Lockheed-Martin X-33 Venturestar SSTO (1990s)

Scale: 1/72
Initial Release: 2016
Medium: Resin
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

The X-33 VentureStar was Lockheed-Martin's entry in NASA's X-33 SSTO program, which was intended to develop an unmanned Single-Stage-to-Orbit spacecraft to replace the rapidly aging Space Shuttle.

Unlike the more traditional rocket-plane designs offered by its competitors, the VentureStar had a unique triangular shape reminiscent of the experimental lifting bodies tested in the 1960s and 1970s. The first VentureStar was to be a scaled-down proof-of-concept demonstrator, but problems with the composites from which the spacecraft was to built resulted in the project's cancellation in 2001.

About the Kit

Released in the spring of 2016, Fantastic Plastic's X-33 Venturestar model was created by JonPage Risque based on display models he had created for NASA several years earlier. Originally, the kit was to include an articulated launching rig, but that was ultimately deemed too expensive for Fantastic Plastic's market.

This model was built from an original issue.