Avro Shackleton AEW.2
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Kit Review
This is an all-new tooling from Revell, which was due October 2015, but was delayed and thus has only just arrived on the market.
Inside their usual floppy end-opening box you will find four bags, three of them containing sprues moulded in a medium grey colour, the other containing the clear sprues. Surface detail is via engraved lines and lots of engraved rivets, which is very fitting for the Shack, plus certain details are raised to reflect their actual nature on the real thing. Breakdown of the parts shows that the fuselage is broken at the mid-span point, so other versions are obviously also on the cards in the future. Construction is achieved in 64 stages, all shown in their new-style colour instruction booklet; some may find the white on pale blue nature of these a little difficult to see, but overall they are nicely drawn. Inside you get the flight-deck and nose areas, along with the region around the rear access door in the aft fuselage, as Revell have not messed about filling the fuselage with equipment that you will never see once the fuselage halves are together. The bomb bay roof attaches to spars that go through the fuselage halves into each wing and this seems to be the vogue nowadays from many manufacturers. All control surfaces are separate and I have to say that the clear parts are exceptionally clear. The bleed doors on each nacelle side can be posed open or closed and the wheels feature square block tread pattern tyres. The undercarriage does not look overly complicated and it seems to have stout locating tabs, which should result in a secure assembly. Both inner and outer sections of the flaps can be posed open or closed, with moulded rib detail within that region of the upper wing half. All the various blade antenna are separate parts, as is the large 'insulator block' that sits atop the fuselage. The propellers are built up in sections and are shown attached with a shaft through the front of each nacelle, which then goes in place as the very last five stages of the build, although I suspect most will secure the shaft (E125) and attach the engine front earlier, to deal with any seam lines and to make painting the completed model easier; the propellers can then be assembled, painted and attached after all the painting and weathering.
Colour Options
The kit offers two decal options:
• WL756 of No.8 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, late 1973
• WL795 of No.8 Squadorn, RAF Lossiemouth, June 1981.
The colours are once again only given by Revell's own paint range, with no authentic colour codes or names, and this involves a really silly and fussy three-colour mix to make the overall shade. Thankfully Extra Dark Sea Grey is readily available from the likes of Xtracolour/Xtracrylix, Gunze-Sangyo or Humbrol, so make your life easier and go with them instead.
The decal sheet is printed in Italy and it has good colour and register, but the images are so thick, you can 'read' the sheet by touch! The carrier film is visible in some regions and it is not clear, so how they perform on the model is yet to be seen.
Conclusion
At last, a mainstream plastic kit of the AEW Shack in 1/72nd, what more can you ask. Like buses though, you wait for ages and then two come along, but at least each are of different variants, so we are truly being spoiled. The rivet counters can pick over the bones as far as accuracy and detail go, the rest of you can enjoy building a state-of-the-art kit of the type and adding it to you collection, as it will be worth the money and effort.
Our thanks to Revell GmbH (UK Branch) for the review samples. For more details on this and all other Revell products visit their website (www.revell.de/en).
This is an all-new tooling from Revell, which was due October 2015, but was delayed and thus has only just arrived on the market.
Inside their usual floppy end-opening box you will find four bags, three of them containing sprues moulded in a medium grey colour, the other containing the clear sprues. Surface detail is via engraved lines and lots of engraved rivets, which is very fitting for the Shack, plus certain details are raised to reflect their actual nature on the real thing. Breakdown of the parts shows that the fuselage is broken at the mid-span point, so other versions are obviously also on the cards in the future. Construction is achieved in 64 stages, all shown in their new-style colour instruction booklet; some may find the white on pale blue nature of these a little difficult to see, but overall they are nicely drawn. Inside you get the flight-deck and nose areas, along with the region around the rear access door in the aft fuselage, as Revell have not messed about filling the fuselage with equipment that you will never see once the fuselage halves are together. The bomb bay roof attaches to spars that go through the fuselage halves into each wing and this seems to be the vogue nowadays from many manufacturers. All control surfaces are separate and I have to say that the clear parts are exceptionally clear. The bleed doors on each nacelle side can be posed open or closed and the wheels feature square block tread pattern tyres. The undercarriage does not look overly complicated and it seems to have stout locating tabs, which should result in a secure assembly. Both inner and outer sections of the flaps can be posed open or closed, with moulded rib detail within that region of the upper wing half. All the various blade antenna are separate parts, as is the large 'insulator block' that sits atop the fuselage. The propellers are built up in sections and are shown attached with a shaft through the front of each nacelle, which then goes in place as the very last five stages of the build, although I suspect most will secure the shaft (E125) and attach the engine front earlier, to deal with any seam lines and to make painting the completed model easier; the propellers can then be assembled, painted and attached after all the painting and weathering.
Colour Options
The kit offers two decal options:
• WL756 of No.8 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, late 1973
• WL795 of No.8 Squadorn, RAF Lossiemouth, June 1981.
The colours are once again only given by Revell's own paint range, with no authentic colour codes or names, and this involves a really silly and fussy three-colour mix to make the overall shade. Thankfully Extra Dark Sea Grey is readily available from the likes of Xtracolour/Xtracrylix, Gunze-Sangyo or Humbrol, so make your life easier and go with them instead.
The decal sheet is printed in Italy and it has good colour and register, but the images are so thick, you can 'read' the sheet by touch! The carrier film is visible in some regions and it is not clear, so how they perform on the model is yet to be seen.
Conclusion
At last, a mainstream plastic kit of the AEW Shack in 1/72nd, what more can you ask. Like buses though, you wait for ages and then two come along, but at least each are of different variants, so we are truly being spoiled. The rivet counters can pick over the bones as far as accuracy and detail go, the rest of you can enjoy building a state-of-the-art kit of the type and adding it to you collection, as it will be worth the money and effort.
Our thanks to Revell GmbH (UK Branch) for the review samples. For more details on this and all other Revell products visit their website (www.revell.de/en).
