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1/32nd scale Avro Shackleton - scratchbuild project


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11 hours ago, John Aero said:

I used to love standing on the QRA park at the end of the runway at Ballykelly, watching and hearing the Shacks leaving for a patrol, (only a wing span away) going off in the twilight.

 

They'd taxy onto the runway with the Griffons popping out orange flames. They would anchor up directly opposite me and then slowly start to move with the engines bellowing up to take off power. The noise was incredible and the exhaust colour would change from red to blue then to an incandessent purple white light as they climbed out into the last of the light from the west.

 

John

Sounds idyllic, John - what a sight and sound that must have been. I vaguely remember being at a Mildenhall airshow with my dad in what must have been 1989 or 1990 and seeing an AEW2 display, but sadly that's the only (very distant) memory I have of seeing an operational Shackleton. Let's hope the Coventry group can get some air under the wings of theirs sooner rather than later. Hope all is well with you.

8 hours ago, Learstang said:

For what it's worth, Tom, the early MR.2 with the grey over white scheme and the mid-upper turret is my favourite version of the MR.2. I think that's a good choice. And just think of the fun you'll have doing those prodigious exhaust stains! And so the bomb bays were about the same length on the MR.2 and the Lancaster - I'll have to add that to my book.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

Yes indeed. The Lancaster bomb bay was carried through to the Shackleton - it was the same length but made 2 feet wider on the Shack. It was shortened on the MR3 as the nosewheel bay was inserted forward, but any tail-draggers had the Lancaster (originally Manchester) length bays.

 

Tom

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Years ago (probably about 1976) I was a lazy slug and used to spend Saturday mornings just lounging in bed. One morning I’m assuming it must have been September and Battle Of Britain day I was disturbed by the sound of large piston engines. Jumped out of bed to see a Shack doing a low run along the line of the main thoroughfare that runs North/South through Cambridge. It climbed, turned and to a 15 year old positively thundered back towards the city centre. If my memory serves me right it did a total of four passes. Sadly not going near any operational bases that was my one and only time I saw a Shack fly.   

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My word. Just followed this build from the start. I'm gobsmacked. You are a true professional sir. This is very inspiring.

:yes:

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6 hours ago, GordonM said:

Years ago (probably about 1976) I was a lazy slug and used to spend Saturday mornings just lounging in bed. One morning I’m assuming it must have been September and Battle Of Britain day I was disturbed by the sound of large piston engines. Jumped out of bed to see a Shack doing a low run along the line of the main thoroughfare that runs North/South through Cambridge. It climbed, turned and to a 15 year old positively thundered back towards the city centre. If my memory serves me right it did a total of four passes. Sadly not going near any operational bases that was my one and only time I saw a Shack fly.   

That sounds amazing - what a sight that must have been! 

3 hours ago, Bonkin said:

My word. Just followed this build from the start. I'm gobsmacked. You are a true professional sir. This is very inspiring.

:yes:

That’s very kind. I can assure you that I am far from professional - I’ve just been fairly lucky that this build has progressed reasonably well (albeit at a glacial pace at times) and it’s been a case of throwing caution to the wind. 
 

When I started this years ago I didn’t dream it’d get this far but I’m still going strong. Most of the main structural work is done now and it’s just a case of adding the smaller detail parts before I can muck the whole thing up by trying to paint it. 
 

Tom

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I have to say it was awesome, mainly because in those days a fly past to grab the public’s attention was probably done lower and with more ‘dash and elan’ - even from ‘Coastal Command’ type chappies! 

I saw your beast at St Ives and had a chat, it was the most impressive modelling I’ve ever seen.

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13 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

MR2 with a turret gets my vote too.

I think I'm 99% decided this will be version - I've got a lovely profile providing a colour guide and markings are simple and straightforward so I think I'm more or less good to go. The only slight issue I've created a bit more work for myself in having to make the upper turret :banghead:

13 hours ago, GordonM said:

I saw your beast at St Ives and had a chat, it was the most impressive modelling I’ve ever seen.

That must have been a couple of years ago now at least - I think it was minus it's outer wings at that point..?

8 hours ago, Pastor Rich said:

Let the flight deck fun begin!  Good use of Peter's products too!!

Peter's detail parts are a must for this type of project - luckily I have numerous frets of his bezels and instrument decal sheets. They certainly make building this type of thing much easier!

 

I've done a little more to the cockpit and have more or less completed the parts needed for behind the first bulkhead - I'll post some pictures soon. I now need to busy myself making the pilots' seats, throttle boxes and control columns. I also need to fabricate the upper control panel above the pilots, make the side wall linings and then finish off the cockpit window framing ready for the transparent parts which will be fitted at the end of the build. Plenty to keep me busy but I'm getting there!

