Vulcanicity's Shackleton MR2

[Vulcanicity]

Hi folks!

 

I've had a good rest from doing WIPs since finishing my Matchbox biplane fest last year. These days, the frustrating reality is that the combination of my job as an ecological consultant and a very needy 19th century house to maintain (I'm currently paint stripping doors!) means that I get very little time to spend modelling, let alone on BM, let alone doing WIPs! This is particularly true in the summer months, however the nature of my work means a slack period overwinter with marginally more spare time - coupled to this, 2020 has seen me cooped up at home more than expected, and i will be furloughed two days a week for January and possibly February too.

 

The upshot of all this is I have decided to take on a another big job (and another WIP). Several years ago, Ms Vulcanicity kindly bought me this for Christmas:

 

 

Now, this isn't the last kit she has bought me as a present, and I was very pleased to find the Special Hobby Sunderland under the tree this year. However, to guard against the risk of her getting disillusioned and no longer buying me more kits I thought I better actually build one of her previous gifts! Also, I like Shackletons

 

For some builds much more than others I have a very strong mental image about the type of scheme I want to represent. The Shack is one of these. To fit my mind's eye it has to be in the later grey scheme with white upper fuselage with smart red spinners, big red-outlined serials, code letter and squadron number, and carry the nose cannon armament. Don't ask why, but this is just how Shackletons should be in my head.

To this end I went with WR964 of 204 Squadron RAF based at Ballykelly in Northern Ireland, which is featured on this Xtradecal sheet. I also have a Modelcraft sheet for the MR3 (the reasons for which will become obvious in time, dear reader) and the Barracuda wheel set.

 

 

And so we make a start! Here goes. First off is assembling some of the mammoth amount of interior. I'm assembling as much as I can get away with before priming and painting - which will still have to be in several major subassemblies to allow detail painting. I've attached the bulkheads and spars to the floor with the whole lot dry fitted into the fuselage halves to get a good fit.

 

 

 

Mindful of the received wisdom that this kit suffers from fit issues with the interior, I was very cautious with the bulkheads and sanded every last trace of a moulding seam off each one. So far so good from the dry fitting. Also, I filled some ejection pin marks in the floor - this will be largely invisible so this was more due to habit rather than anything else.

 

 

I'm unsure at this stage whether I will be opening up the crew door. Just in case, I drilled out the numerous holes in the flare chute rack before fitting this part. The whole part (which includes a ventilation duct and curved bench(?) underneath a porthole) is a poor fit and needs quite a bit shaving off said bench thing (?) to make it fit in its niche.

 

 

Lastly, I have been attempting to get my head around the different Phase fits of the MR2 in particular reference to external aerials and scoops. The more I dig into this, the more complex it seems to get, however the excellent history of the Ballykelly wing on the Shackleton Association website https://www.thegrowler.org.uk/avroshackleton/ballykelly.htm provides several clues as to the aerial fit changes between the Phases - working from this as a basis I have trawled endless pictures making notes on the changes in other fuselage features such as scoops and vents etc:

 

 

After much head scratching I have decided to model WR964 circa 1962 in Phase 2 guise. Therefore much removal and modifying of vents is on the agenda. Until next time!

 

[Adam Poultney]

I have the Revell MR2 to build, I love Shackletons so I will follow this build

[neilfergylee]

I shall be following this- looks promising!!

[adey m]

I love Shackletons too, great start, love the sketches too.

 

regards, adey

[Vulcanicity]

Thanks Adey, Neil and Adam!

A slow start on this build I'm afraid - the main problem is I am simultaneously trying to strip down and refurbish three 1:1 scale Victorian Doors Mk. 1 - the joys of refurbishing an old house! At least none of my models have a full 2-3 mm thickness of paint to remove!

 

I finished last time with my attempts to understand the Phase modifications. One that I had sort of, but not quite grasped when knocking up those sketches is the position of windows in the galley. The Phase 3 and AEW had two rectangular windows in this areas, with a smaller, squarer one forward and larger one aft. Close inspection of photos had alerted me to the fact that Phase 2 and earlier aircraft had only one large window, apparently in the forward position. In my naivety I had assumed Avro just added the aft one during the Phase 3 refit, but looking even more closely it seems that the earlier window position is in between the two later ones! I think it was basically directly behind the later forward window. Typically British, to make excess work for oneself by filling in one window and make two new ones.

 

Here is me doing the reverse.

 

 

 

Just a bit of filler required then we should be good.

