Lancfan's Phase Three Shackleton ***FINISHED***

[lancfan]

This model is the only fictional subject I plan to build, The forward fuselage, wing centre section and inner engines of an Avro Shackleton MR3 Phase 3. Basically the only external changes to the phase three airframe are to the rear sections of the inner engine nacelles and given the size of the model a complete aeroplane would use a lot of shelf space to illustrate such small changes. To treat this as a museum display should be the ideal way of doing this in order to save space.

I have five Frog/Revell Shackleton kits in the stash waiting to be built and to save room
they have been de-sprued and bagged to save space, this picture is to serve as the sprue shot for this build and Revell parts will be sorted out from the bags as needed.


To begin this build the front portion will be cut from the fuselage as I did for the Halifax
and then the wing centre sections will be cut away from the kit wings, here are the parts ready for separation.



when the forward fuselage had been separated part 24 was glued to the bomb bay roof ready to be dry fitted for marking and then cut down to match the forward section,


With the centre sections also cut away from the wing panels I had made my basic kit.


David.

[lancfan]

The next stage will be to detail the interior using pictures of the full size as I did for the Halifax. The interior of the shackleton is panelled in so this should be a simpler job without any exposed structure to make up. Before doing this the rivets have been sanded off and the forward fuselage break point has been engraved into the nose using a micro saw, also the nosewheel bay has been boxed in with plastic card and the centre of the front former has been cut out.


David.

[BlohmWolf]

This is looking interesting.

[lancfan]

The nose is here dry fitted before going any further with this and everything seems OK so internal detailing can now begin.


David.

[BlohmWolf]

Looking good lancfan. You have a lot of projects in the works.

[lancfan]

The interior slowly taking shape based on photographs, the kit parts and a cutaway, so it is slightly compromised but most of this will be only partly visible apart from the rear of the cabin and the flight deck.


David.

[lancfan]

The dihedral brace included with the kit has been glued on to the cabin floor/bomb bay roof as part of the interior detail assembly. It is shown here with the inner engine nacelles.


Anyone want a laugh? in the insane belief that my logic was right I cut the wing panels down as if the auxiliary jet engines were on the inner nacelles, after all the wing is thicker and stronger inboard right? it's nearer to the centre line so would not present as serious a problem should one engine suddenly flame out- when checking the pictures for the engine work I found that they were only fitted behind the outboard engines! I now had to dig out another pair of wings to cut up for this and here they are properly cut off outboard of the outer engines. The wheelbay detail is here being fitted using foil and spare Revell Lancaster parts.


David.
All is not lost with the short wing panels as I plan to make a lifeboat carrying Shackleton at some point with wings cut back to the centre section.

[lancfan]

I originally intended to leave the bomb bay open to reveal a row of torpedoes but will instead keep these back for the Shackleton GB later this year and close up the bomb bay on this model, to ensure that they line up properly I have used another fuselage as a jig for the bomb bay doors until the glue dries.


The parts as they stand now, the wings have been fully de-rivetted and the major join/break lines have been engraved in. The bomb bay doors have been joined together and reinforced with plastic paste and a piece of scrap sprue, the cabin is also steadily taking shape.


David.

[lancfan]

Dry fitted and held together with elastic bands the model is starting to look the part.


David.

[lancfan]

The main cabin is now finished, as the instrument faces will not be seen I have not attempted to represent them and they are left as grey blocks. The seats are the only type I had in the spares box in sufficient quantity to use for this, the armrests are missing but these would not be seen anyway. The next job will be to assemble the flight deck and nose compartment.


David.

[lancfan]

Having found a series of much better cockpit pictures on 'airliners .net' I will modify this area before continuing, the main job is to lower the floor level of the flight deck and add the platforms for the pilots seats. This has now been done and is shown here with a floor panel (part 70) from another kit that has been marked to show the new floor height.


David.

[lancfan]

The cockpit is taking shape and will soon be painted and assembled.


David.

[lancfan]

The interior details are now comnplete, I did get slightly carried away with this and it took longer than I first thought. Much of what I added will not be visible even with the open fuselage of this model but it was an enjoyable exercise nevertheless. Things will speed up now as the next job is to fasten up the fuselage and attach the wings.


David.

[lancfan]

The fuselage is now joined up and the wings have been attached, because this is weaker than a complete fuselage I have filled the seams with plastic paste to weld the two halves together, this will take 24 hours to properly dry so I have started work on the outer engines. To represent the Viper tailpipes I am using two identical pen cases which are glued into holes cut into the nacelles, the new shape is then built up using filler.

This shot shows the airframe finally in one piece, the filler paste drying as the final hours count down.


David.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Looking good !

I had considered leaving a wing stub and two engines on mine, but it would have meant too much fuselage needing too much effort to fill in ....