The Douglas Skyflash (part 1)

This kit has been on my desk since the before the IPMS Nationals. I started out to be the easiest short run resin kit I ever worked on. Then when I started messing with seams to get them perfect it became a monster. I should have remembered what I was told years ago "Don't ruin a good (fill in the blank), by trying to make it great..."

But first here's a little history: 

In  the early 1950's, high-speed flight research was being done by different agencies, the NACA's hypersonic research, the Air Force's Project 1226, and the Navy's D-558 program. In 1954, a Langley team from NACA gathered those similar researches from military services and aerospace industries, combined with the Air Force and Navy to launch the new "Project 1226" competition. As the Navy liked to keep in the 'space race' and Douglas was interested in building future manned spaceplanes, the D-558-3 Skyflash (Model 684) design was sponsored by Navy to enter the competition. The D-558-3 was designed to be able to  install whatever rocket engine was selected by NACA, and to be air-launch from a Boeing B-50. In 1955, while the Navy decided to save the development cost and no longer participate,  NACA and the Air Force chose the North American proposal as the winner of the competition. This aircraft became the famed X-15 while the D.558-3 disappeared into the dust of the past. 

Here's the kit box art and parts - 

The cockpit and seat have also been painted

While there is an instrument panel, there is no detail to it. There are no decals for it, so I just added a few dots of white to mimic instruments. It looks like there's not a lot of room in there so this should suffice - 

Not a lot of room seems to have been an understatement  ;)  I also added some Tamiya tape seat belts -

Nose cone added. This is going well - 

The fuselage is mostly complete - Time to fill in the seams.

I applied Tamiya filler for the seams. While I'm waiting I painted the landing gear, wheels, and landing gear doors.

 Added primer to see where I am re: the seam lines. Not bad, but I'll give a few spots a second go round. This is where I took my "Going to the Nationals" break.

Upon my return I looked at it and a few spots still need attention. So I added more filler.  Check back for Part 2. Hopefully seam filling will be done. Thanks for looking.