I was at the local hobby store yesterday, and on a whim bought a 1/350th scale X-15 made by Heller. It was only $4 or $5. (yes, that’s foreshadowing)
I didn’t expect much for that price…and it’s a good thing too.
Not a lot of detail, but an incredible fold out full color instructions page.
Two things the kit is missing: canopy glass/windshields, and any interior detail.
I’ve got enough clear scraps in my part box to come up with the windscreen, that’s not a problem.
But, even though it’s a small kit, you’ll still be able to see inside the cockpit…which is a void of empty space. I’m going to try to scratcbuild something really simple as it will be hard to see in there so I won’t need a ton of detail.
Anyone know a good resource for what the cockpit looks like?
There’s quite a number of sites out there that might have pictures - as unnamed player suggests, try a search on google, as well as altavista, yahoo, and any other search engine you can think of for the X-15. I’ve also found good info on NASA sites, the Dryden Flight Research centre, as well as sites on ejection seats (yes, ejection seats) as they often have photos of the seats both in and out of the cockpits of various aircraft. Try the site http://www.ejectionsite.com/ ,
and then try their URL to links to other similar sites. Also, try http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/
and their links as well. With a little imaginative searching, you can find more stuff than you can believe…
Good luck [:D]
1:350 scale? That thing must be tiny! Even on a 1:72 scale model, the X-15 had such small windows that you couldn’t see the cockpit detail anyway. One solution might be to paint the entire model with that white heat-ablative paint which was applied right over the glass, too.
A great source of detail is the Aerofax Datagraph #2. There is more info there than you’ll EVER need, unless you are restoring an actual aircraft!
This kit isn’t 1/350, it’s actually more like 1/144. (Typo on the box, I believe.) Still super freakin’ tiny though.
Anyhoo, the Aerofax book is just about IT for detailing reference on the X-15. There was a hardcover out many years ago that surpassed it for general reference but which certainly had less detail shots of things like the cockpit. I don’t recall the title/publisher and all that and I’m not sure if it’s still in print.
You’re best bet is to find a good website, especially if you’re modelling on the cheap! [:p]
As I recall, the cockpit was small and compact, but you might consider just scratchbuilding a pilot to fill the canopy space. This might prevent you from having to do any serious detailing inside.