Came anyone tell me who makes the best X-15 in 1/48? Actually, I don’t even know if more than one outfit makes this kit. I believe Monogram had one briefly, and I’ve seen a Tamiya X-15 in 1/72, which would be nice for hanging it under the Monogram B-52B model, if you can find that release and make the proper modification to make it a true “B” model BUFF. I remember the old Revell X-15 kit in something like, what?, 1/42nd scale? I built a number of these as a kid. It wasn’t bad for its day, but certainly wouldn’t hold up today. I also remember building the old Revell B-52 with the X-15 under the wing. The X-15 was molded in one piece. The thing was in one of those Revell “box-scales.”
For the younger among us, model kit scales were determined by a standard size box, and the kit was made to whichever scale would fit in that size box. In other words, a fighter would be the same size as a bomber. It made shipping easier, and conserved precious shelf-space in toy stores and hobby shops. But it wsn’t modeler-friendly at all. But then, scale models back then were marketed toward kids. The present standard scales 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 (and now, 1/144) did not become the standard until the 1970s. I also seem to recall that ships, too, had box scales, but with larger boxes. A U-Boat model would be the same size as a model of a WW II cruiser.
Just saw some new 1/48 X-15 kits this weekend…by a company called Special Hobbies. Seems to be an Eastern European company. They looked nice, but were quite expensive here in Japan (over $50 USD, and they’re injection kits!). They have two versions. One is the X-15A2 in a natural metal finish (or maybe white??) with a scramjet, and the other is in the more familiar (to me, anyway) black finish.
Seemed to be good kits in the box.
Yeah, they tried out a white, rubbery coating for the later high-speed flights of the X-15-A2 flown by Pete Knight. Although the stuff did its job (which was to disperse the heat by melting away), the plane was still riddled with spots where the aerodynamic heating had burned all the way through the skin. Because this coating tended to competely opaque the windows as it melted, they came up with the ingenious idea of covering the left window, then jettisoning the cover after the X-15 slowed down to land.
I forgot to mention, there is the CollectAire model in that firm’s standard 1/48 scale. They seem to have produced every model I ever wanted to build that will never be kitted for the mass-market. Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to afford a CollectAire kit. Anyone got experience with them? I recently read a review of their YF-107 and it wasn’t terribly favorable, especially considering the price.
Tamiya markets a Bell X-1 kit, but Iv’e never seen a 1/72 X-15 from them. The Special Hobby release in 1/48 is a limited run kit with typical limited run problems, but it can be built into a very nice model. Probably the best (only ?) in 1/48.
Regards, Rick