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  1. This is my finished 1/72 Avro Shackleton MR2 from Airfix. I built the AEW2 version in 2019 and had been looking for this version for some time as a companion build. It was a pre-owned kit which I picked up at the recent Scale Model Show in Canberra. The box was in good nick and all the contents were still in their sealed bags. It was built OOB as version A with the gun turret as shown on the box art. The undersides have been painted with XF-2 White and the upper surfaces painted with XF-83 Medium Sea Grey. Various blacks, metals etc for smaller parts. Weathering was done with Flory dark dirt wash and Abteilung oils. I took a modular approach when building this. I painted, applied the decals and weathered the fuselage, wings, stabilisors and fins separately and only assembled the whole the thing near the end of the build. It was too big to comfortably fit in my spray booth. It all fitted quite well except for fixing the engine pods to the leading edges of the wings. I had the same problem when I built the AEW version and it took a fair bit of filling and sanding to get an acceptable, but far from perfect fit. Apart from this one issue, it was a thoroughly enjoyable build. It has a lovely, detailed interior which will never be seen again, but we all know it's there. The two Shackletons together. Cheers
  2. Czech Master Resin (CMR) is to reissue an improved version from its 1/144th Avro Shackleton MR.3 resin kit - ref. CMR144-001 Source: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en/modelling/avro-shackleton-mr3-raf-saaf--improved-reissue-czechmaster-01-50952.html https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CMR144-001 V.P.
  3. Another month passes, and another model goes from bench to shelf. This one being the Revell 1:72 Shackleton AEW2 of 8 squadron Lossiemouth 1981. A few issue with this kit which is a shame considering the nice surface detail. 1 being mentioned in another thread on here being the MR3 layout fuselage with extra windows etc not present on the AEW2 or missing vents. 2- had a lot of manufacturing issues with this kit with the moulding just not complete or not fully formed eg landing gear missing one side of the fork, detail missing from bay antenna, hole in fuselage half and delaminated clear windows. Fortunately Revell parts uk sorted me out some replacement frames so big thank you to Revell. Now the pics. And with my Revell MR3 (1996 vintage)made about 20-25 years ago (glad my skills have progressed since then!)
  4. I'd had it in my head for a while that I'd like to do a Shackleton as a bit of a departure from the cold war jets that I've done lately and have in the stash. Have shied away from it because its big - biggest thing I'll have done since being a teenager, plus I have absolutely no idea where its going to go when I'm finished. Its easy enough to hide away Spitfires, Phantoms and Tornados around the house without much notice being paid, but this is a whole other ball game! My old man grew up around Ballykelly watching these beasts and has a soft spot for them, so he might adopt it for me in due course 🙂 Last November I found myself face to face with one in the local model shop when I popped in for some paint or something equally trivial. Suffice to say, I came out with a bigger bag than I was anticipating! And it felt good! I left like the teenage kid coming out the model shop in Dundee clutching his latest acquisition 😂 Having done a couple of spits over Christmas just to keep my eye in, I've decided this is next. Its been sitting on the bench waiting to be started for a few weeks now, but I keep finding other things to do. Maybe the size of the thing is intimidating me? I found a build thread from @Vulcanicity the other week who has just started the same kit. He opened the whole can of worms of the various phase updates for Shackletons - I had been aware of these but had not realised the extent of the external differences. Thankfully, he's doing the same era as me so has done some of the hard work which I am going to shamelessly borrow 🙂 I may not go as far, though, I'm not really up for moving windows around - bit beyond my skill set that one. I sat down last night, saw the whites of the Shacks eyes and made a start. Yep - I put together the pilot's seats 🙂 Got to start somewhere, right? So here we are: I've got the 204 sqn serials and markings from Xtradecal X72-235 courtesy of @AliGauld and then the Revell MR.3 sheet from @xvtonker. The latter will give me the yellow overwing walkway stencils that were used on UK based Shacks. Thank you very much gentlemen - it is very much appreciated! And that's about it for now, less time writing WIP and more time modelling, I think!! Cheers, Al.