 

The Airfix cockpit is very well-appointed and appears to be pretty accurate - however one oddity is that the throttle boxes are rather too narrow. On the real thing the outside of the throttle boxes are tight flush against the sidewalls whereas as built the Airfix cockpit has about a 1.5 mm gap here. The box is also too narrow to drill in four throttle levers to replace the clunky moulded-on lump - so I widened the boxes on the outside with 1 mm plasticard sheet and having tidied up the seam, added the levers.

 

 

A few more interior sub-assemblies done and dusted...

 

 

The tailwheel bay (which obviously gets sandwiched into the fuselage at the join stage) is pretty nicely detailed, but perhaps unsurprisingly given it's a single part, the end walls are devoid of detail. I added a crosswise-piece of structure and a pair of hydraulic pipes to the aft wall.

 

 

Lastly, I made a start on the tail feathers. It's remarkably easy to assemble them the wrong way up, hence, the labels! Much study of photos shows that the elevators and rudders were never deflected on parked Shacks, so I assembled them all dead straight.

 

 

That's all for now!

 

 

[perdu]

You might want to remove that ink as soon as you can, marker pen ink often bleeds through a finished paint film.

 

Best not expect the paint to cover it over for ever.

 

Looking totally good Phil.

[chrisrope]

I mentioned this in another build of an Airfix Lancaster which is also a tight fit to get the bulkheads, bomb floor in etc. I applied 1mm masking strips to the areas the internals touch the fuselage, primed and painted as usual. When the tape is removed to reveal the bare plastic underneath, everything still fitted to the tight tolerance that Airfix seem to use these days. 
It all glued together perfectly with very minimal filling and refinishing required on the fuselage seams, most of that was more due to a warped fuselage half rather than the internals creating gaps 

[Big Dave S]

Gonna watch this one. Often wondered about this kit ... but too big!

[Retired Bob]

I saw A very nice Shack MR.2 model at Telford in 2019, so I bought this kit, I'll be watching with interest, very nice work so far. 

[Martian]

Very interested to see how you get on with this as Mrs Martian also bought me this kit as a Christmas present when it came out. How well does the fuselage close up on a dry fit? I have heard that the fuselage floor is way too wide. Following.

 

Martian 👽

 

[bigbadbadge]

Great job on the throttle box and windows 

Chris 

[Vulcanicity]

Thanks everyone!

@perdu fear not mate, the pen marks for the new window position were put on in the full knowledge they would get sanded off again long before paint was applied - but I shall take extra care to make sure the tail ones receive the same treatment! I have never heard of sharpie bleeding through paint - does it even do so though primer?

 

@chrisrope thanks for the tip! A bit late as it happens for this one -as by the time I read it I had already done the interior base coat, but I will definitely be employing it on future Airfix builds at this stage. That said, my diligence at sanding every trace of a seam off the edge of the floor and all the bulkheads seems to have paid off, here for @Martian is a  taped test fit with the whole interior fitted - not too bad at all. The black along the joint is mostly interior paint not a gap! (more on this below). The floor might need a touch more sanding on the sides at the front end but not the horror story I was expecting.

 

 

The worst bit is the underside of the nose - I think the forward bulkhead of the bomb bay may need some extra fettling. (Apologies for my filthy hands, I had been shifting earth in the garden all afternoon. You know the kind of dirt that gets into your skin and just won't wash out?)

 

 

Now - having built the interior it was time to break out the primer and paint. Airfix would have you painting the interior a fetching mix of: British Rail-style maroon and cream, with some mid grey (main crew stations), black (cockpit and observer's station) and Interior Green (rear fuselage). This matches photos of preserved AEW2s and MR3/3 aircraft. Simple! So why did I paint the interior halves like this?

 

I was already aware that the MR1 was all-black inside, and just in the nick of time I found a post on another forum (!) by a former Shackleton aircrew member stating categorically that the early MR2 was also all-black. The change in interior decor apparently occurred at the Phase 3 upgrade.

 

I am increasingly coming to realise that  Phase 3 was by far the most major of the in-service modifications to MR2 Shackletons  - while Phases 1 and 2 involved relatively simple avionics upgrades, the Phase 3 mod made a comprehensive attempt to deal with the fact that the Shackleton was a dingy, uncomfortable and deafening place to work; sweaty in the heat, freezing in the cold and vibrating like a road drill all throughout a ten-hour patrol.  Following a decade of crew complaints, cabin ventilation and heating was significantly upgraded, the galley and rest area was expanded aft into the area formerly occupied by the turret (allowing more space for the radar operators both at rest and at work!), and the bare metal, black-painted interior of the main crew workstations was extensively covered over with soundproofing which was then painted in the maroon/cream/grey scheme  (except for the cockpit and observer's station which for some reason remained black.

