DBMiller's 1/72 Bell X-1

[DBMiller]

[youtube]2-mXNPhTdtk[/youtube]





My I Heart Tamiya project. I was inspired by Tommy Killander's shiny "The Right Stuff" F-104. One of my favorite movies - one of my favorite characters (Yeager) - and one of my favorite periods in the history of flight. I hope it comes out as good as Tommy's!

[TommyKillander]

That is awesome, thank you !
I never thought that I would inspire someone else with my styrene-struggles, I'm very honoured

I'm sure your build will be fantastic - you can't go wrong with Yeager and Glamorous Glennis

I recommend this documentary, if you haven't seen it already.
[youtube]OHpzQr-2xeo[/youtube]

My favorite part is when Yeager tries to make some "pilot talk" with the first X-1 testpilot Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin


Tommy

[Lysus]

[kiwigav]

Very cool
pulling up my chair to watch

[DBMiller]

Apologies to LTmodelmaking. If I had seen that he was already building this I would have chosen a different kit.

You can see here that I am a big fan of Chuck Yeager and the cold war period after WW2. Many of the kits in my stash came from reading these books and wanting examples of the planes mentioned.





Here is my introduction to the Tamiya Bell X-1 in 1/72 scale.

The decals and sprue. Love that clear fuselage (and low parts count)! The metal ball is nose weight, which is nice of them to include!









They even include a stand!













There are a few marking choices but really there is only one choice - Chuck Yeager’s Glamorous Glennis!

[DBMiller]

Working on the cockpit. Not mush here, just a few details to show something there. I installed the forward tank since that has the nose weight and the engine because that has the exhaust.













Primed with Badger and painted with Tamiya gray.





Cockpit in place. There isn’t any connection point for the instrument panel on the right side so I had to tweezer it in place then hold it until the glue set enough.



I forgot to add the door so I had to go back and glue it in and re paint the right side interior. The tape is to protect the fine detail so I can fill and sand the seam.



Fuselages glued together!.

[DBMiller]

I took some time off this to work on the Grissom but I'm back working on the X-1 now.

It has wings!

[DBMiller]

Well, if the Air Force was counting on me to deliver the X-1 they would be getting a bit impatient by now!
Here is a bit of work - finally!
Starting on the under carriage and canopy. The gear doors and the rest of the gear are still on the sprue waiting for primer.
You can see that I'm learning to protect the fragile bits that I always break off!







After a dip in the Future clear coat!

[Augustus]

I do like this, and the project object too, and as for the pilots....

[DBMiller]

Still here!







Priming done and on to mixing the X-1 orange!
First I tried to copy the Tamiya instructions using an 8 to 1 mix of Orange and Clear Red, using Model Master Acryl paints instead of Tamiya, since that's what I have. That was too red and the orange on its own was too orange.



The mix is on the left and the orange on the right.



I don't have yellow Acryl so I used K-4 paints Insignia Red and Yellow - 5 to 1 and got what looks pretty close! After a gloss coat it should look sharp!

[Lysus]

Nice MacGuyvering the colors. Glad this is still coming along!

[TommyKillander]

Good job with the homebrewed orange, it's looking good

Keep up the good work!

Tommy

[DBMiller]

Just about done with the painting! I got the orange even closer by changing the ratio of Orange to Red from 10-2 to 10-1. Just the landing gear and canopy left for the building.

[DBMiller]

This is the damnedest thing but I know I posted an update last night and it's not here! Very, very odd.

Anyway, to recap:

I've started on the landing gear and wheels. That isn't paint on the tires but glint from the flash.



After two coats of Aqua Gloss I masked off the gear wells and painted them. I thought I had done a pretty good job by this point, but...





... disaster! This is the first time I've ever had this happen! Pealed off right down to the plastic!



Here is a start on the repair work but it looks like I will have to sand it down more to feather in the edges better.

[Lysus]

As much as I may tell myself to be ready to repaint a basecoat for some seam work if needed, it's never a welcome development when it happens.

[DBMiller]

Looks like I dodged a bullet here! The repair went well and the (much more careful) masking came off without a hitch!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Good save!!!
How did you mask differently the second time to avoid tear outs????

[DBMiller]

Good save!!!
How did you mask differently the second time to avoid tear outs????

Last time I rubbed down the tape pretty firmly all over. This time I de-tacked a bit on my hand and just pressed enough to hold it in place; pressing down only along the edge of the mask. Then I SLOWLY removed the tape when done!

I almost didn't mask at all and just brushed the gear wells. But after all the work trying to get a decent paint job on the rest of it I figured I better just do it!

[Corkmyster9436]

Good Save!!!!!

[AdamLuscombe]

Awesome work so far, good luck with the rest of the build

[Twokidsnosleep]

I watched the U Tube video from the first page with great interest.
Interesting to see the Bell pilot so $ focused and I loved Yeager's response

[TommyKillander]

Awesome save!

You're rocking this build - the X-1 will look glamourous in the end for sure


Tommy

[DBMiller]

I hope the Bell engineers didn't have as much trouble with the X-1 as I have been having. Although, I expect most of it is my own fault.
The main gear struts look glued in correctly but there is an odd angle to the hubs. They toe in at the tops which lowers the rear end (already low by design) a bit too much.



Do I want to cut off the wheels and re-glue them straight? I haven't decided yet. And, as other issues have cropped up I may not bother.
First, a bit of work on the canopy to take a break from the fuselage. As you can see, I need to work on it a lot more!



I ended up using Tamiya tape instead as it curves better.



A bit of decaling while the canopy frames dry. And more issues. Did I over stress the decals as I worked them into place? Did I use too much setting solution? The upper wing decal settled perfectly but the others - not so much.



Upper wing decal settling down with Micro Set and then Micro Sol.





But what the heck is up with the bubbles and stretch marks?! Three out of the 4 insignia look like crap! I'm working on them but don't hold out much hope.

[TommyKillander]

Hang in there, brother!

It's so close to push it over the finishing line and you have done a great job with the kit sofar


Tommy

[Avgas]

You're doing a great job. All of this stuff happens to everyone else so don't think you're doing anything wrong!

[Lysus]

Yeah, insignia so far have always bit me in the rear. I think in 2017 I'm just going to do Japanese aircraft. I can make a circle with masking, right?

[DBMiller]

Yeah, insignia so far have always bit me in the rear. I think in 2017 I'm just going to do Japanese aircraft. I can make a circle with masking, right?

[DBMiller]

Almost done! All the decals are on! They are a bit translucent, most visible in the white, but not too bad. Except for when they were annoying and didn't settle right.





Gear doors and the rest of the bits I usually break off are on! Two were attached to the wings already (and I didn't snap them once!) but the pitot tube and a little sensor under the right wing probe had to be attached.





A coat of flat to finish it off! I was going to try a panel line wash, but you know what?, I'm not! That's just an invitation to mess up things for sure! All that is left now is the canopy./color]

[Lysus]

That is a FANTASTIC coat of orange. I think the decals turned out just great despite their resistance. Good job on you for winning that fight.

[panzerman825]

Hey, Great job on the X-1. Though you didn't use it, I like that the kit has an interior with transparent fuselage options. Good work working with those difficult decals. Keep having fun. Bill