  5. I can't remember the last time I built a 1/72 scale model so this one is a bit of a departure for me! I have a Shackleton MR2 and a Lancaster in the stash so will have to see if the 1/72 scale thing continues. Plenty has already been said about the Revell kit so I won't repeat it but it went together nicely, with no major fit issues. There is an interior but you can't see it so adding foil seat belts was a bit of a waste. The only other addition was a set of resin wheels which were beautiful and a lot better than the kit versions. The colour was the biggest headache for me and I went through four different versions of BS638 Dark Sea Grey before settling on the Xtracrylix version. I'm sure there will be many opinions on this but it was the one that looked best to me and matched my memories of seeing these at wet and windy airshows at RAF Leuchars back in the day! It was the first time I had used the Xtracrylix paint and after a bit of trial and error it sprayed very well, in fact I pretty much used up the whole tin on this one. The markings are for Zebedee of No 8 Squadron in 1981 and were nice and thin, it did need a bit of care for the lines on the top of the wings though. Thankfully, due to the good fit , I was able to build this without gluing the wings on so I will be able to take it apart for storage as it is a bit large to say the least. Definitely looks like a Growler though! Hope you enjoy.
  6. Evening All, I am in the middle of adding tape seat belts to my 1:72 Shack MR.2. I've put a couple of shoulder harnesses on and was trying to work out what the bottom portion of the belts looked like. I kind of assumed they were lap belts so came across from each side. The photos I have seen showing the seats only show part of them, and there's no sign of any lower seat belts. I've seen pictures of the back-end crew seats which have lap belts. Can anyone shed any light? And hopefully more light than will ever be shed on the real things! Cheers, Al.
  7. Morning All, I'm currently mulling over a plan to build a 1:72 Shackleton MR.2 from the Ballykelly wing. Hoping to do it as a present for my dad who has a soft spot for them (plus that way I don't have to worry about storage space!). It looks like the Airfix MR.2 kit is a good starting point (when I can get hold of one!). I don't think it has decals for a Ballykelly machine, but I think I'm right in saying that squadron markings were limited to the squadron number in red numerals on the rear fuselage. So if I can get hold of some suitably sized red numbers I should be OK? From the brief research I've done so far, I'm looking at 203, 240 or 269 squadrons (with the latter two renumbered to 204 and 210). I'm keen on the dark grey and white top sides scheme (reckon I'd struggle with the mainly white one) - can anyone shed any light on the timeframe that this scheme came in? I've found the Shackleton Association website for perusal which looks good for a huge amount of historical stuff... Any other nuggets or useful bits of information anyone has to share? Cheers, Al.
  8. Stumbled across this old Air Ministry film about the RAF in Gan and Singapore courtesy of those nice people at Joluqa Malta. Obviously it was intended as a recruiting film because it kept alluding to how well the RAF looked after its people and what great fun and social life they could have... ...anyway the story centres around a ground radio type being whisked off to save the world whilst his wife flies out from the UK in a Britannia. There's some interesting detail of the Beverly, some of the Comet but what I found fascinating was the detail and the wear on the Mk.1 Shackleton, particularly on the propellor spinner and the radome. The protective coating on the latter has been eroded away and the clear perspex radome is showing beneath. The Shackleton comes in the last 5 minutes or so of the film. Fascinating stuff (once you get past the story line)...
