Shackleton MR.1 T.4 conversion from Airfix MR.2 1st WIP

[71chally]

This is my first WIP, so please point my the right way if there is anything you don't like or would like to see.
 

I'm a casual modeller that usually builds form the box, a young family means that I don't get the time I would like to construct kits or take really good pictures.

Having always liked the Shackleton and having worked on the restoration of WL795 at St Mawgan, I was pleased (over joyed!) to see the recent Airfix and Revell offerings of the Mk.2.

 

Apart from the obvious nose and tail additions, I hope to point out here all the subtle modifications that are required to turn the Airfix Shackleton kit into an MR.1 or T.4.

Since I started this, Alleycat have announced a resin MR.1/T.4 conversion set, the details here should be relevant for that conversion also.

 

Some of you may have seen my AEW.2 build ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998496-avro-shackleton-aew-mk-2-details/page-4) which consists mainly of the Revell kit, but using the Airfix interior.

This left me wondering what to do with the rest of my Airfix kit.

 

So, I have decided to convert it to a Shackleton Mk.1 using an old Contrail vacform kit as a donor.

This will allow both a Shackleton MR.1 or a T.4 model possible, as T.4s were literally conversions of MR.1 airframes, and the details below are relevant to both variants.

 

The Airfix MR.2 kit absolutely lends itself to this MR.1 conversion for the following reasons;

The MR.2 was initially a conversion of the MR.1 airframe, with the addition of a new nose and tail cone.

The early MR.2 parts relevant for the MR.1 version are already in the Airfix kit, such as the early 'fish tail' exhausts and DF loop aerial.

Big bonus, unusually the ventral ASV radome of the MR.2 isn't molded into the kit fuselage (unlike other Shack kits), making it much easier to convert to the MR.1 which didn't have this feature.

There is an upper turret in the kit, as seen on most MR.1s up to c.1957.

The kits' surface detail lends itself to being mated with the vacform conversion parts.

 

The Revell AEW.2 could be converted as well, but will require much more work what with removing the ventral ASV radome surround and filling the subsequent large hole, making longer bomb doors, and blending the fine detail of the kit with the basic vacform parts.

The early variant parts are not included in the Revell kit, however the vacform kit does include the early acorn style DF loop aerial and fish tail exhausts in white metal.

Anyway, on with the conversion

Contrail Shackleton MR.1 by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

These are the relevant parts required for the MR.1 conversion removed from the ancient Contrail vacform;

the nose section, tail cone, chin ASV radome, bomb aimers glazing, and the white metal fixed tail wheel assembly.

If depicting an early MR.1/T.4, this kit also includes a white metal acorn shaped DF loop antenna, the later ones used the saucer shaped type, supplied in the Airfix kit (part G9).

 

Airfix Shackleton by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

This is the Airfix fuselage with the relevant MR.1 conversion parts, the cuts to remove the MR.2 nose and tail sections are made at the front and aft transport joints. These are fine raised lines on the kit and are shown marked in pencil above.

 

The cabin window layout of the MR.1 / T.4 and MR.2s up to the mid 1960s Phase III are completely different to the Airfix kit.

Indeed even 'option A' of the Airfix kit should ideally have the windows rearranged as per this conversion to be correct.

 

The rest area windows are lower down on these earlier Shacks, the sills should be in line with the overwing escape hatch sills, and will be re-positioned to the pencil marks shown.

Most of the stb'd windows of the kit don't exist on those same variants and were only added during Phase III work, so these will be covered over and filled to be flush with the fuselage.

 

Airfix Shackleton by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

The overwing fuel dump pipes need to be removed (above),these weren't added to Shacks until Phase III.

 

The underwing rocket projectile raised details need to be removed as they didn't feature on MR.1/T.4s.

 

The MR.1/T.4 had a fiixed tailwheel, so the MR.2 retractable tail wheel bay will be covered over using the Airfix closed tail wheel doors part (item F15).

I have sanded these smooth to remove the MR.2 humps and to follow the under fuselage contour, compare with the unmodified pair above.

The fixed tailwheel will be fitted into a hole drilled in the doors area.

 

Shackleton T.4 WB847 Z MOTU by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

I'm leaving my options open on exactly which Shack I'm going to do at the moment, but it will have to be St Mawgan (preferably) or St Eval based for me, thinking of ASWDU or 206 Sqn MR.1, or MOTU T.4, but am leaning towards building a kit with an upper turret!

 

I'm also really hoping that someone will release a decent conversion set for this, which would really be quite straight forward, maybe this thread will help!

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally
line spacing, Alleycat info

[tomprobert]

This looks like a great project.

Being a fan of the Shackleton myself, I'll follow your progress closely.

