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1/72 - Avro Shackleton MR.2 and AEW.2 by Airfix - MR.2 & AEW.2 released - MR.1/1A & T.4 conv. sets by AlleyCat


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I really hope it has a few rivets on it - a Shack is nothing without rivets!

Flush or proud? With the 'new' Italeri HAS Mk.1,,,I now understand I'm going to be a rivet counter, or else my offerings will never satisfy! Best of luck with yours!

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I for one hope that Airfix include the AEW 2 parts in the initial boxing. I think it would be a bit cynical if they issued a standard MR2 knowing that so many would want to build the AEW2 version and I don't think their experience with the PR Valiant conversion was great - I bought one mind you - but you see the conversion for sale from time to time but I don't think they exactly flew off the shelves. Of course, no matter what, I wil buy one. I'm just wondering how much Hattons will know off the RRP. Probably similar to the Javelin?

Simon

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If the plastic lives up to the CAD drawings this is indeed a dream come true. I may be a bit odd in this respect (and in quite a few other respects, to be honest), but I'm glad they're going to issue the early MR.2 instead of the AEW.2 first. The MR.2 with the grey over white finish and the dorsal turret is my favourite version of the Shackleton. Mind you, when they come out with the AEW.2 I'll probably buy that also. And who knows, although it's not a simple conversion (they can't just use the MR.2 moulds with just an extra sprue or two), maybe they'll do the MR.3 down the road. December of next year, though; oh well, I've waited decades for a new-mould Shack, I suppose I can wait another year! Well-done indeed, Mr. Airfix!

Regards,

Jason

Edit: I just pre-ordered mine.

I like the grey over white scheme too, or do I prefer white over grey? Oh dear, I'll have to build both! (And an AEW2 with my Aeroclub set). They're going to look great between a Lancaster MR3 and Nimrod.

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Flush or proud? With the 'new' Italeri HAS Mk.1,,,I now understand I'm going to be a rivet counter, or else my offerings will never satisfy! Best of luck with yours!

Hey Nobby - just a few proud to give "texture"! I'm no rivet-counter by any stretch and certainly don't judge others on rivets!

Besides, I don't think I could afford enough Archers' sheets to sort a Shack out! I'm just hoping.....

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About time you finished something, Neil! I know, I know, my Lancaster Mk.VI. And with this new Shackleton, I have another kit to add to my every-growing collection of unbuilt, half-built, and nearly-built Lancaster family kits/models!

Regards,

Jason

lol, Jason, you should have your own KUTA section :P

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Well I'm really looking forward to it. I'd happily do the MR2 but the AEW would be first on my list so an option for the latter would be great.

How difficult would it be to go to an MR1 from this point or even a Lincoln? Could this be the donor kit for a Lincoln, well the wings and landing gear if nowt else?

Good move Mr Airfix, you listened! I'll be buying at least 2 of these two of these and another Vulcan to do the Avro pair. Ker-ching! :-)

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My word I've just wet myself... cannot wait to get my grubby little mitts on one of these!

Here's hoping the whole Shackleton family will follow over the next few years :)

Tom

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lol, Jason, you should have your own KUTA section :P

Yes, I can see it now: "Jason's Own Lancaster Family KUTA". Hours of amusement! Sure to be finished before King William celebrates his Golden Jubilee!

Regards,

Jason

Edited by Learstang
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I do have my own set of interior and exterior photos (including bomb and gear bays) of WR960 if anyone requires them for an AEW.2 build. Can't post them online as it was one of the conditions of me being let on the A/C, but I can email low res copies.

There's also the Aviation Classics booklet on the Shackleton currently available in Smiths at £7.99. As well as articles on its history, there are 21 pages of colour detail shots, including loads of the interior. Reckon this'll be a collector's item by December.

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The Avro Shackleton has a big place in my heart, and for very big reasons. You'll have noted my Avatar is even a picture of a shack

Ever since I was a young kid of 8, I was captivated by the Shackleton, my grand father served on the aircraft for many of his years as a navigator/ signaller, His living room was full of framed Shackleton pictures and artwork, he was based in the RAF at St Mawgan (which is how we came to be in cornwall), and also in squadrons all over the world inc 205 squadron in Singapore.

He told me many a stories, about flights to Egypt, to the middle east and how a restored shack came to be stuck in the Sahara, in the early 90s, which is still there

I remember a story he told me about a SAR mission in the far east to find a missing Shackleton that unfortunately went down in the Indian ocean, or south china sea, They eventually found the area the plane went down after a local fisherman wrote the words B205 on the beach with sand.

We lost my grand father in 2010 and after we cleared everything out I found his log books which are now in my hands, a few pages I'll share with you. His flight logs, a picture of the shack he flew on and a picture of B205 written in sand on a beach. http://www.westbriton.co.uk/servicemen-mark-50th-anniversary-air-crash/story-11459592-detail/story.html

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I have been wanting and waiting to build a shackleton for him for many years, and so wanted to before he passed away, when i was a teenager I built him a revell boxing from a frog kit man years ago, but that was when my skills were poor and it was a complete mess, I have been waiting for a state of the art Shackleton model for a very long time, if anything but to give me closure on losing not only my grandfather, but a friend and the person whom inspired my interest in aircraft.

Thank you Airfix and thanks everyone for reading. I'll be building a dam load more than 1

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Are the wings engines and landing gear on the shack identical to a lincon?

No. The real aircraft's wings are similar but the nacelles, cowls and annular radiators are quite different and the Griffon thrust lines are lower than the Merlins in the Lincoln. In the kit the inner wings would require make up pieces as the fuselages are different widths and the real centre section spars passed completely through the fuselage . The Shackleton wings were derived from the Lincoln but were I believe Tudor outer panels and the uprated under-carriage was also from the Tudor.

John

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