  9. Pre-Cut Kabuki Masks for Revell Avro Shackleton AEW.2 (NWAM0465) 1:72 New Ware New Ware are a Czech company who are probably best known for their real space kits and upgrade parts. They are also well known for their large (and growing) range of pre-cut paint masks for model aircraft kits. Here we have a set of masks for Revell's Shackleton AEW.2, but if you peruse the Hannants catalogue under the New Ware name, you'll see pages and pages of sets that are both comprehensive in content and wallet friendly too. In their Shackleton kit, you get a full set of masks for the transparent parts (of which there are many) as well as masks for the landing gear. Rather thoughtfully, there are some spare masks included just in case you need them. While these masks won't add extra detail to your models, they will save you a great deal of time as well as providing you with the certainty of a nice, neat finish. They really are a time saver and as such they are well worth considering particularly if, like me, your modelling time is restricted. See the full range available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  10. So here she is, my first Shackleton, an aircraft I've loved since childhood when they used to clatter over into Woodford occasionally, the highlight of any schoolday when that happened! Built straight OOB with just a few little aerial additions after reading Chally71's Shack thread on here - many thanks for the info! No wires yet though, I'll get round to sprue melting another day. I was going to do WL756, but having seen that 795 is now preserved at St Mawgan (albeit as an MR2 again) I thought I'd honour her instead. I hope I've done this beautiful Avro justice ...
  11. Hi all Here is my Airfix 1:72 Avro Shackleton MR.2 ive finished it in the markings of WL737 of 220 SQD, Royal Air Force, based at RAF St Eval, 1953. using Model Alliance Decals, RAF Coastal Command, post war part 1 (MA-72210) The only extra detail I added was a PE instrument panel. tamiya paint use throughout apart from Halfords appliance white for the underside. This has been an enjoyable and frustrating build due to fit issues early on. thanks for looking Fit issues early on tested my patients to the limit I put it down walked away and went back to it a couple of weeks later and repaired my moment of madness And made good in the end
  12. Hi all and here's my last finish for 2018. I built this one OOB as part of a 'Secret' GB on a Facebook modelling group page - the rules were simple; you couldn't tell or show anyone what you were building! That worked fine for me as the kit was a Christmas present for my neighbour who's a relation of Sir Ernest Shackleton. I wanted to say thanks for all his help during the year (taking in parcel deliveries when we're not home/cutting our verge to name just two) and thought this would be nicer than a bottle of wine. I dropped the kit around to him on Christmas night and he was absolutely gobsmacked with it - he never knew there was a plane named after his famous relative. He was like a big kid, asking me all about the kit and the hobby. Overall, the kit fitted together nicely and the wing spar gives a really strong, positive wing-to-fuselage join. The decals were great but some of the instruction steps could be clearer. e.g. for the props which meant the spinners aren't 100% flush. Also, the u/c parts could be a lot simpler - trying to align 5 parts with their mounting holes was a 😡 But she looks like a Shackleton and I'm happy how it turned out. And building for someone else was great fun too. Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_ (1) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_ (2) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_ (3) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_ (4) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_(8) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_ (6) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Revell_Shackleton_AEW_2_ (7) by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr Thanks for looking and have a very Happy Christmas. Dermot
  13. Airfix is to release a new tool 1/72nd (Wrong scale. I want the same in 1/48th!) Avro Shackleton MR.2 kit - ref. A11004 Expected on October 30th, 2015. Source: http://www.airfix.com/catalog/product/view/id/8411/category/15/ V.P.
