Mc Donald Phantom 5 (finished page 3)

[Tophe]

Yes! We are Thursday and the parcel has arrived in my home mailbox!
But... I am not allowed to open it yet: my wife says a post employee may be infected by the virus so she has spread vinegar on the parcel, forbiding me to touch it before tomorrow...

[Tophe]

Here is the kit content, at last:

[Tophe]

Obviously, there is not enough plastic under the jet intakes for my "rocket" considered way, so this will be a turbojet little plane:

[Tophe]

First drops of glue (and removing the fin from its very rear position):

Now, before truncating the rear, I wait the glue to dry. Next step tomorrow.

[Tophe]

The butcher came and... the Phantom 5 skeleton is born!
Then I added putty to start filling the rear hole:

[Weaver]

Wih that layout, you could have two jet engines and a single rocket above and in-between them... because with 40% less airframe weight, it's obviously still not fast enough...

Another idea: instead of refitting the tail fin, cut the outer wing panels off and re-mount them vertically as twin, wingtip fins. That way you don't have to lose the back cockpit and you can give all your freinds and/or sponsors joyrides.

Speaking of sponsors, why not make it a racing plane? There was a real-life project to start a rocket-plane racing league: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Racing_League

[Tophe]

Thanks for these good ideas!
- Uh, I fear I have no 3rd jet exhaust 1/144, I will check my spare box, but the idea is very interesting.
- Reducing again the span to have wingtip fins is pleasant for me (sorry PR19_Kit), while I imagine that + central fin (not as a replacement of the central fin).
- Yes my Phantom 5 will be civilian and maybe racer but I will not buy special paint for that, it will be sky blue with the remaining paint I have.

[Weaver]

Rocket exhausts for use 'low' in the atmosphere (that's 'low' by space rocket standards) don't need big nozzles Tophe. You only need those huge bell nozzles where the atmosphere is thin or non-existent. If you look at the rocket nozzles on real rocket planes like the SR.53 or the Trident, they're really quite small.

[Tophe]

Thanks, I think you are right: painting a black circle in the free space, central above the turbojet exhausts, could do it, very simply.
Thanks again!

[Tophe]

- The rear hole is now filled with putty, a little sanding is simply required before gluing the jet exhausts.
- I have added putty also on the air intakes, as they were not clean, it seems I have been misdirected by the instructions putting upside down the 2 panels under the air intakes, making all imperfect there. With putty and sanding (and what-if spirit) it is going to work anyway.
- Following Weaver's suggestion, I have truncated the wingtips and I plan to add tanks at the new wing tips, holding the extra fins there:

[Tophe]

Building goes on:

Thanks again Weaver: the wingtip fins add much personality!

[Tophe]

Building the Phantom 5 is finished! (my way, without undercarriage nor weapons):

Just remains the paint step to be done.

[Tophe]

The light blue paint of the small Phantom 5 is currently drying:

[PR19_Kit]

That's TINY! 

Or else you have very large hands Tophe. 

[Tophe]

hehe...
My hands are rather normal: in the lab I was working for, we had plastic protective gloves in 4 "normal" sizes: from S (for my small colleague Maryse) to XL (for my tall colleague Julien), and I was using M in the middle then L later (after growing fat due to medicines). So my hands are not very big, so this Phantom 5 model is tiny, yes