1/32 Revell Bell X-1

by Dave Hardie

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"There was a Demon who lived in the air"....

Following Dean Large's excellent build and article, I decided to have a go at this kit myself.

The Revell kit is getting harder to find, but I managed to track one down on ebay, and it was duly shipped half way round the world to my workshop. 

Suitably armed with the Smithsonian book- "Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1" as a reference, and having watched "The Right Stuff" a couple of times, I was in the mood to begin.

I weighted the interior by using an old HP9v battery -wrapped in cling film, to prevent any possible battery acid leak in the future. It was secured ahead of the undercarriage wells , using masking tape. This creates a suitable weight at the correct location, ensuring that the model will sit on it's mainwheels and not on it's tail.

I painted the cockpit interior using Humbrol Interior Green, which is a close match to the colour photos of the actual Bell X-1 in the Smithsonian book. The aircraft was assembled as Dean decribes, and the painting stage was next. I used a Tamiya spray can colour TS-12. This seems to be the best match when compared to the photographs I have studied.

I also bought a can of Tamiya TS-31, but after test spraying a sample, decided that it looked too red.

After 2 coats of Tamiya High Gloss Orange, the decals were applied.

I acquired the excellent Cutting Egde decal sheet- CED32040, which allows any of nine possible colour schemes which the X-1 carried. Despite being generally good, the colour instruction sheet did not show where all of the decals should be located.  Check your photographic references to help with accurate placement of the smaller stencils.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

Only the 2 fuselage stars 'n' bars on the rear fuselage gave any trouble, but were finally persuaded to conform to the fuselage plates by using some Microset solution and a dab with a soft handkerchief.

Final details were addition of a tiny stainless steel tube to the bottom of the engine exhaust bells, and creating the distinctive diamond tread pattern to the main wheels-shown to good effect on page 85 of the "Smithsonian book". This was done by lightly drawing the pattern using a propelling pencil, and then carefully sawing the tread pattern with a razor saw. The tread was then cleaned up using wet'ndry paper, and painted using Humbrol Anthracite, drybrushing with a bone colour to represent the dust of Edwards Air Force Base. The model took about 4 weeks to build-hope you like it?

Dave 

Photos and text © by Dave Hardie