Way back when I planned to release a 1/48 Bell X-2 Starbuster full multimedia kit. We had some problems with the master patterns I bought (which were outstanding except for one issue we didn’t have time to resolve), so the kit itself was never released. There wasn’t really that much left to do, but we got on to other projects and frankly I forgot about it (hate it when that happens!).
However, we did do a massive amount of research on the X-2 46-674 airframe markings for all her flights. Yes, the markings changed, sometimes dramatically after essentially every flight. Simply put, the aerodynamic heating of the plane’s skin was so great the white paint melted or stripped off on every flight–they didn’t really get this problem resolved until after the X-2 test program was completed.
The bird really looked like hell when a flight was finished, with great strips of paint flaked off and the bare metal skin showing through. This will make a really interesting-looking model! Since the plane had to be repainted so often, the marking were reapplied frequently, and they certainly changed as the program progressed.
Maintenance stencils were not always the same, either. This decal sheet includes not only the markings variations, but also all the the stencil variations as well.
Please note this is the decal sheet ONLY since I never completed the kit instructions or the markings profiles and plan views. There are plenty of good published references on the X-2, so you won’t have problems finding the references you need.
Here’s the decal sheet info:
1/48
1/48 Bell X-2 Starbuster Decal Sheet. Contains all markings variations and stencil variations for all 46-674 test flights! Note this is the decal sheet only; no instruction sheet is included.