  14. Shackleton AEW.2 Photo Etch Upgrades for Airfix Kit 1:72 Eduard Airfix's Shackelton has been generally well-received, although it's fair to say that the AEW.2 didn't make quite such a big impact as the MR.2, not least because Revell were able to beat them to market with their own impressive kit. Now Eduard have released a tranche of photo etched accessories for the new kit, as well as a set of paint masks. Shackleton AEW.2 Cockpit Interior Photo Etched Set Despite the misleading title, this is actually a combined set for the interior and exterior. The first fret contains the interior details and, as you would expect, there is a natural focus on the cockpit area. Included on this fret is a pre-painted multi-layered instrument panel, harnesses for the pilot's and co-pilot's seats, details for the throttle controls, control column and cockpit sidewalls. Also on this fret are parts for detailing inside of the transparent parts. On the second fret are parts for detailing the main wheel hubs, the insides of the landing gear bays, the inside of the bomb bay doors and the radiators of the mighty Griffon engines. A host of smaller parts such as aerials and aileron actuators are also included on this fret. Shackelton AEW.2 Fuselage Interior The incredibly detailed interior of the Airfix Shackleton drew a lot of comment when the kit was shown for the first time, both from those happy to see so much amazing detail and those who couldn't see the point when relatively little would be visible when completed. For the former group, Eduard have released a further set of pre-painted parts. Included on the fret are harnesses for the remaining crew seats, as well as a whole host of details for the various crew stations. A first aid kit rounds the package off nicely. You will need to scrape away the moulded detail in order to use these items, but you needn't worry about being too careful as the photo etched parts will cover up any slips with the scalpel blade. Shackleton AEW.2 Landing Flaps This set is comprised of two fairly large frets that contain everything needed to kit out the kit with a set of detailed landing flaps. In typical Eduard style, the part count has been kept quite low by making use of folds rather than individual parts. The instructions don't show these folds in great detail though, so you'll need to pay close attention. Although this set appears to be quite complex, it should be quite straightforward to assemble provided the right tools are used. The Airfix kit already has separate plastic flaps, so replacing them with the brass versions will require some moulded detail to be scraped away. You'll also need to stock up on thin plastic rod in order to complete them properly. Shackleton MR.2 Masks Most of us are familiar with Eduard's pre-cut masks, so I won't say too much about them here. You get everything you need for all of the transparent parts as well as the wheels, and while they may seem like an extravagance for a smaller kit like a Spitfire, they are much less so for a beast of a kit like the Shackelton. Conclusion Airfix's Shackleton looks to be a pretty good kit, and in usual Eduard style these sets will add detail where it counts. I imagine many modellers will opt to forgo super-detailing the interior, so it's good that Eduard have produced a separate set for this area as it maximises choice and value for the modeller (interestingly I had two identical frets supplied with the interior set by accident. If you want one of them, drop me a PM and they're yours). Some of the parts in the landing flap set may be a little intimidating for those not used to working with photo etched parts, but once you get the hang of folding them up, you'll be fine. Used in conjunction with the other sets, these should help to transform the model into a real showstopper. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  15. Hello fellas. Fellas. I have quick question. Finishing build of Avro Shackleton and to be honest, I do have some problems to find right colour or lets say, mix proper colour. Not using revell colours. And I just bought Tamyia XF-82 which is Ocean grey 2 (RAF). Will it be OK for that model?
  16. Hi everyone I wanted to share with you all of my builds I've completed since coming back to the hobby. First up two of my favourites. Airfix 1/72 Avro Shackleton AEW.2 WR966... ....and next up Airfix 1/48 Gloster Javelin FAW Mk9 XH903 ... I'll add a couple builds over the next few days. Cheers all Iain Link to Pt.2
  17. I remember I desperately wanted a Shackleton when I was a kid. It's brilliant we've now got Revell and Airfix making them! My initial thoughts on opening this were it has a lot of parts! I don't know if anyone else has found this too, but where the pieces join the sprues the plastic is quite thick - it needs careful cutting so as not to snap thin parts or leave tears on larger parts where they were attached. Apart from that though, what an amazing kit this looks! Beautiful lines on the surfaces, and so far fitting together well. I'm going to use satin dark sea grey spray for the bulk of it, I'll mask the transparencies and leave the props, etc off until the end. Impressive amount of detail for the interior ...
  18. The latest Airfix release is now in stock. It is the A11005 Avro Shackleton AEW.2 with markings options for two 8 Squadron aircraft named after characters from the "Magic Roundabout" TV series, WR960 "Dougal" and WR963 "Ermintrude". Order now at our bargain online price.
  19. This month Airfix are releasing their long awaited Avro Shackleton AEW.2 Model Kit in 1/72 Scale. This Cold War Era variant of the MR 2 was used as an Airborne Early Warning Aircraft, and this particular kit contains decals for "Ermintrude" and "Dougal" which flew with No.8 Squadron based at RAF Lossiemouth in 1979 and 1980 respectively. "Dougal" is currently preserved in the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester, England. Place your pre-orders soon to avoid disappointment, this is going to be a popular kit!
