Bell BoMi MX-2276 Space Shuttle Concept (1954)

Scale: 1/144
Initial Release: 2010
Medium: Resin
Kit Rarity: 3
Length: 10"

About the Design

In the years following WWII, Bell Aviation hired former German rocket engineers Walter Dornberger and Kraft Ehrike -- both brought to the U.S. as part of "Project Paperclip" -- to work on long-range spacecraft concepts for both military and civilian purposes. One of these was the BoMi (Bomber Missile), a "boost-glide" concept not unlike the "Silverbird" posited 15 years earlier by Eugene Sanger. The first stab at the BoMi concept was dubbed the MX-2276. It was a three-stage system composed of a horizontally launched piloted first stage, a disposable second stage, and a piloted third stage designed to "skip" over the upper atmosphere before dropping its payload on an enemy target and then returning to Earth.

The precursor to the X-20 Dyna-Soar, the MX-2276 concept was ultimately scrapped as too complex and replaced by a winged orbiter launched via conventional boosters.

About the Kit

Released in February 2010, the BoMo MX-2276 kit was made possible by the research of aviation historian David Stern who provided detailed documentation direct from Bell Aircraft's archives. The 1:144 kit was patterned by Alfred Wong and cast by Masterpiece Models. All three stages were separable.

Bell BoMi - Historical Model