 

Regards to all,

Tom

 

Tom

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Tom,

 

I will dig out a couple of documents I have, (if you need them) from my library which are  fully dimensioned GA's of the Hispano Mk 2 and Mk 5 20 mm guns. I'll need to reduce them for transmission. I think that I have more on the Bristol Turret somewhere. I also have the Bentley Hispano gun drawings.

 

John

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34 minutes ago, John Aero said:

Tom,

 

I will dig out a couple of documents I have, (if you need them) from my library which are  fully dimensioned GA's of the Hispano Mk 2 and Mk 5 20 mm guns. I'll need to reduce them for transmission. I think that I have more on the Bristol Turret somewhere. I also have the Bentley Hispano gun drawings.

 

John

That’s very kind, John. The more resources the better - that big turret will be very visible purched atop the fuselage.
 

Tom 

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33 minutes ago, AnticlockwisePropeller said:

Just spent a couple hours reading through this topic and I'm absolutely blown away by the effort that's gone into this model!

 

Your Shackleton is already a mighty impressive beast, and she'll only become even more so as she nears completion! Keep up the outstanding work!

@AnticlockwisePropeller you are very kind and thank you for stopping by :)

 

Some little progress this week - I'm continuing with the interior at a glacial pace, but have got the navigator's and engineer's seats done. A basic structure was made from plastic card and Evergreen, and then some cushions were fashioned from Milliput:

 

49850351478_3ae0dc374c_z.jpgSeats by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

These were then painted up and some etch seatbelts from the spares box were added, and now the seats sit patiently with the other interior components ready for installation in time:

 

49851187452_f14998a3bc_z.jpgIMG_0087 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

That's about all I'm going to do for the main interior area as very little will be seen when the forward bulkhead is installed. 

 

In other news, I've finished off the last shaping of the rear fuselage and have got some primer on it:

 

49850885951_63bc017a07_z.jpgIMG_0081 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49850886091_423b7e580b_z.jpgIMG_0080 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49851187842_800b68023f_z.jpgIMG_0078 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49850351373_b96ba7feb5_z.jpgIMG_0076 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

It's good to see the rear fuselage and tail all one uniform colour and I'm happy with the rear fuselage mods now so this section is ready for scribing.

 

Until next time,

Tom

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I remember the shackleton slow fly by at the fighter meet in about 1995 ?, it was quite high so that helped but it made a lot of noise and almost appeared to be stationery with everything deployed, it was a 2 minute flypast 😉

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3 hours ago, Spec7 said:

I remember the shackleton slow fly by at the fighter meet in about 1995 ?, it was quite high so that helped but it made a lot of noise and almost appeared to be stationery with everything deployed, it was a 2 minute flypast 😉

I would have thought it earlier than 1995 as the last of the RAF's AEW2 fleet were retired in 1991. There were a couple of ferry-flights to museums/airfields but as far as I know all 'show' flying ceased when the Shackleton operations ended. However, regardless of the date it must have been an impressive spectacle.

3 hours ago, Robert said:

Looking good Tom.

 

Regards

Robert

Thanks, Robert. I'll bring it down the club next time we meet and you can cast your expert eye over it :)

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1 hour ago, tomprobert said:

I would have thought it earlier than 1995 as the last of the RAF's AEW2 fleet were retired in 1991. There were a couple of ferry-flights to museums/airfields but as far as I know all 'show' flying ceased when the Shackleton operations ended. However, regardless of the date it must have been an impressive spectacle.

I think the last Shackleton display at RAF Mildenhall was in May 1990: I remember watching the fabled "10,000 rivets flying in perfect formation" rumbling past at near walking pace; 8 Squadron converted to the Sentry AEW Mk.1 in 1991 so all Shackleton flights had probably ceased in the UK before the end of 1990.

Edited by Richard E
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18 hours ago, Spec7 said:

Yes sorry it was north weald fighter meet, must have been 1990 as i found a you tube video of the 1991 display there and it landed, sure it didn't when i saw it.

That makes more sense - I think 1991 must have been one of the last ever shows with the Shackleton.

 

 

I've been doing a bit of research into schemes for this model and have more or less settled on something like the following:

 

49863006147_1333357508.jpg

(Illustration used for illustrative purposes only)

 

This is WR957 of 228 Squadron, and relatively simple to replicate without any decals being available, this is the sort of finish I'm aiming for. I think the white/medium sea grey scheme suits the Shackleton so well.

 

I'm making some good headway with the pilots' seats so hopefully some more pictures soon.

 

Tom

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On 5/2/2020 at 11:49 PM, John Aero said:

This info on the Bristol Type B.17 turret might be of use.

I have some photos of one of these at the Queensland Air Museum. It's unrestored but was very useful for my Lincoln build. I believe there's one at Cosford as well as Hendon, too? If you'd like the photos, PM me your email address and I'll slip them over.

Edited by Bell209
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