Let me begin this review by saying that I have all the OzMods 1/144 kits and love them all. Their subject matter is great. I only wish they would speed up their releases.

This latest release of the F-86D was a welcome addition to their small range and I was surprised to see that it came in a box instead of their usual bag and also that it was molded in a softer plastic then their usual brittle kind.

This kit had an almost complete cockpit that I was pleased to see. The seat is a two piece beauty complete with molded-in seat belts. I was disappointed with the instrument panel, so I reduced a 1/72 decal for an F-86 instrument panel to 1/144 scale and glued it to a piece of plastic card and put it in place of the kit one. The difference was remarkable. The cockpit tub was very nice with good side instrument detail.

The B-29 has always had a special place in my memory. Shortly after WWII, I was a kid growing up at the end of the Dobbins AFB runway in Marietta, Georgia. Adjacent to Dobbins was the “Bomber Plant”. Later I discovered that the “Bomber Plant” was really a government aircraft factory run by Bell Aircraft Company and specifically designed to build Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress. I can still see those giant aircraft taking off and landing over our house.

Soon, Bell stopped building the B-29s and the Air Force closed the plant. The only reminder left behind was a B-29 on static display at Larry Bell Park. That aircraft got plenty of use by the kids playing under and around its huge bulk.

Years later I met a gentleman who flew as a navigator on the B-29 and who became my father-in-law. I remember the stories he would tell of how “that thing” would struggle to get airborne as they watched for telltale signs of fire in the engines.

The Aircraft

The X-15 was the first aircraft to “officially” make a space flight. The US considers any flight that reaches an altitude of 50 miles to be a space flight, and 8 pilots met this criterion. The FAI requires 100 km (62 miles) altitude for a space flight, and two flights, both with Joe Walker as pilot, achieved this height. The X-15 also holds the record for fastest manned aircraft, at 4092 mph.

With all the publicity surrounding the X-15 program, I was surprised that there were only three built, and you can build two of them, 56-6670 and 56-6671. The third, 56-6672 could be built from the parts supplied, but you’d need serial number decals.

The Kit

This is one of Dragon’s 1+1 kits, and it comes with enough parts and decals to build two complete X-15s. You also get the wheeled dolly that was put under the landing skids to allow the X-15 to be moved after landing.