The Big Shack

[LorenSharp]

I did find this though:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VictorsHome-Carbon-Fiber-Crafts-Airplane/dp/B0BDL95PPF/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2KQ2BLIVAYQ2S&keywords=Carbon+Fiber+Rods+0.8mm+Carbon+Fiber+Rods&qid=1691795172&sprefix=carbon+fiber+rods+0.8mm+carbon+fiber+rods%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-2

[bar side]

Fishing rods are a good call.  Tent furniture - clothes storage units etc use nice small roads so they can be flexed easily. There used to be a camping store in town that did loose poles of all sizes for a quid or so each.

 

For now my plastic rod will do.  Some more assembly of the wing internals

 

 

They slot on quite nicely

 

 

Working down with some more structure 

 

 

One coming along & kit for wing two

 

 

Hopefully the leds will arrive this week & I can get the wings buttoned up

 

 

[bar side]

Second wing up to the same level today

 

 

Taping the tops on and the wings are sitting pretty well

 

 

So until I have lights to put in them the wings are about as far as they can go.  So to the fuselage.  There is a bomb bay roof / interior floor.  Plus two bits that could be ends, but they are too wide, but two short to be sides.  Plus the bomb bay roof is too short for the full length bomb bay.  The AEW presumably has a shortened bomb bay with the radar installation on the front part of the bomb bay.  So lots to figure out.  There are bulk head templates on the instructions that I have cut out of (in paper) ready to shape them up in plasticard. I need to cut out windows etc and finish off the sanding of the edges and fit some locating tabs.

 

 

The kit includes two cast seats and two yokes.  I have a left over Hercules seat that may be better.  Left over fighter seats don’t really work although I have a few F-16 kit seats.  Plus I have the two armoured seats that weren’t used in the Lynx.  
 

 

I was wondering about making something basic like this inside, using the cast seats.  I guess the leather covered lumps across the floor are covering the wing spars?  Need to think about the tail wheel well too

 

Anyway should keep me busy for a bit

[bar side]

So the bomb bay doors.  What to do?  I had assumed I would open them up.  If I remember rightly the Lancaster bomb doors opened when the aircraft was powered down, so they usually stood with doors open.  I had assumed that the Shackleton did the same.  But most operational shot seem to show them closed and if I have the lights on & therefore powered up would they be closed?

 

So open or closed?  Thoughts everyone…..

[bar side]

On to the fuselage interior then.  So the instructions show bulkhead templates and scale diagrams.  These will surely help…

 

 

Oh dear.  Bulkhead a  is supposed to sit in front of the cockpit.  As you can see it doesn’t.  The nose wheel mounting plate doesn’t need to support the nose wheel as this will be an AEW2 tail dragger.  But it does for the floor under the clear nose roof.  At least that’s the right shape…

 

 

Too wide.  This is another bulkhead template.  You can see it’s actually to large to fit inside the fuselage.

 

 

So it is make it up as I go along.  Some bits in.  Floor for the cockpit, main fuselage floor, casings for the spars

 

 

First of the new leds arrived.  Red so I can get on with the left wing.  This should be small enough to fit to the back of an F-15 tail too

 

 

Now the other delivery today was very helpful.  Thanks to @tomprobert I now have main wheels!  The white metal main legs drilled nicely to fit an axel

 

 

And thinking about the tail wheels I had a moment of inspiration.  My Spit Mk xiv had multiple wheels included.  Apparently Spit builders are troubled by tire tread patterns.  These look like Shack tail wheels to me.  Better than the kit white metal options

 

 

And why not have 5 Griffon engines on display?

 

 

 

[bar side]

Got both colour leds now so I can get the wings buttoned up.  First wing wiring going in

 

 

The bluetac has a use - it stops light bleed through.  Otherwise I would use foil.

 

Then that wing got glued together and wiring went into to number 2

 

 

The second wing hasn’t been glued together yet & when dry they will need some filling & sanding.  But once they have shape & solidity I can get the sponsons added.  The power for both will then run through the fuselage and link up with the tail light and upper & lower beacons, plus any cockpit lighting.  Power will be plugged in externally.  I may try to use the location for a GPU socket or if the bomb bay doors are open I could tuck it in there

[LorenSharp]

Nice! I may have to send you a printed start cart for your battery pack. Kinda universal. good for any aircraft you may want to light up.

