Popular Post tomprobert Posted December 24, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted December 24, 2015 (edited) Here's my final model completion for 2015 - the new tool Airfix Shackleton finished as an AEW2. "Why not wait for the Revell kit?" I hear you cry... well I had a spare radome for a PB-1W (B-17) and impatience got the better of me so I decided to buy Xtradecal's Shackleton sheet and took the plunge. The conversion itself was very simple - the bomb bay was shortened and a new plastic card bulkhead added to the rear of the forward sealed section of the bomb bay. I then needed to adjust the shape of radome where it meets the fuselage slightly, stuck it on, and blended it all in with Milliput. When it was painted I used a mixture of the Airfix decals, the aforementioned Xtradecal sheet as well as some Xtradecal yellow stripes for the walkways etc which were very different on the AEW2 fleet in comparison to the MR2 aircraft. There were no specific AEW2 stencils supplied with the Xtradecal set so there's a few missing, but I'm not going to lose too much sleep over that. Although the conversion itself was simple, unfortunately my experience with the base kit was anything but. It looks lovely in the box, but was an absolute pig to get together. I'm more than open to the idea that it was me making a ham-fisted effort of it, but after reading various reviews in the mags and online I was expecting a straightforward build. However, mine was anything but: Nose area was mis-moulded and I had to build the area up around the nose gun aperture with plastic card and filler. The 'bomb-aimer's/gunner's' nose transparency didn't fit at all and needed much trimming and fettling to get it into its aperture. The wheel bays just didn't want to go together at all , and when I did finally get them in position they didn't fit into the wing correctly and much trimming/sanding was needed. The interior is beautiful, but means the fuselage won't fit together properly - despite much trimming and sanding of the interior bulkheads and floors. In the end the entire rear lower fuselage was shimmed with plastic card. Upper turret plug doesn't some close to fitting and needed a lot of filling. Cockpit glazing didn't fit and sat too low - the whole area had to be built up with filler. Joins of the upper nacelles to the wing was an appalling fit - again lots of filler needed. Now I'm one of Airfix's biggest fans and was very surprised to find these issues with a new-tool kit, especially after reading such rave reviews. As I said I'm more than happy to admit it may have been me having 'one of those builds', or even being unfortunate and getting a 'Friday afternoon' example - either way I'm afraid I won't be rushing to build another! Anyway, enough waffle from me and onto the pictures: Avro Shackleton AEW2, WL747 'Florence', 8 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth. As usual, Xtracolour enamels were used throughout. All that's left is for me to wish all fellow Britmodellers and happy Christmas and a prosperous 2016. Tom Edited December 24, 2015 by tomprobert 88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Big fan of that, you've done a superb job Tom, but I expect nothing less Happy Christmas and a happy new year mate! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAG058 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Very nice! Glad you jumped in and went for it! Do you have any photos from the build? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Very nice! Glad you jumped in and went for it! Do you have any photos from the build? Many thanks, and no I didn't document this build I'm afraid. I can assure you the interior is all in there - not that you can see a huge amount but the open doors and hatches do allow a little to be seen. Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonR Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Stunning 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Looks fantastic, nice work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Nicely done! Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Great build. Stephen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coronado Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Outstanding !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Rhodes Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Beaten to all the superlatives yet again, so I'll just say stunning and outstanding! Darren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobski Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Lovely build. I've run into the same issues with my own kit and it's really disappointing. The fit of the engine nacelles and nose transparancies is awful and I've got so annoyed with mine that I've set it aside to maybe be finished in the future if I can be bothered. I think for the AEW I'll get the Revell kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamp Donkey Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 That does look lovely and concur about the donor kit - having a right old battle with mine in all the same areas Merry Christmas SD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phone Phixer Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 That's a beautiful model you've built. Great finish to it. Takes me back to my time at Lossie, seeing them in action. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aimee'sDad Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Well considering the fight you had with her she looks fantastic, superb job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 (edited) Lovely build. I've run into the same issues with my own kit and it's really disappointing. The fit of the engine nacelles and nose transparancies is awful and I've got so annoyed with mine that I've set it aside to maybe be finished in the future if I can be bothered. I think for the AEW I'll get the Revell kit. That does look lovely and concur about the donor kit - having a right old battle with mine in all the same areas Merry Christmas SD Glad it wasn't just me then!It's interesting how some report no problems at all and for others it's a nightmare. There's a chap at my club who's reported the same problems so I was quietly confident it wasn't just me being incompetent and making a mess of it... Edited December 24, 2015 by tomprobert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Despite the issues Tom, you've done a cracking job. Looks like it just fell together from here!! I like the base too, a simple but effective addition 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Liking that a lot, great finish! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Very nice, quite a neat build and paint finish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadbear Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 I've heard that a lot of these newAirfix kits due to CAD design and engineering have extremely fine tolerances, to the extant that paint can make a difference. And you make a slight mishap on alignment as w ell and you are on a road to disaster! It is a shame that Airfix are producing kits that modellers and well detailed but are proving problematic to build. So that proves that despite improvements they still aren't in the league of Tamiya etc. Merry Christmas everyone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Sorry to hear about the problems with your kit, Tom, but your Shack turned out beautifully! So you'll backdate the Revell kit to an early, turreted MR.2 now? Regards, Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbbusybee Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Fabulous thanks for sharing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Superb Tom, really must get one of these, bit surprised to hear that it put up such a fight !..... Have a great time... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 I've heard that a lot of these newAirfix kits due to CAD design and engineering have extremely fine tolerances, to the extant that paint can make a difference. And you make a slight mishap on alignment as w ell and you are on a road to disaster! It is a shame that Airfix are producing kits that modellers and well detailed but are proving problematic to build. So that proves that despite improvements they still aren't in the league of Tamiya etc. Merry Christmas everyone. That does make sense. I had similar issues when building the 1/48th Merlin. I cleaned up all the parts extra carefully and that seemed to alleviate a lot of the problems. Doing the same with this didn't seem to solve the fit issues though. It's a shame as when completed it makes a lovely model, it was just a battle to get there. Sorry to hear about the problems with your kit, Tom, but your Shack turned out beautifully! So you'll backdate the Revell kit to an early, turreted MR.2 now? Regards, Jason May well do, Jason. There's nothing like doing things ar*e about face! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Great job, you certainly beat me to it Tom, although thats not difficult as I am a slow builder anyway, someone at my club has given me the Radom, I'll probably not bother with the interior or having the bomb bay open Anyway happy Christmas to you and your family and say hi to your dad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 That is quite stunning. Good effort! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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