1:18 Bell X-1 at Badcat Aviation

[ignorant_blanket]

been tryin to just had some setbacks i put up a link of what came in the kit

[John C]

Here are postings from two folks who've completed their X-1 kits.

Ron Denning on LargeScalePlanes:
http://www.largescaleplanes.com/arti...lx1/bellx1.php

tmanthegreat on GPXD:
http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/v...ic.php?t=19780

Careful using photos of the Smithsonian bird for reference: the yaw weathervane on the right wing tip is mounted upside-down in many pics: it should hang from the boom, not sit on top of it.

In case Paul's earlier question was never answered: Yes, the landing gear do retract. The kit is basically an unassembled, unpainted toy airplane. As such, detail is limited but the benefit is it's designed for easy assembly and shouldn't require great skill.

tman noted it took a fair amount of pressure to get the two fuselage halves to fit fully together. There are alignment pins which align well but I haven't tried to force them all the way together yet. All-in-all, I've been pretty impressed with parts fit.

The main gear is tricky in that the left and right parts are NEARLY interchangeable, close enough that you could easily get it wrong. The little arm on the gear doors goes toward the back, and the little channel it slides in (inside the gear well) must also be at the back; this info should help you keep the gear on the correct sides.

The biggest detractors from the scale effect of this kit are the huge external bumps for the gear door hinges (really, Pegasus designers, couldn't you have at least tried to blend them in?), the oversized socket the noseboom plugs into, and the clunkiness of the booms themselves. I think with the inclination and a little effort, these issues could be fixed by the modeller.

Otherwise, the plane looks great when finished, and I'm really looking forward to finishing mine.

[pcsguy88]

Great info John!

[Cold Slither]

Yeah, thanks for the links and info. I really want one now.