[bar side]

24 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

Nice! I may have to send you a printed start cart for your battery pack. Kinda universal. good for any aircraft you may want to light up.

Sounds good! I did contemplate making an almost houchin / gpu out of a 2 AA batter holder but never got around to it.

[LorenSharp]

The one I have made  will hold 4 AA's or a 9v square battery.

[Sebastien]

Hi,

 

Love your WIP (I have a Shack on the shelf of doom, I really need to get back at it).

You could use for the whole rear undercarriage a nose u/c from a Canberra (it's basically the same thing).

 

Cheers,

 

S.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Sebastien

[bar side]

On 8/16/2023 at 7:58 PM, Sebastien said:

Hi,

 

Love your WIP (I have a Shack on the shelf of doom, I really need to get back at it).

You could use for the whole rear undercarriage a nose u/c from a Canberra (it's basically the same thing).

 

Cheers,

 

S.

Yes I think Tom used Canberra wheels on his.  The Spit wheels look to have the right hubs so I think they will go on the Shack.  Plus Canberra 1/48 nose wheels don’t seem to be readily available as resin parts

 

 

With the wing halves together I filtered the joins and then dashed in to fitting the engine assemblies.  I tried shaping them up to get the best fit I could

 

 

Lots of filler and sanding around the joins

 

 

The main engine sponson should run up the the trailing edge of the wing but it doesn’t.  So that area has to be built up & filled

 

 

I feel I am avoiding the body & still not decided on bomb bay doors.  So I cut the tail parts out

 

 

I decided on a simple straight spar from some of the kit thick plastic sheet, plus putting tabs on the ends of the horizontals to attach the twin rudders.  There is no guarantee with this kit that the marked fitting points are in line.  In fact one is further forward than the other.  
 

 

It’s not perfect but it should work once the body is together

 

 

No markings as to where the uprights meet the horizontals so it’s going to be lots of checking if it looks right.  Blutac for now and the missing element of the Shack comes together

 

 

You can see the tail isn’t level but the halves of the fuselage are loose, so it will be sorted out when it goes together

 

 

I was out looking at jets again this week - KC-135R at Mildenhall would be a vacform inspiration 

 

 

I have a bit longer before heading abroad on hols for a week.  Guess where?  Clue is there are 2 Shackletons at the end of the runway!

 

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

50 minutes ago, bar side said:

I have a bit longer before heading abroad on hols for a week.  Guess where?  Clue is there are 2 Shackletons at the end of the runway!

Malta ? 

[bar side]

10 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Malta ? 

The right sea but not Malta.  Last time I was there was about 1981 I think!  Got on the SS Uganda in the Grand Harbour.  The next year she was off to the Falklands as a hospital ship

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

11 minutes ago, bar side said:

The right sea but not Malta.  Last time I was there was about 1981 I think!  Got on the SS Uganda in the Grand Harbour.  The next year she was off to the Falklands as a hospital ship

Crete ? 

[Learstang]

Cyprus, at the airport at Paphos.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

[bar side]

19 minutes ago, Learstang said:

Cyprus, at the airport at Paphos.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

Yes flying in to Paphos.  The weather looks to be pretty good out there at the moment

[bar side]

I checked the lights in the wings last night & am pleased to say they still work.  Just got to work out the locations for the top & bottom beacons and any internal or tail lights

 

 

I primed the wings today so I can have a proper look at the joints and filler situations.  Lots more sand / fill / prime / repeat to go
 

 

And started adding the tabs to the body plus rough marking out of windows and tail wheel bay

 

 

I am always scared of cutting out windows etc in case I take too much off!

[bar side]

The tabs seem to be holding everything in place a lot better than tape alone.  That has allowed me to level up the tail spar - the kit markings were out by about 4mm

 

 

I have one left over Hercules seat that I though I would copy for the pilot & co-pilot seats.  So scratch building a pair

 

 

Basic shell goes together easy enough

 

 

I will add cushions, headrest and tape belts before they go in

 

 

There is a template for an instrument panel on the instructions so that will help.  Plus the kit white metal yokes

 

[bar side]

I glued the rudders on to the tail horizontals and added a strip of brass to the tail spar.  Things sit better but are not glued to the rear fuselage yet& won’t be for some time

 

 

Mainly seats & cockpit today though.  First seats with cushions & belts.  Based on the grey one on the right

 

 

A start on the instrument panel 

 

 

I wondered about adding the card cover and seeing how it would fit in the cockpit

 

 

Then more bits on to the instrument panel 

 

 

Then a coat of primer grey - this will be the main colour for the panel anyway

 

 

Then I looked at some pictures of actual Shack pilot seats.  They have sides on the head rest and arms.  Some paint on the panel too.  The seats have now had a coat of black and I will pick out the straps in dark grey

 

 

Now dials.  They won’t be seen.  Is it worth the bother?  Do I put an led behind the panel to throw some light into the cockpit?  I found these etch dials from the phantom builds and photocopied them.  If I cut those out & stick them behind that might work?