 

My chosen subject is a Phase 2 aircraft circa 1962, so out came the black paint (actually Revell Aqua Anthracite which I find less harsh than pure black for interiors). Of course, I ought to have faffed around creating ribs and stringers over the entire interior to replicate its pre-soundproofing state. However I am very wary of AMS with this build, and the beauty of a black interior is that you have to look very hard through the windows to see this sort of thing.

 

The flip side, of course, is that it can all look very samey and one huge gloomy expanse. I tackled this with judicious drybrushing of a paler grey to highlight details. I also admit to having employed some modest artistic licence in making the seat leather a paler brown than I suspect it should be! The heavy floor weathering is based on a photo of an MR1 I have (in the Aviation Classics book).

 

 

Here's the radar and nav's equipment wall. This part was copied directly from the interior of WR963 by Airfix and is appropriate for an AEW3. It is, I am sure, miles away from the MR2 Phase 2 fit, which after all had less space on the left here due to the further-forward galley. However I have almost no photos of the MR2 interior and none at all of the pre-Phase 3 fit, and it would be a major undertaking to scratchbuild a new setup here, so I have left it at is. This area is completely invisible even with the brown and cream scheme, unless you open the emergency exits above the wing, when it moderates to almost completely invisible. In black, I don't think it will ever be seen by anyone again!

 

[

 

Since several other RAF types seem to have changed instrument panel colour from black to grey in the mid-1960s-early 1970s, including mid-way through production (Lightnings between F2 and F3, and Victors at the K2 conversion spring to mind). I assumed that the Shack's panel changed to grey at Phase 3 conversion, and painted it black. Airfix luckily provide an instrument decal which is clear apart from the dials, and it looks OK on an Anthracite background:

 

 

My other little bit of artistic licence was the pilot's seatbelts (made out of Sen Pellegrino lemonade foil as I usually do). I'm uncertain that these were blue even in the AEW years. I strongly suspect that they weren't in an early 1960s MR2 - but hey ho, I have no evidence to the contrary and it makes the seats stand out slightly from the gloom.

 

 

That's it for now! Next time should see me closing up the fuselage - time to see whether I really have conquered those potential fit problems...

 

 

 

 

[Martian]

Thanks for the clarification on the fit of the fuselage, I saw a clip on YouTube where there was a gap of about three or four centimetres. What you have there is easily sorted.

 

Martian 👽

[Vulcanicity]

12 hours ago, Martian said:

Thanks for the clarification on the fit of the fuselage, I saw a clip on YouTube where there was a gap of about three or four centimetres. What you have there is easily sorted.

 

Martian 👽

Someone has, I suggest, made a signficant cockup there - that's over half the whole width of the fuselage! Even if I hadn't so much as touched any of the bulkhead moulding seams I can't envisage it would have been worse than  about 2mm. As it happens, a bit more fettling of that bomb bay bulkhead and it's reduced to zero, assume I tape and clamp as normal. Tamiya fit it ain't, but it's hardly disastrous!

[amos brierley]

On 1/15/2021 at 11:53 AM, Retired Bob said:

I saw A very nice Shack MR.2 model at Telford in 2019, so I bought this kit, I'll be watching with interest, very nice work so far. 

Hello Vulcanicity.   I’m going to take a large step into the un-known, if I’ve stepped on your toes, that not my intention. 
 

My best way of describing Shackleton phase 2 and 3 differences is to add my model show / competition crib sheets. Starting at zero information for phase 2 was not a good point , but , once you know where to start you’ll soon see the the differences in the photos. 🤨 And things will become clear.

 

My advice for anyone building the Airfix Shack : what is in the box (decal wise) is what Airfix would like you to build. 
 

On 2/2/2021 at 10:52 PM, Vulcanicity said:

The worst bit is the underside of the nose - I think the forward bulkhead of the bomb bay may need some extra fettling. (Apologies for my filthy hands, I had been shifting earth in the garden all afternoon. You know the kind of dirt that gets into your skin and just won't wash out?)

I too had problems with this area, a little thinning of the inner structure will soon have the gapping gone. 

My 2019 entry into S.M.W.   MR 2c A.E.W crew trainer.

And of course a photo to confirm my work. It’s a crying shame 😬 R.A.F Cosford cut up this stunner.

I hope this helps your journey.

 

And this too.....

 

All the best, stay safe, Amos.

 

 

 

 

 

[alhenderson]

Just found this topic, very timely as I'm just gathering my thoughts for starting my own Ballykelly MR.2.  Your comments about the colours of a pre Phase 3 interior (which I think a 1964 machine is?) may have saved me some serious dosh in paint costs 😁

 

Al.

