Epoxy Glass X-15 Delta Wing

I got off to a good start today building the master of the fuse. Using the original plug and a BT-60 I used some old leading edge stock I had which turned out to be the perfect filet shape. Later once the glue dries I'll be able to sand the filet to the blended and concave it needs.

The wings are shaped closer to the NASA plans. Less wing area and more sweep. The top side vertical fin is cut and built from balsa. I still have the lower fin to do.

Both fins will be covered in 2 oz. soft wave glass cloth and West Systems epoxy. Once the fuse and the filets are all blended and contour they to will be glassed and epoxied. Also there will be slots in the wing filets to plug the balsa wings into.

The tails and will be part of the master. Once primered and scribed with panel lines this will all be hard molded and fuse will be made of epoxy glass.

More to come...

Looks great, love the cone.

Thanks Frank. I'll do an upscale version next for G-H motors.

SteveNeill said:

Thanks Frank. I'll do an upscale version next for G-H motors.

Click to expand...

That sounds really appealing, I'll be watching with interest!

I think the pictures tell the story. 40z. soft weave glass cloth. A lot of sanding and filling. Bondo spot putty and Evercoat putty. Sand, primer and sand and primer again until it starts getting smooth enough to do the panel lines and details. Lots of primer is the secret it fills in everything.

The wings will plug into the slots. Vertical stab is part of it. The lower stab you get to glue in position. I got to leave you something to build.

I'm thinking that a BT will be built into the layups which will help to add the engine centering rings, the nose cone and allow for better transfer of the delay charge for the recovery system.

At the rate I'm going I should be able to make the epoxy glass mold late next week. In addition to all that I have a sizable amount of silicone that I plan to use to mold all the old masters to start producing the 3 other kits I have from 10 years ago.

It's been a busy week.

PS I tried a few times to place these pictures in a chronological storytelling order but without doing a separate post for each image the software seems to display them in order of date and time. So think backwards.

It's getting smoother after the third pass. Next up is panel lines. Slow long process and yes I could 3D print this but for me it gives me no satisfaction. And I take full credit for the craftsmanship. I can't if a machine does the job for me.

Very nice.

The masters are getting there slowly but surely. Panel line detail is yet to come before I can mold this and make a epoxy glass fuse.

That looks amazing! How much weight do you think the fiberglass adds to it?

Thanks. Won't know until I cast one up. I layer of 4oz. and the BT inside shouldn't be too bad.