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Friday, April 30, 2010

Glamorous Glennis






Here are some images of Pegasus Models 1/18 scale Bell X-1 research aircraft. How can I put this kindly? This model lends itself well to scratch building. You would think a model this size would have more detailing but alas no. To spruce up this model a bit I drilled out the engine exhausts, added seatbelt's and installed wiring coming off the back of the instrument panel just to spruce things up a bit. This kit looks like it was designed intentionally for the toy market as the the plastic is thick and very tough plus note that the movable wheel bay doors and landing gear have very visible hinges and the front spire does not blend well with the front of the aircraft plus it doesn't lend itself well to gluing so CA was necessary but considering the cost, $45 CDN it is well worth the buy if you are willing to put some time and effort into it. I have a book issued by Time/Life called Designers and test Pilots from their Epic of Flight series and a book called Aviation Pioneers from Osprey publications and in these books it showed the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis in a more weathered state. So off I went to the interweb to see if any model builders out there had posted a more weathered X-1 to get some ideas and to my surprise there weren't any. All I saw were shiny brand new looking X-1s and I think the reason why is that there isn't very many photographs out there showing a weathered X-1. So here without further ado is my version of a weathered Glamorous Glennis.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

You mentioned not seeing any weathered renditions of this model. Here is mine, which I posted on YouTube in 2010:

http://youtu.be/Ye5nC6UrU9Y

-Warren Zoell said...

Very nice model Anonymous!!
I was referring to the white pluming that developed under the main wings which the bell X1 had.
I suspect that it developed due to high speed and friction and bad paint which would burn to white. But I could be wrong.

Anonymous said...

This Model Ship has been used as prototyp for the ship in the data animated carton "Those Scurvy Rascals". I have it myself, a very nice model.

-Warren Zoell said...

I haven't seen "Those Scurvy Rascals". I'll keep an eye out for it though.