[Tornado 01]

Alas its sad to say in the mid to late 80s, the MoD started a mass clearing out of older School of Technical Training airframes The MR.2C and 4 MR.3/3s were in amongst that. And as the AEW.2 WR960 was out on loan to Manchester Air and Space Museum. I suspect the others were deemed surplus....

 

[Vulcanicity]

Hi folks! Long time no update, I have been crawling along with this build but some progress has been made.

@amos brierley that's an amazing model and thanks for the helpful list of mods. Just goes to show how much changed in the aircraft over the years! I think the Airfix kit is still closer in configuration to your late MR2c than it is to the early 1950s MR2 Phase 0 depicted on the box lid!

 

It is indeed a great shame that the Shacks at Cosford were scrapped. If only some of the other SoTT airframes at Cosford had also lasted through...Victor and Vulcan B1 in particular!

 

I left you with some very dark grey cockpit bits...here's the whole lot ready for buttoning up.

 

 

 

 

As predicted, the diligent sanding of bulkheads and some determined clamping reduced the seam gaps to normal levels, and following some filler I was able to crack on and add the tail and radome.

 

 

I haven't deflected any of the control surfaces; I can't find many, if any photos of parked in-service Shacks with the rudders, elevators etc anything other than dead neutral. I don't think the aircraft had power-assisted controls or anything else that might stop free movement of the surfaces, so I am guessing it was just standard practice to fit control locks.

 

 

My references throw up a fair number of panel details under the nose, so these were added. You'll see also that I've added the part that forms the cannon mounting. (Of course) I'm bulilding it with the pointy guns on...) One of the thin extensions of the fuselage halves that sit below this part (and which form the upper rim of the bomb-aimer's window) was slightly short-shot in my kit, but having glued the cannon mount on pretty firmly I was able to fill in the resulting dent easily.

 

 

I have made a start on the weapons bay by adding the cabling looms on each side. This is about the most I can assemble in here whil still being able to paint and weather.

 

 

Next I made a start on the wings. You'll see I have attached the flaps up, again the only photos I can find of Shackletons with dropped flaps are flying, on the scrapheap or in a museum. This is a shame as the flap bay detail is among Airfix's best, but in general I try and represent my subjects as if the crew have just got out and walked away. The flap parts aren't designed to be posed up and need about 1.5 mm shaving off the leading edge, including the angled attachment tab.

 

 

The underside outer wings of all MR2 Shacks feature three rigid slim blade aerials - as far as I can tell these were removed at AEW conversion. As there are no surviving MR2s in unmodified condition (and the two AEW's "backdated" haven't had them reinstated) it's slightly guesswork where they went. However, there are three likely-looking round panels which seem to be in the right place and arrangement  on the Airfix wing so I drilled them out ready to accept the aerials somewhere along the line.

 

 

That's about it for now! I shall, as ever, aim for less than a month until the next update, but previous form ain't good...

 

 

 

 

 

[alhenderson]

She's looking nice! Wondering how you found the fit of the nose section? I dry fitted mine last night and it was awful - several mm too big in just about every direction 😔  

 

Al.

[amos brierley]

Hello everyone.           I’m hoping to help out ........

Starting where you’re at in this build, this is WR960 at Manchester .

 

A phase 3 detail. Lights in the bomb bay.

A scabby looking bit of metal, but the black bit is a weapons crutching unit.

 

Don’t know what the white rods are.   🤔

 

Ditto.   But, I do know that the AEW Shackleton did carry weapons. 💣

 

The black structure on both sides appears to be air condition ducts. 

 

Ditto, don’t know what this is. 

As you’re said, period period show the flaps closed, Eduard do some nice replacement parts.   As well as a trip to Manchester I decided to go and support WR963 at Coventry , it’s well worth the money, time and trip out. 💕   Anyone adding the flaps should add the actuator arms for added strength.

 

I don’t profess to know much about Shacks, but I’m sure they have a gust lock, thus locking the rudder in the neutral position. This never stopped me from deflecting them and the trim tabs on my models.

 

You’re right, for a MR2 you’ll need to add 3x oval shaped rods in the raised panels. Points of note - adding a ‘scab plate’ in this area was a step too far for me - the blade aerial is a throwback to it’s AEW past.

I think I’ve read that you’re adding the guns. I’ve tried to find a photo showing the very bottom of the nose, your correct in depicting the escape hatch. No luck. I think I used a scale drawing.

A period photo showing many salient features, of note, not clearly seen in many photos and it’s blurry here a white drain mast. It’s at the seven o’clock position from the base of the letter B.

 

Sorry it’s a v.large photo post. 

