I've never been able to get behind the engineering concept of hinged or modular components in a structurally critical design. The Virgin Space-plane gives me the same kind of jitters, putting all that force on tiny, movable parts.
I'm not a mechanical engineer so I figure there are some laws in play here I'm ignorant of. Or is it really just ballsy design?

It's safety record would seem to agree with you.

Yeah, these things are death traps. They're so useless, the Navy has to send out OTHER helicopters to pre-scout landing zones for the Ospreys. Aside from that, the downblast from the rotors is so powerful, it makes work on a flight deck impossible during takeoffs and landings, as an added bonus, it also makes rappelling so dangerous Marines call it the "elevator of death".

Add to that the enormous cost of $72 million a unit a flight-speed too fast for escort helicopters and too slow for escort jets and a host of other problems and you have a very expensive and cool looking lawn ornament. 35 Billion dollars well-spent, Pentagon.

So many moving parts. How the fuck does someone even remotely think this would be a good design for a military plane?

You stop thinking after receiving the second billion. From then on it's just drinking from the bottomless mug.