I'm really glad to find a forum where I can actually post a picture or two of the models I make without purists denouncing me for heresy because I didn't build a “real” craft.
This is just a simple conversion, the result purely the creation of my warped imagination – no prizes for identifying the original airframe. Not a particularly complex job, but one that I think worked relatively well (not that common, unfortunately!).
This is a Monteverdi GC8-D short range spacefighter, designed for launch from an aerial carrier at high altitude. The GC8-A was fitted with a Royce Major 880-R rocket engine, but the lack of thrust gave it poor performance. The GC8-D has a longer fuselage and a Yaquinto VLZ rocket engine, giving less flight duration but virtually twice the power. The main armaments are cluster missiles mounted in the gaping bay under the cockpit (and not visible in the photos – sorry – I never took a decent front view).
When the fuel is gone, the fighter makes a re-entry as a glider and lands conventionally on the undercarriage.