Shackman

I love the diorama. It makes all the difference!

Thank you, Ratch and T2B. Much appreciated!

At last, after more than a year, and with a little help from lockdown, I've managed to complete my MR2 showing a Ballykelly aircraft temporarily based in Majunga in the mid-to-late 60s. As you can see from the photo, my cutaway section doesn't look as neat in place as other's, but I'm glad I did it to reveal all the work that went in to the interior./media/tinymce_upload/fd32f83e68244c7f1e45e73c37decf8c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/a478dbc1da667fb6c9d187abd42fd20d.jpg

Does it have a window in it? Sorry about the delay in responding! I don't get notifications of posts. Yes, the exit hatch is a complete clear piece.

T2B Thank you for the info and pictures. Much appreciated. I just hope my cuts look as neat as yours!

T2B That's great. Thank you for the very prompt response, and I look forward to seeing the pictures of the cut-away. I had done some research online and thought a saw looked the most likely method, but was wondering how on earth a saw manages to go round corners, so I will try the Stanley knife and use the drill for any corners.

I'm now at the point of gluing the two halves of the fuselage together, so before some of the interior detail is hidden forever, here are a few photos of what I've done. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I referred to pictures of the inside of WR963, which is based at Coventry Airport, but the main colour is the suggested Matt 74 in the kit rather than the cream colour in the restored aircraft. The crew seats with the kit include the ashtrays at the end of the right chair arm, so I have painted these with Metallic 11 (Silver). I want to do a similar cut-away section to T2B, but don't know how to cut the fuselage - knife or suitable saw?/media/tinymce_upload/0b917c2bb000b17c1b3606251ee69f5b.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/a6746d9c73cd10cf2d371c8f12dddaf0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/25f0cc17027cbfce67e46c61b0392762.jpg

An update on my progress with the MR.2 interior. I mentioned the ditching exit in the rear observers' compartment. Looking at photos of the interior in Mk 2s, it appears the exit has a solid metal cover and is painted a light cream colour with the words 'DITCHING' on the aft side and 'EXIT' on the forward side. Of course you then wonder why this exit is a clear piece in the kit. I've tried to find close-up pictures of the top of the fuselage, but without success. Pictures of the aircraft from above have usually been taken from another aircraft, so they're not exactly close-ups, but it looks as if the hatch door is the same colour as the top of the fuselage (white or grey) on Mk 2s. Anyway, I've decided to paint the inside of the clear piece, K9, Satin 71 Oak (as I already had that colour) and the topside white. I'll cut up the DITCHING EXIT decal and put the words separately, each end of the piece. Also, most pictures of the inside of Mk 2s and 3s show the main colour in the crew cabin as a cream colour (the same as the ditching exit hatch), but I've already painted the main cabin interior the Matt 74 as shown on the instructions, so mine is going to look much more yellowy than I'd like. I've been comforted by finding one picture of the Gatwick Air Museum's Shackleton (presumably taken before renovation), that shows the main cabin colour as something similar to Matt 74.

I'm progressing slowly with my build and have noticed something else that appears to be wrong in the interior. In section 18 of the instructions, it shows that a ditching exit decal should be placed over the port rear observers window. Looking at photos of the inside of real aircraft, the ditching exit is that shown in section 44 being fitted with clear part K9. I'm thinking of cutting the decal in two and putting the two halves on the ceiling of the fuselage below part K9. There was another ditching exit above and behind the co-pilot's seat. I presume a ditching exit enables crew members to get onto the top of the fuselage - and remaining relatively dry. Exiting the observer's window would immediately lead to an unwelcome swim!

A few points on the interior instructions. The instructions show the rear starboard observer's seat facing forward - it should be facing aft, so the crew member can see out of the window. Also, they show the seats facing in the positions they would be in during flight. For take-off and landing, they should all face either forward or aft. So, unless you are on board during a flight, you would always see them facing foward or aft. However, because of the shape of the location points for the seats, they can only be positioned one way, so the bottom of the seats would need to be filed flat to place them in the correct positions. Lastly, there is a maps decal shown to be placed on what is the AEO's desk. It should be placed one position along on the navigator's desk.

Thank you for posting this. What an amazing job of the interior! I have just started making the MR.2 kit, which will be a Shackleton based in Majunga (where my father spent at least one posting in 1969). I am referring to Issue 24 of Aviation Classics magazine (devoted to the Shackleton), as it has many photos of the interior of an MR and AEW version of the Shack. Comparing the interior of the MR and AEW versions, it appears that, even though the kit is supposed to be the MR version, the interior has been modelled on that of the AEW, which is a bit disappointing. It would have been nice to know I was building the interior of the MR version! Perhaps a new interior can be produced for future versions of the MR.2 kit?