

Wheels up FTW!

 

Not however, for 15,000

[billwinkes]

I've got one stalled in progress. Another to save from the closet of doom. I'll follow your build, too.

Bill

[BloorwestSiR]

Thanks guys for the great feedback. it is surprising how few of these kits (in any of the three releases) have actually been built.

 

I'm leaning more and more towards wheels (and skids) up and in-flight. Which would get me around some of the problems I'm encountering in the cockpit. I'm going to paint up the canopy on the weekend to find out just how much is visible (my feeling, not a lot) and go from there.

 

This will also help solve a couple of of the accuracy issues with the nose gear bay too.

 

The build by Fancher is the one I saw on Cybermodeler. That was an incredible build.

 

I'll try to get some updates this weekend.

 

Carl

[BloorwestSiR]

Hi Dean,

 

I looked at your build and that is a great looking aircraft. The paint and weathering are fantastic. Thanks for giving me an idea of what this kit looks like especially with the tanks on it.

 

So, after some deliberations, I have decided to go the opposite route of our build leader Brian, and leave out the cockpit. With the canopy closed, it'll be very difficult to see anything in there and I'm going to mount the plane on one of the extra stands from my Tamiya Spitfire kits and build it wheels up. I'm also going to use some of the Spitfire's magnets to (hopefully) attach the external tanks with so that they're removeable.

 

That should still be within the rules of the GB right?

 

Carl

[BloorwestSiR]

Hi Maru,

 

Here's where I left off. I went ahead and closed up the gear bays. The nose gear doors were a bit of a challenge as they weren't a match to the opening in the fuselage so there are some gaps to fill in:

 

 

I then modified the stand bit that goes inside the Tamiya Spitfire slipper tank to fit the fuselage. I reinforced it with a bit (a lot?) of CA so it doesn't come undone: