Description
Eduard's 1/48 Bell X-1 Profipack
"There was a demon that lived in the air...." That first line
from the film "The Right Stuff" echoed in my head as I built
this kit. In fact, my wife grew a little weary of me holding up
the little orange plane and intoning that now all-too-familiar
phrase.
The Bell X-1 is now legendary as the aircraft that CPT Charles
E. "Chuck" Yeager broke the sound barrier with on 14 October
1947. Eduard's profipack kit is replete with resin bits and
photo-etch, allowing the builder to turn out an outstanding
representation of the first X-plane.
I used the Polly Scale railroad color "Reefer Orange" for the
distinctive skin of my X-1. Resin parts include main wheels and
boxes in the cockpit, while the photo-etch bits include three
types of instrument panels, depending on which X-1 the builder
wishes to do.
The kit decals are among the thinnest and finest I've ever
used. They reacted well to Micro-Sol and had absolutely no
silvering. Due to operator error, I decided to drop the flaps to
fix a sanding gaffe I had made on the trailing edge of the wing.
The only down side in my mind is lack of position tabs in the
fuselage and having to hold your mouth just right to get the
proper alignment of the wings and horizontal stabs.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this kit. Whenever I see it on my
shelf I think of those men "who came to the high desert of
California to ride it." I was fortunate enough to take a second
place in Atlanta, GA and a first place in Richmond, VA this
year. "Put the spurs to her, Chuck!"
Thanks to my friend Dave Pepper for the use of his tarmac base.