[bar side]

More cockpit work.  I have put the cut out dials behind the instruments.  The painting is much worse than the detail needed but I know the dials are

 

 

Seats are now black and the cockpit has had a prime of grey.  It needs side throttle levers and other bits bit it’s getting there

 

 

 

So bit more then on to tail wheel bay and some interior for the main cabin

[davidl]

Hi

I was hoping you could give us a few tips about how you achieve accurate interior wing ribs that actually fit -

It's an interesting problem in reverse engineering and I'd be extremely grateful for any ideas that will let me make up accurate interior wing ribs without the heap of waste I usually create !!

Many thanks ...

You have done a great job turning a set of rough shapes into a Shackleton 

Regards

D

[bar side]

16 minutes ago, davidl said:

Hi

I was hoping you could give us a few tips about how you achieve accurate interior wing ribs that actually fit -

It's an interesting problem in reverse engineering and I'd be extremely grateful for any ideas that will let me make up accurate interior wing ribs without the heap of waste I usually create !!

Many thanks ...

You have done a great job turning a set of rough shapes into a Shackleton 

Regards

D

Cheers,

For the ribs I worked on the theory that the section from the fuselage to the outer engines was the same shape.  I traced the fuselage end of the wings on to card to make a master.  Trimmed it to size & checked the fit then traced six copies on to plastic.  I stacked these and sanded them to check they were all the same shape and labelled the top of each rib.  With them stacked together I drilled through all six to ensure the holes lined up

 

 

I chickened out of making further outer wing ribs!

[davidl]

Thanks ... Appreciate the response - that's a very sensible method which would work really well on many wing in-board sections

You have achieved and impressively accurate fit

Internal wing ribs in the tapering outer panels of a wing - No, I don't think you chickened out - I'd would have done the same -

Trying to make accurate internal wing ribs in the tapering outer panels of a wing is a bit of a nightmare -

I like to separate ailerons and even getting an accurate elongated wedge to back up the resulting gap along the wing trailing edge is a time-consuming fiddle -

You'd think that beginning by measuring the over-all thickness of the wing at fixed locations along the line of the aileron- wing joint and then deducting the thickness of the plastic forming the surface of the wing panels on that line would get you pretty close to the mark, but that never seems to work as well as you would think - For one thing there is a differential in the slope of the top and bottom wing panels for which you have to allow ...

and getting supports placed accurately for the elongated wedge/ aileron "backer" is more of a trial than you'd think .... 

Regards

David

Edited August 22, 2023 by davidl

[bar side]

Yes @davidl been there.  I think this kit would look great with flaps down & separated ailerons, but you would need to build the internal structure to take it plus scratch build flap internals etc.  I would struggle to keep up interest in the build as the sheer size means you need that same level of detail all over.  I have built one scratch build so far and the wings were tricky, trying to get the angles and the necessary supports in.  A big kit like this would really benefit from scale drawings of ribs and fuselage cross sections, but the instructions dimensions seem to be way out of scale.  Although the instructions I have are for an MR version, not the AEW.  But I doubt the fuselage cross sections were that much different.  So I am proceeding on the basis of what seems buildable & realistic to achieve.  Still dreading the 24 individual prop blades and the vacform hubs!

[bar side]

Just a bit today on the rear wheels.  I have cut the doors and started building a wheel well frame up.  It will sit under the rear wing spar so should be nice & secure and provide a bit of rear end support to the fuselage

 

 

I found a nice closeup of the rear wheels

 

 

So using the two spitfire wheels I started making up the leg structure.  I have ditched the kit white metal T part.  I am using brass rod to provide the strength.  Something like this

 

 

The inside of the bay needs some surface detail, a structure to hold the wheels and the retraction actuator.  Running out of time heading off on hols now & then things will slow down a lot.  But it will get done eventually