dnl42 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I'm building the Fantastic Plastic 1/48 X-37B. According to the USAF: MissionThe X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force. The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth. Features The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft. Based on NASA's X-37 design, the unmanned OTV is designed for vertical launch to low Earth orbit altitudes where it can perform long duration space technology experimentation and testing. Upon command from the ground, the OTV autonomously re-enters the atmosphere, descends and lands horizontally on a runway. The X-37B is the first vehicle since NASA's Shuttle Orbiter with the ability to return experiments to Earth for further inspection and analysis, but with an on-orbit time of 270 days, the X-37B can stay in space for much longer. The kit's fairly simple: The wheel wells are featureless With a lack of available references, I'll add detail based on the Space Shuttle's wheel wells, like here. This photo and others suggests the wheels are OK but the landing gear need replacement Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TomcatFanatic123 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Very interesting. This thing lands at Vandenberg AFB, which is about 10 minutes from my house. I heard it's (very mini) sonic boom last time it popped in here. Since this is "close to home" for me, and something that I've been following, this would be something I'd be interested in building. Hope you keep this updated! :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Very cool choice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 I think I have a handle on the nose LG. Here's the kit's version And here's what I need to do and Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 And here's the new nose LG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Great work so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Done with the landing gear! Here's the nose with 0.4m lead wire for brake and steering hydraulics Here's what the mains should look like: Fortunately, I was able to pull the resin on that goofy square rob. Here's kit and scratch: Another view of the new par Writing this post, I noticed I had routed the lead wire incorrectly, so I fixed as shown here It will be interesting mounting the mains, as they need to slant aft 10° and outboard 15°. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 That is some seriously good scratch building. If the landing gear looks that good I can't wait to see the whole thing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Falcon20driver, Thanks. This was the big thing needed for the kit. It's speculative at best, but way better than the kit's bits. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) She's all epoxied up. As you can see, it's pretty small! PB seems to be a basket case tonight. Had lots of problems uploading and ended up with multiple copies. The extra copies refuse to be deleted; they come right back after the page is refreshed. Edited January 21, 2016 by dnl42 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 That's 1/48!? I didn't realize how small the real thing was. It's looking great thus far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 It is small. Here it is after two prime coats with filling and rescribing between. I lifted it to about the right height; that's Charles Lindbergh standing next to it. :) I noticed that some visually prominent detail around the equipment bay hinge isn't quite right. This is what it's 'sposed to look like: And here's the kit representation I'll fix this by rescribing the panels above and below the hinges; the two end panels look about right. I may need to fix that lone panel below the hinges, too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Charles would think that is one fancy piece of kit as the Brits would say. Great work thus far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 Marking and painting is done...but some touch-ups are needed... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 That looks great. I saw a mock up of the real thing recently and couldn't believe how small it actually is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Oh my! How did I miss this build?! You are doing a most excellent job with this bird! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Thanks! I found a couple of misses in the painting, so had to correct them over this past week. I'm in the middle decals now, and hope to be done this week. I decided to do this one in-flight. I found a good photo of the Earth that I'll use as a base image. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 Fixed some painting misses and the decals are on! The JBOT decals went on quite nicely. It still needs the clear coat, with dead flat above and semi-gloss heat tiles. While I liked my new landing gear, it was still fiction...just better fiction :)/> So, I decided to mount this. I'm going to mount the picture below on a black base and float the aircraft above on an acrylic rod. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Ok, that build over that base is going to look amazing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 I've got most of my materials (trimmed photo, painted base, felt bottom) ready; just need the acrylic rods to arrive. I checked out Ken Middleton's article on display bases in Tools 'n' Tips. But, I have some questions. Should I punch a hole in the photo before I mount it or just drill through the mounted photo? Should I paint the inside of the hole black to avoid seeing the wooden base? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 I would be worried about getting a raggedy hole in the photo if you use a drill. I would lean towards punching the hole first. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted June 12, 2016 Author Share Posted June 12, 2016 Done!! It rotates freely on the rod right now; thinking about gluing it on... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Way too cool! Beautiful build with a display that takes it to another level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Beautiful work and the stand elevates the model! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike J. Idacavage Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Outstanding!!!! :worship:/> This is both a great model and the perfect display for it. Well done! Have fun modeling Mike :cheers:/> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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