Cue the traditional fanfare of trumpets, because this afternoon at 3pm UK time, we'll be whipping the covers off our sensational Vulture 2 craft for the first time: so you can get an idea of just what the world's first 3D-printed, rocket-powered spaceplane looks like.

Here's the beast in component form last week, straight out of the box and awaiting assembly:

Soon to be revealed in fully assembled glory

The elite Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) engineering and ground operations team has spent the last week - between scaling Spanish mountains in search of heroic playmonauts - putting the Vulture 2 together. As to how far we've got in terms of getting the thing airworthy, you'll just have to wait and see.

The reveal will be streamed live at batc.tv. Tune in right here. ®

Bootnote

Bear in mind that we're streaming via a 3G dongle from the SPB's mountaintop headquarters, so don't be surprised if the whole thing goes titsup at some point.

Further LOHAN resources:

• New to LOHAN? Try this mission summary for enlightenment.
• You can find full LOHAN coverage right here.
• Join the expert LOHAN debate down at Reg forums.
• All the LOHAN and Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) vids live on YouTube.
• For our SPB photo archive, proceed directly to Flickr.
• We sometimes indulge in light consensual tweeting, as you can see here.

Related stories

• DRAMA at 75,000 FEET: Our Playmonaut's TERROR PLUNGE from EDGE of SPACE (18 September 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/09/18/playmonaut_rescue/

• Here at last, our 3D beauty: Vulture 2 spaceplane flies in (11 September 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/09/11/vulture_2_delivery/

• Vulture 2 autopilot reports for duty (9 September 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/09/09/vulture_2_autopilot/

• Vulture 2 spaceplane rises from the powdered nylon (30 August 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/08/30/vulture_wing/