Jen Wright depicts an expat retiree with Airfix’s 1/72 Shackleton AEW.2 and a selection of aftermarket upgrade parts in an advanced modelling project.
When I built the original test-shot of Airfix’s Shackleton MR.2 kit, it was a project I enjoyed immensely, but I suspect―like many others―the version I was really looking forward to was the Airborne Early Warning (AEW) variant.
And echoing countless numbers of modellers, much of what drives me in this hobby is a love of real aircraft, and the memories tied up in them. My overriding recollection of the venerable Shackleton is not of gleaming MR.2s or even MR.3s, but a dirty and worn ‘forgotten hero’ sitting on the edge of an airfield. I am, of course, speaking of WL756 at RAF St Mawgan, visible from the road down to Watergate Bay. Studying what came in Airfix’s package, and researching aftermarket decals, the discovery that WL747 (the subject of this build) is in fact one of two Shackletons that, to this day, sit in a similarly forlorn manner at Paphos airport in Cyprus, was revelatory. I was suitably thrilled when the Editor gave the green light to reproduce the aircraft in its current state, and although a looming deadline forced several shortcuts, the story of this build is s…