  20. Avro Shackleton MR.3 WR982, at Gatwick Aviation Museum, pics mine.
  21. As the original thread is locked... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234973128-revell-172-shackelton-aew-2/page-11 Test elements as displayed at the 55th All Japan Model & Hobby Show. Source: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/blog/1509254 V.P.
  22. yes... Here is another Shackleton, this time from a Swedish workbench. This was a pretty quick build, about four weeks, almost entirely OOB. The build was surprisingly fast (among other things thanks to Eduard's masks for the myriad of windows!), and I did not bother to correct the small issues. To me this looks very much like a Shackleton, and that is enough for me. Although, there are few more suitable objects for rivet-counting... However, I added seatbelts and a number of missing antennas. Painted with Gunze acrylics. I replaced the roundels, the rest is from the kit's decal sheet. If I would do another build of this, I would probably use aftermarket decals. The rivets are no problem for me, I like them. This is why i decided to go for Revell instead of Airfix. They may be over-sized, but so are most panel lines on almost every 1/72 kit. However, there are pretty difficult to restore after sanding. Another problem is that they are of different size on the kit, for instance they are much deeper on the engine nacelles than on the body. But this is no major problem IMO. I decided to go for a semi-gloss finish. I know that the original was more glossy, but to me this would create a toy-like finish. So it might be a bit incorrect, but I think that it looks far better this way. Apart from some difficulties with the landing gear (which might be my own fault, I decided to assemble them before painting), this was a very easy build. I really recommend this kit. Do I like masking propellers? No, I don't. Next kit will be a jet aircraft, I promise! Thanks for watching!
  23. Afternoon all, I bring sad news unfortunately, text extracted from an SPT Facebook post: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A statement from Dave Woods, Chairman of Trustees - Shackleton Preservation Trust (reg charity no 1020951) Legal owner of Avro Shackleton WR963/G-SKTN I first got involved with Shackleton WR963 in late 2008 just after ownership had been taken back by Mike Collet following the failed attempt by ASCET to return her to flight. The aircraft had three engines present at that time, and numerous systems damaged or non-functioning. My first job was to remove the front spinner from the No3 engine which I managed without breaking anything, then shortly after as WR963 looked in a bit of a state the decision was taken to repaint her. The then Chairman (John Cubberley)knew well of my modeling skills and asked me to head up the painting team which I was happy to do, I just approached it like a big Airfix kit. The final painting was completed over the course of five days and has lasted well since. Over time I established a good working relationship with the managemaent at Coventry and Mike Collet in partiicular as we are both northern boys . When the SPT Chair's health took a turn and he decided it was time for him to step down I was invited to join the board of Trustees and later to become Chairman, this job involved steering the activities of the Trust in maintaining and operating WR963 on behalf of Air Atlantique, and raising enough money for the project to be self sufficient. Mike must have been impressed as in 2011 he asked me to take over the running of Air Atlantique's "Airbase", who would turn down that opportuity? Not me - so I said "Yes please!", and we did rather well at it. Then in 2012 it was decided that the whole of CAF would be moved to a new facility in Cornwall. Mike at that time realised that moving the Shackleton and Nimrod was really not an option, so on being called to the office one day he offered the Shackleton to me. Had I declined WR963 would have gone up for auction, and YES this would have also included the scrap man. What would you do, buy the aircraft that by now you have worked on for a number of years, or say "No thank you," in the knowledge that she could be turned into scrap? It was bit of a no brainer for me really, so I bought it - out of my own pocket I might add. Some of you may ask why I bought it myself and not on behalf of the Trust, that is simple, at that time the Trust did not want the liability that may have come with the purchase (indeed there were howls of horror from the other Trustees when I proposed handing it over to the Trust), as this may well have included insurances and parking fees which are substantial for an aircraft of the Shackletons size and the Trust just did not have the funds to cover this. Things were working well as they were, so I saw no reason for things to change so WR963 continued to be maintained and operated by the SPT as Mike had set up and all were happy with that arrangement. A few months later when Nimrod XV232 failed to sell, the transport cost