Shack on skis, under ice ASW *unboxing*

[Wardukw]

As old as that is at 57 yrs old that's some damn nice molding ....I can seriously imagine that in 48th   

[PR19_Kit]

See  my build of the Avro Leeds when referring to those %%$££&( rivets!

I sanded every one of them off and it took for EVER!

And that was just on the wings as well.

[Rick Lowe]

I did the same with an Airfix A-26... I have another couple to do and I've been putting it off for quite a while...

[buzzbomb]

Fond memories of building a Shack, looking forward to seeing this evolve

[Weaver]

And the big planes quoted were landing on prepared ice strips.
In this case it's landing on an unprepared ice field.
I suppose the first important thing to know is the ice thickness, BEFORE attempting a landing.
Are there instruments able to measure this from the air, flying at xxx knots?

Another important factor is smoothness. A lot of Arctic ice looks smooth from a few thousand feet, but on the ground the texture's anything from a cobbled street to an assault course. Some sort of LIDAR might be able to measure it, other than that, it's down to a low, slow pass and Mk.1 eyeball. Even then, lighting conditions are a big deal: the angle and direction of the sun relative to the ground texture will either emaphasise the latter or camouflage it.

[The Wooksta!]

It's a horrible kit to build.  I've done two, albeit one was a salvage, and disliked them both.  So much so I sold them all off last year.
Much as I love the Shackleton, the 3 is one I really dislike.

[McColm]

It's a horrible kit to build.  I've done two, albeit one was a salvage, and disliked them both.  So much so I sold them all off last year.
Much as I love the Shackleton, the 3 is one I really dislike.

I've used a few myself, I haven't worked out how to get rid of the seem down the middle of the fuselage. PSR is needed to build something decent.

[sandiego89]

Thanks for all the words of (dis)couragement!  Do help me, I do love these old kits.

Primer on.  I have been doing more builds with the first coat of primer on unassembled. 



I don't know what you folks are saying about poor fuselage alignment with this kit, it looks like things line up perfec.....hang on a minute.....

[loupgarou]

Completely normal. Nothing that some clamps won't fix, after you have glued the rear part of the fuselage first. 
To have the bow of an Heller sailing ship join, I had once to drill a hole through it, and insert a bolt with its nut  . Obvioulsly I removed it after the glue had set. 

[The Wooksta!]

Wasn't the fuselage I had the most issues with, the engine fit is appalling and needed some serious surgery to get them to fit properly let alone align.

The wing spar helps fuselage alignment.

[McColm]

Interior parts need cleaning up especially around the cockpit area and nose wheel leg. Aftermarket parts are available for the Phase 3 (Vipers ) or you can use the Aeroclub AEW.2 conversion set which includes the guns in white metal.