As always stay safe.       😉

 

 

 

[alhenderson]

Are those yellow and orange 'bags' in the bomb bay at Manchester the Lindholme SAR gear (dinghys etc)?  

 

Al.

[Vulcanicity]

Well I did  warn you it might be a while between updates, but maybe I didn't quite mean ten weeks!

I have made a bit of progress, but it has been painfully slow. To be completely honest, I am finding the prospect of breaking out the airbrush quite a psychological block, even though I am now proficient at stripping the thing down and putting it back together and have done enough practice that I think I can probably manage a smoothish all-over coat of grey.

 

I also think I can reasonably blame my job which is currently insanely busy and either leaves me working late nights, or knackered, or both. An extreme example, but yesterday I started work at 02:15 with a pre-dawn bat survey in Droitwich (which followed on from a post-dusk survey with only two hours sleep in the middle). I then had another short nap before charging off to Peterborough to inspect some species-rich grassland  and  newt ponds which my business created a few years back before driving back via Oxford to do something in the office and finally got home near Didcot at 19:15. A 15-hour shift if you cut out the nap! The joys of being an ecological consultant in peak survey season.

 

Anyway...Shackleton.

 

First off, many thanks to @amos brierley for the detail photos, particularly the bomb bay images which will be immensely helpful in not too long. I hazarded a guess at that drain mast's position (although I assumed it was some kind of aerial) but it's nice to see my guess confirmed as correct. Incidentally, I am now proficient enough at Shackleton external mod states to confirm that Amos's period photo depicts a Phase 3 aircraft - the four backward-facing vents on the nose and the two NACA intakes were added at this stage and a previous NACA intake further forward and higher up was deleted.

 

Having got the wings together, the next job was to tackle the nacelles. The outers were straightforward enough, although I concluded that the backward facing scoop on the side of the nacelle here is a) moulded the wrong way round and b) probably not fitted to WR964 at the time I'm building it. Unfortunately the nacelle sides are usually in shadow and covered by sooty exhaust stains in photos so I don't have enough examples to make any confident statements about timelines for when (or in which Phases) these scoops were fitted. At any rate I removed them.

 

 

The inner nacelles, of course, required the undercarriage bays to be built. These are like little kits in themselves. Unfortunately the real things are painted white; I hate weathering white things with washes - it always looks shabby and shows up my lack of skill with this technique. Still, considering they will only be visible behind the undercarriage and in the gloom if you turn the model over, they could be worse.

 

 

 

The dark green paint behind the zig-zag wing rib structure on the two outboard sides is supposed to represent the fuel tanks which are visible in the gap beyond the zig-zags.

A significant (well, noticeable and difficult to fix) detail error with the kit is that the bay sidewalls are identical where they should be mirror-imaged, with different cable runs and some extra structure represented on the starboard side of both bays whereas it should be on the inboard side  - but correcting this would have effectively involved grinding off and scratchbuilding anew the detail on one nacelle's sidewalls. You might have gathered I am struggling for "mojo" with this build, so I decided discretion was the better half of (lots of fiddly) valour.

 

It was in attaching the nacelles into the wigs when I started to really encounter the fit issues which give this kit its reputation. As assembled they sit about 1mm too low, due to the roof part being too thick and standing proud of the sidewalls. The result is a nasty step at the leading edge - a seam which already needs work due to soft corners either side of the edge.

 

 

I dusted off the DIY rasp file (last modelling use: old tool Vulcan) and made short work of the offending mm. The bay roofs are now thinnner, and the nasty step at the leading edge was reduced to within the realms of sorting out with filler.

 

 

Wings! Together!

 

 

I suppose we'd better stick these flappy things to this big plastic tube and...oh look! A Shackleton! Kinda.

 

 

Until next time (current rate: September, but I'll try and do another update sooner 🤞

[alhenderson]

You're a busy boy! Does sound kinda cool, though, doing bat surveys etc. Way more interesting that sitting at a desk typing 😁

 

You've done a great job on those wings, I struggled with fitting the nacelles for what seemed like forever.

 

I'm just clinging onto my mojo with my shack, but I'm starting to get to the stage of just wanting to get stuff done and make progress, even if things aren't quite right. 

 

Chin up!!

 

Al.

[Lord Riot]

Great work on this superb Shack! And even better work on the creation of grassland habitat and the bat surveys! We need as much as we can get. I’ve been doing the BTO garden survey for two years now, and managed to finally persuade the developer of our new estate to manage the meadow area correctly. It’s only an acre or so but it all helps.

[Dr. Quack]

Admirable work - thanks for pointing out the pitfalls, and fixes - really helpful. Watching with great interest.

Q

 

P.S. do we call you Batman now??