1/32 NACA Bell X-1 Finished

[Nillus]

Ok.
WOW.

[tor lives]

Just friggen magnificent Eric!!!. Your work is truly inspirational. I am still admiring and in awe of your Tiger Moth, (and feel free to bring her over to A/CAM ), and then this superb X-1 comes along. Thanks for sharing the X-1 journey with us.
Ray

[Ericg]

Thanks for following along guys. I hope I am at least doing a gloss white scheme justice to keep you fussy airliner guys happy. I will have you know that before I posted this model on this forum, it was going to be a Yeager orange machine, so the white is in tribute to Ray and his hard work in getting this place up and running. Ray, how bout I just bring the Moth over to Victoria instead?

The big question with this model is how to give it depth such that it looks like a scaled down version of the real thing. It is a hard task with solid colour models to break up the surface and provide interest in an otherwise bland scheme. I feel that modellers are overusing pre and post shading on models to follow trends these days and I am steering clear of that with this build. Given the fact that this model is all over white AND glossy, any mess ups will stand out from a long way away. Hopefully the hard yards that I put in to rescribe and engrave detail plus attention paid to the surface before laying down the coat of paint and subsequent clear coats will pay off.

Careful examination of reference pics shows the actual aircraft to have some panel line detail that I felt needed to be recreated using a wash. I use the Flory clay based washes as I find them to be very easy to manipulate. As black was going to contrast to greatly with the white scheme I added the white wash to the black to give a very dark grey fro around the control surfaces, added some more white to the mix to give a medium grey for the access panels and then added even more white for the not so noticeable panel lines. Even this has come out a little dark but I am thinking a few steps ahead in each part of this build. I am always more concerned with how the model will look from 2 feet away rather than under a macro lense on a 19 inch monitor.

I still have a few areas to tighten up and as this is a WIP there is still some patches of wash that need to be cleaned off. Let me know what you think!

After I finished the decals, I masked off and sprayed the wheel well interiors, the wing walkways and the rocket nozzles. I then sanded the whole model with very fine grit wet and dry, and then a thorough clean with testors plastic prep.

It was then back into the spray booth to get yet another coat of Tamiya clear.



After the clear had dried, it was onto the wash.

[hrtpaul]

Looks pretty damn fine to me Eric. I love you work

[Nillus]

Sensational.

[Adam the Akrodude]

Hey Eric
All over this build like a rash being a X plane fan. From what I've read in recent times, Yaeger would have us all think he is the only true test pilot worthy of mention! Awful his criticism of many other test pilots that achieved far more than he. Anyhoo - so agree with you regarding pre and post shading. The technique that appeals to me most of all is colour modulation via filtering, staining, fading - more relevant to military subjects. Now how one applies this to an all whiite model I've no idea! How to apply high lights/depth to a all white aeroplane?
Your X-1 looks perfect from that 2-3 feet away. Panel lines in these photos look a little too heavy close up, but that could just be the photos accentuating this effect. What appears black could be grey in actual fact?

Keep pushing that envelope Eric!

Cheers

Adam

[Ericg]

Well folks, The X-1 is finished! A thoroughly enjoyable project that didn't take too long to complete, and now looks great in the display cabinet. Standby for glamour shots a bit later!



Eric.

[Nillus]

Ooooo.
Glam shots!
Ahhhhh.

[tor lives]

Well folks, The X-1 is finished! A thoroughly enjoyable project that didn't take too long to complete, and now looks great in the display cabinet. Standby for glamour shots a bit later! Eric.

Just bloody magnificent mate.....truly a visual treat. Thanks for bring this beautiful model to A/CAM for our viewing pleasure.
Ray

[Ericg]

Very soon salty, hey were you at the biggles bar a few nights ago? I was in Sydney for my sim Wednesday and Thursday night and overheard a gaggle of A380 pilots talking about who checked who for the formation flight.

Eric