A 1/72 Revell (Frog) Avro Shackleton MR3

[Brigbeale]

After playing with various restorations and a couple of new builds of WW2 aircraft and Classic Jets, I was wondering what to do next.

With the Sea Vixen restored and now living alongside the Airfix Phantom in the display cabinet, I looked at the Frog Gannet to follow them up, but to do it justice, I would need to do some surgery to the cockpit and wheel wells as they’re non existent on the kit.

I uhmmed and Ahmed about it but decided to put it back on the shelf for a while.

 

The next one to catch my eye was this Revell 1/72 Avro Shackleton Mk3 - the Blue box offering - Kit number 04101.
I bought it about 2 years ago off EBay for what I thought was a good price (£8 i if my memory serves me correctly). It was in its box in a bag which had been opened and taped up. I looked at the kit itself and thought ‘That’s a lot of rivets!’ which supports the saying of 10,000/100,000 or a million rivets flying in close formation (depending  on who says it!)
There were a number of parts floating around loose in the bag. The instructions were there but the decal sheet was missing - probably why it was £8.

I did manage to get a replacement decal sheet from Revell though.

 

The kit took its place in the stash as, with a quick measurement of the wingspan and length, I found it wouldn’t fit in the IKEA Detolf cabinet. Now I have a shelf where it can happily sit, it’s time to build it.

 

I suspected it to be a re-pop of another manufacturer’s kit but at the time I didn’t know who’s, but I did suspect Frog, which was confirmed when I was washing the parts and found Frog’s kit number on one of the sprues -further supported when I looked on Scalemates.

 

The kit itself has some flash and a couple of sink marks (sink holes in the case of the engines). I did a check and all of the parts are present and intact - they just need some cleaning up. 
There’s a weird squiggly line across the rear of the wings - at first I thought it was dried release agent, but it’s still there after a soapy wash and scrub. Some careful scraping should rectify that - hopefully. 
 

I know there’s newer and better Mk2 and Mk3 models out there but there’s something about this kit which has me eager to build it.

The kits instructions call for the interior to be painted all black. I could but I think I’ll use the later issued kit for the colour call-outs where the fuselage interior from the rear cockpit bulkhead backwards is grey.

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Brigbeale

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Hey, am I really first in line. I have one of these as well so will be interested to follow your build.

Good fortune sir

Colin

[perdu]

This kit scrubs up beautifully, trust me although yes, there's work to do.

 

Love those decals though, far nicer than the old Frog ones but lacking a little international charm without the South African option.

 

I used mine many years ago as the base for a conversion to an AEW2

 

(but the rivets had to go when so much stuff was done to the fuselage)

 

 

I will be at the back enjoying the ride, has somebody got the kettle on?

[Brigbeale]

2 minutes ago, perdu said:

has somebody got the kettle on?

I’m starting off with coffee, but I have a bottle of Baileys on standby....

 

I love your Shackleton. It’s brilliant. I was toying with the idea of sanding the rivets off, but I think that’s part of the kit’s charm. It’ll probably be a nightmare when it comes to  decalling though - when I eventually get round to it. I might just sand them down a bit.....

[bigbadbadge]

Great choice, after the lovely Sea Vixen am looking forward to this,  did have one of these but sold it a few years ago after I got the newer Revell  kit came out of the AEW2.

The Kit does scrub up well though and one was built in the Frog Squad GB which looked fantastic. 

Chris

[perdu]

9 minutes ago, Brigbeale said:

It’ll probably be a nightmare when it comes to  decalling though

Daco Strong is awesome for rivet-overing, if I ever do another Frog-revell Shack

[theplasticsurgeon]

As others have said, it does scrub up well.  The tricycle MR3 needing a LOT of nose weight to sit correctly.

 

[Brigbeale]

Beautifully finished off MR3 there😍

The tricycle MR3 needing a LOT of nose weight to sit correctly
 

Thanks for the info on that. I was looking at a site (modelling madness) where somebody had built the venerable Frog kit where it was stated that around 42 grams had to be added (which was done by using a steel weight that was kept for such an occasion)

 

I’m going to buy some lead penny style curtain weights (I’ve used up SWMBO’s supply - but don’t tell her!)

Edited April 2, 2021 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

I painted the inside of the fuselage up to the cockpit grey last night. I overpainted the port windows on the thinking that with the surveillance equipment fitted, they would be covered over anyway (I’ll rewatch the video on YouTube on the MR3 to verify this later and clean them off if necessary).

The crew entry door was fitted after it was filed down to actually fit the hole.

 

And I’ve just ordered this

.

[bigbadbadge]

Lovely start and some PE too, this is great for yhe belts and engine fronts and IP at least.  Looking forward to this one developing. 

Chris

[barracuda67]

Very nice.

This info was in my kit. I would sand down the rivets a little, otherwise they will stick through the dcals. Happened to me.

 

 

 

much fun 😀

[Brigbeale]

I’ve got one of those sheets of printed paper. I only passed a cursory glance at it, saw the first bit in German,  put it to one side and didn’t look at it again🤣. I’m liking your Shackleton as well. I hope to do this one as well.

[Brigbeale]

Some progress to report.

The bomb bay was assembled, but I had to sand off the part numbers from the end panels. 
The forward fuselage, cockpit floor and top surface of the bomb bay were painted matt black. Once I’d cleaned the airbrush out and got the parts out for sanding the flash off other parts, I discovered the instrument panel which I’d left to one side so I wouldn’t forget it🙄. I fitted it to the cockpit floor so it wouldn’t get forgotten about again.

