F-108 Rapier Interceptor Concept (1960)

Scale: 1/89
Initial Release: 1960
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 5

About the Design

The F-108 "Rapier" was an actual plane being developed by the North American Aircraft Co. during the late 1950s.  Designed to be a Mach 3 interceptor/escort for the XB-70 Valkyrie, the double-delta-winged "Rapier" made it to the mockup stage before the project was abruptly cancelled in 1959.

A year later, ITC released its own version of the F-108 -- one strikingly different from the actual plane.  This "Rapier" launched vertically atop of Navajo rocket -- a concept intended to overcome the vulnerability of conventional airfields -- and was designed to carry atomic-tipped missiles that could be fired from up to 1,000 miles away from its target. Although it bore a superficial resemblance to the actual F-108, this design could never be confused with its real-world counterpart.

About the Kit

This ITC product is considered by most modelers to be one of the most beautiful and rarest conceptual aircraft kits ever made.  It was released only briefly in 1960 before being pulled from the market, probably because of the cancellation of the actual F-108 program.

The model was built from the kit's one and only issue.