was found to be atronomically high, and the aircraft was deteriorating rapidly, Mike asked me as Chairman to take it under the wing of the Trust on the same arrangement as WR963 had enjoyed, in that the aircraft would still belong to Mike but we - the Trust - would maintain and operate it. This the Trustees were happy to do as it would give us a nice little collection in its own right when all the other aircraft had departed, we would still have Shackleton, Nimrod and Shackleton Mk1 nose all together. Time passed and we had highs and lows, members of the crew came and went as they do, then came 2015 and the Vulcan To The Sky day. The week before this saw WR963 up on jacks to change the brakes on both wheels to allow us to taxy on the day, it was a damn near run thing but we did it in front of the biggest crowd seen at Coventry in many years. We followed this up in April 2016 with a taxy run with paying passengers onboard, the first time this has been done EVER!! The Trust at that time was solvent with plenty of cash in the bank, what I didnt know was that things were about to change and I'm afraid to say not for the better. WR963 became unservicable and remains so to this day. Where did it go wrong? At the beginning of the year I asked the crew to hit all the usual sites with messages pushing the Hanger Fund and the names on the bomb bay doors, they didnt want to do it, why? They were worried that it may be seen that we were spamming people. Thinking I may be pushing too hard and with my wife's failing health taking more of my time, I decided, wrongly, to let them run things largely their way. Things fell away further and faster than anticipated. A small group of the newer members for whatever reason felt that they needed to have private meetings to which the Chair and members they didn't favour were not invited. The whole thing degenerated into a Saturday morning "boys and their toy" club and not a group of like minded people with a common goal. Things I asked of them as Chairman of the Trustees of SPT in an attempt to try and halt the decline were ignored. Little to nothing has been done with the Heritage Lottery Fund Application which would have given the trust £70,0000 development funding , the "Friends of WR963" has been run down and ignored with no updates and newsletters since the first one under the new Membership Secretary, so that is another source of funding gone. The result? Since the middle of May we have had just £338 in donations. There can be no doubt that the unservicability this year, little to no income from events (such as monthly public engine runs) combined with the huge expenditures has killed SPT. If we didnt have the Kickstarter funds the Trust would be out of funds completely now. The majority of the newer members treat this as if it is of no concern, the only idea that was brought up to raise funds is to scrap Nimrod XV232, I have to tell you that as long as I draw breath as Chairman I will not allow this. To add to my stress level, this year new untrained members of crew have been put in positions on board the aircraft for private "test" runs when I wasn't on site. Not only is this poor behaviour from a safety point of view, it equates to some £3000 used in fuel this year alone for private - not public - "test" runs. Given I am the culpable person in that my name is on ALL the insurances, if there had been an incident and someone was injured or killed I would be facing criminal charges despite being 100 miles away at the time. Speaking as the owner of the aircraft would you allow this to continue? I am no longer willing to let this happen so I have with the greatest reluctance removed ALL the insurances on the aircraft. The SPT is now so divided that I doubt it can ever be brought back together. Weighing up all the above I feel I have had no choice but to call time on the work on WR963, and look to her preservation for future generations above all else. As such I have to say that that brilliant dream of flight for the Shackleton is now gone. Kind regards to all Avro Shackleton WR963 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can't think of the words to adequately describe how sad this is for UK aviation Sam
  24. Good afternoon everyone Finally now finished the Revell Shackleton AEW2. She was a lovely kit, there is a couple of issues in regards to accuracy as it is a hybrid of a AEW 2 and MK 3, but ignoring those details I decided to build it oob, as it is. On comparing it to the Airfix kit, fit of the overall kit I found better, the surface detail is 100 times better than the airfix kit, The revell kit has some very think sprue gates connecting the parts, which does require some clean up, there are pros and cons for both, but overall they are both fantastic model kits. But I'll leave you with pics of the Revell one and then the 3 kits i've built. I hope you enjoy.
  25. Avro Shackleton AEW.2 WL790 on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Pics thanks to Paul Bradley.
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