 

I was studying the MR3 photos on the Walkarounds section, looking to see what the colours should be inside. It appears the windows I painted over need to be cleaned off as they’re visible in the photos. The front fuselage where the surveillance equipment is a cream colour with the opposite side a green colour. It should be a simple enough thing to change the colours with nothing too detailed as it can’t be seen.

 

I noticed the bomb bay doors on the kit were just a simple shells whereas the actual doors have an under skin with 3 lights in each one. I simply added 0.5mm styrene card to the inside of each with a crease down the middle to form the rough shape. I then drilled 3 4mm holes and added small pin heads to each hole to simulate the lamps. once it’s all cured, I’ll add some filler of some sort to blend the edges in better.

 

Edited April 3, 2021 by Brigbeale

[bigbadbadge]

Nice improvement to the bomb bay doors. That looks great, don't forget the IP again 😄

Chris 

[Brigbeale]

Last night, I repainted the interior of the fuselage. 
The painted port side windows were cleaned with airbrush cleaner and masked off.
I had some left over pale white/Sky mix from the Swordfish and I used that up on the surveillance equipment area of the left front fuselage behind the cockpit.

The remainder of the rear cockpit areas were painted Tamiya RAF Green 2 as it was the closest I had to what I could see in the Walkaround photos. 
The cockpit/bomb aimer position was repainted with Tamiya Flat Black as well as the flight deck (with the instrument panel fitted Chris) and the top of the bomb bay.

The bomb bay in the WA photos show 3 horizontal bars across the width of the bay itself.

I added these with some white prime strips from my 3D printer and s/glued them in position.

 

The repainted interior is one of those’I know it’s there’ things as I put the two halves of the fuselage together and it’s pretty going to be unseen as it’s so dark inside once everything is buttoned up.

 

I’ll add photos later.

 

On another note and off topic, I had a delivery on Saturday of a 1/72 F-15 Strike Eagle from EBay for £4 + p&p. I donned the gloves and opened it up. It was well packaged, but when I finally got to it, my excitement went out the window faster than an F-15 on full afterburners.

Either F-15’s aren’t that big in real life or this wasn’t a 1/72 scale model. 
I checked the listing on purchase history and found the title had no mention of the scale - it showed up in my search for 1/72 F-15 though. I thought ‘Oh cr*p - my mistake’.

Then I spotted it under item specifics showing 1/72 scale.

The stand showed the kit made by Silver Corn - I’ve never heard of them either - and looked it up ont’ interweb. I found it ok. It’s a 1/108 scale kit

I contacted the seller for a refund for not being as listed -  more for the principal of the thing. I got two message back. One to provide proof of what was wrong even though I added the screenshot of the page from Scalemates and another 5 minutes later saying I had a full refund.

I’m now on the lookout for an actual 1/72 F-15 to go with the F-14 (x2), F-16 and F-18 set. There’s probably and F-17 kit out there but it’s probably so close to the F-18 as the latter was/is a development of the former, it’s not worth bothering with. 
Although I’ve just spotted a Frog Javelin........

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Glad you didn't forget the IP😄.  The improvements in the bomb bay sound good  too.  I am glad you have got a refund for the tiny Eagle. 

Looking forward to photos. 

Chris

[Brigbeale]

The promised photos

[bigbadbadge]

Lovely,  she's a big old girl isn't she. 

 

[Ruskin Air Services]

For an old kit it can polish up quite well. This how mine turned out :

 

 

[72modeler]

3 minutes ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

This how mine turned out :

Nice Shack! BTW, is that the 1/144 Academy DC-3 in Buffalo Air colors I see behind it? Looks good!

Mike

[Ruskin Air Services]

Just now, 72modeler said:

Nice Shack! BTW, is that the 1/144 Academy DC-3 in Buffalo Air colors I see behind it? Looks good!

Mike

Mike, italeri 1/72 

 

[Brigbeale]

16 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Lovely,  she's a big old girl isn't she. 

 

Sure is.

Here it is with a Revell Lancaster perched on top to see the size difference

Edited April 6, 2021 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

49 minutes ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

For an old kit it can polish up quite well. This how mine turned out :

 

 

That’s a stunning Shackleton and a brilliant diorama.

If anyone want to show their Shackleton off here - be it Frog, Revell or Airfix - feel free to post a picture.

 

My eye was caught by the Bedford coach to the right - original Italian Job??

[Ruskin Air Services]

1 hour ago, Brigbeale said:

That’s a stunning Shackleton and a brilliant diorama.

If anyone want to show their Shackleton off here - be it Frog, Revell or Airfix - feel free to post a picture.

 

My eye was caught by the Bedford coach to the right - original Italian Job??

Yes it's the Italian Job bus 1/32 for slot cars. Resin cast body only the drivers compartment inside and your own custom built chassis. Unfortunately the club I raced at (RAF Marham) had to leave and ended up further away also a change in employment and working hours made it difficult to attend regularly. So it has languished in my first man cave the loft room for past couple of years. Thanks about the Shackleton the diorama was built as I found it easier than painting 24 propeller blades

[72modeler]

2 hours ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

Mike, italeri 1/72 

Truly? Wow, a Shackleton is a lot bigger than I thought! It's still a nice model! Love Buffalo Airways- home of the hardest-working C-46's on the planet!

Mike