Regular updates, please!

[perdu]

Like Tom I am a Shackleton fan, always have been, so please put me on the list for regular updating

Looks durned good already

Edited April 15, 2016 by perdu

[Learstang]

Add me to the list of Shackleton aficionados who will be watching this build with considerable interest. Best of luck on the build!

Regards,

Jason

[fatalbert]

Will be watching this,am doing the same but with an old frog MR3. Mines stalled at the moment due to various reasons but will not be forgotten.Good luck.

[71chally]

That is what I started to do many years back, but it was so problematic that I was prepared to just build the vacform!

There are so many small differences between the MR.1 and 3 that I was forever chasing corrections. Differences such as the inboard engine nacelles, outer wing section planform, undercarriage, shorter bomb bay were bad enough but the hardest for me to overcome being the deeper nose profile of the 3 which also effects the bomb doors shape, and completely different cockpit glazing arrangement.

I'm just glad that the Airfix MR.2 turned up, and I would urge you to use this if you can.

[71chally]

This is going at a fairly slow rate of knots as it is being built alongside the AEW.3, can't wait to get to paint the 48 prop blade tips!

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.2 to MR.1/T.4 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

I have cut out the two (one each side) relocated window apertures, these are in line with the bottom of the escape hatch sills, and just aft of the main wing trailing edges.

 

The kit windows that need to be blanked are shown by the white plastic inserts, these will be filled smooth.

The stb'd forward, and aft under tailplane windows remain the same as the kit.

Note: this is the correct cabin window layout for ALL MR.1, T.4, and MR.2 Phase I and II Shackletons - including option A of the Airfix kit.

 

In the picture above,

Yellow circles show the three scoops that need to be cut off, and the two NACA scoops to be filled in as appropriate.

Red circles show the two scoops and trailing aerial that need to be added.

The mid cabin heater inlet scoop (just aft of port escape hatch) is added and fitted over the existing kit NACA scoop.

The trailing aerial is fitted to every MR Shackleton, port side in line with the aft cockpit window line, above the weapons bay floor.

This part isn't in the kit, I sourced mine from the old Frog/Revell kit.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.2 to MR.1/T.4 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Above, the yellow circle shows the underwing rocket mounts to be removed as not fitted to MR.1/T.4.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.2 to MR.1/T.4 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

I've made a bulkhead for the vacform nose piece, this is to try and get it to the same cross section as the Airfix fuselage and to strengthen it.

It might be down to how the parts were removed from the vacform kit, but I've had to widen the nose in planform by adding shims of plasticard.

 

Next thing is to sand all the filled window apertures and removed scoop areas clean to match the fuselage skin.

 

The interiors of these earlier Shacks was literally just black, and I will start painting mine to match.

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally
line spacing

[Martian]

A very interesting project, popcorn time I feel!

Martin

[Radleigh]

Lovely, my favourite type of Shackleton...

[71chally]

Just a quick update, all the scoops and correct windows now added, and the appropriate windows blanked over and sanded smooth.

 

The interior on the early Shackletons was black, with added blackness!

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

The only part of the interior worth fitting is the cockpit area and bulkheads.

I noticed that when the bulkheads were dry fitted that the fuselage halves didn't want to go together tightly, removing some plastic off the bulkheads removed the problem.

 

I've fitted the MR.2 retractable tailwheel bay, just to give my MR.1 blanking panel and fixed tailwheel added strength.

 

The fuselage is now glued together, the next thing now is to fit the vacform nose.

Test fitting shows a pretty good join to the kit, although it will need plastic card strips in the middle join to meet the same fuselage width.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally
line spacing

[brianthemodeller]

Ooooo, another Shackleton!! Can't gave enough Skackletons...

[Learstang]

Regarding the interior, none blacker!

Regards,

Jason

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

I'm watching this with interest. It's on my bucket list as I have fond memories of crawling all over the one on the Kinloss fire dump in the mid-sixties.

Richard

[71chally]

...right where was I,

 

this job is to tackle the Mk.1 tail conversion. MR.1s / T.4s had a solid fairly simple blunt tail cone.

 

This tail part from the Contrail vacform is joined to the aft Airfix fuselage cut, however the Contrail part is a pure work of fiction in every sense!

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

You can see in these pictures just how bad it is in both shape and size, so it was used as a base 'shape' for a Milliput shaped tailcone.

I hate filling at the best of times, so this job filled me with dread!

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

First I applied a great blob of Milliput and ensured that it was properly spread in to the joins and well adhered to the tailcone and larger than the adjoining fuselage section.

It was left to set for a day and then roughly reduced down and shaped, another thin layer was applied and left another day.

I then sanded it down to shape using rough grade paper, before using finer grades to take it down to final shape.

 

I used cardboard profiles for side elevation and planform of the tail to gauge the shape, as well as photos. I found that sanding square and flat to the fuselage profile first ensured the right cross section before then rounding off the extreme tail shape curves.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

It was actually more straightforward than I hoped and I'm very pleased with the result.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Next, the tailwheel, the MR.1 had a fixed one, I used the Airfix closed tailwheel doors part (item F.15) as the blanking plug for the MR.2 bay.

I glued a length of sprue in behind this part with superglue, to give it some strength and after drilling a small hole right through, a solid location for the Contrail white metal tailwheel. The hole should be drilled at 90 degs to the doors part as seen side on, this ensures that the u/c leg has the correct slight backward rake when fixed to the aircraft.

 

Again, I used the Chris Bowley plans and photos to ascertain the correct location for the hole, which is about 4mm back from the leading edge of the bay. The second picture down shows the blank in place and the mark for the tailwheel oleo hole.

 

Funny how some products prevail through our hobby over years being unchanged - Milliput being one of them. The tail cone feels as solid as ceramic.

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally
line spacing

[tomprobert]

It's great to see an update on this project - am following with interest.

Great fix on the tail cone, too.

Tom

[71chally]

Thanks Tom, seems like a toy when considering your massive Shackleton task!

[fatalbert]

Lovely work,I realy must get on with my one.Re the tailcone fairing,I plan to use laminated plastic card and filler.if it's half as good as yours am gonna be happy :-)

Edited August 7, 2016 by fatalbert

[Fritag]

I've just found your thread James - and will be following it with interest. Looks like a nice challenging build - and lovely work so far

Steve

[71chally]

Thanks for the comments.

Fatalbert, that sounds good way of making the tail.

[71chally]

The nose section is coming on now.

There are two ways to consider doing this, joining the nose halves to the relevant fuselage halves first and then join the two assemblies, of build the fuselage first and then join the nose.

There are pros and cons with both ways, but I went for the latter.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

My Contrail nose piece needing padding out to meet the Airfix fuselage width, this is achieved by fitting plasticard inserts between the two halves.

Also, the nose section has the right amount of plastic, but not quite of the right section to meet the fuselage nicely. I was going to use the whole bulkhead shown in earlier pics, but I then decided that I wanted it to be 'seen through', as the original is.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

The section is most out at the bottom, adjacent to the bomb doors, so I made a bottom former to get this shape correct.

The rest of it should follow the fuselage section, established thorough dry fitting an hopefully careful glueing.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

I've now chopped out the forward bulkhead of the nose piece, leaving a good ridge around the circumference to give it some rigidity, and to represent the the frame.

The step on the bottom will hold the nose flooring in position at the forward end.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 conversion by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

At last it is beginning to look like an MR.1!

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally
line spacing

[Learstang]

It is indeed beginning to look like an MR.1 - excellent work!

Regards,

Jason

[woody37]

Great progress, loving the conversion work

[71chally]

Thanks for the comments.

 

While the conversion stuff settles I will get on with the standard kit parts, plenty of props and engines to get on with.

 

Just remembered that the MR.1/T.4 had landing lights in the wing leading edge, rather than the MR.2/3 retractable units under the wing. So have some modding to do there as well. 

The underwing taxi lights remain where they are in the kit.

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally

[71chally]

The Contrail Mk1 nose is featureless, and in most white aircraft it's hard to see much detail on the nose section.

There are two fairly obvious skin lap joints, so I have scribed these in.  The two upper ones are in a similar position to the MR.2 nose, the lower one runs from the bomb bay strengthening beam to a point about a quarter up from the bottom of the glazing.

 

Shackleton MR.1 VP263 O 220 Sqn St Eval, late 1950s by James Thomas, on Flickr

This excellent picture is great for forward area detail.

 

I drew the lines with a sharp pencil, then apply masking tape to follow the lines. The upper lines have a slight curve, the lower ones seem almost straight.

I then use the pointy tool to scribe along the masking tape edge, the first pass is with very little pressure on the plastic and hardly any against the edge of the tape.

I just let the point do the work and draw the line very lightly. It takes several passes before I can scribe more deeply.

 

Airfix Shackleton MR.1 by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

The floor is fitted, apart from the front bench seat I doubt I will add anything else inside the nose

Edited October 6, 2016 by 71chally
line spacing

[71chally]

http://www.alleycatmodels.co.uk/avro-shackleton-t4-conversion-zebedee-6584-p.asp

 

Awww, what to do now? - carry on with the vac parts, of drop everything and get this new resin conversion set!