Airfix RNLI Shannon Class Lifeboat 1:72 – build review

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(Photo: Shannon Class 13-10, RNLB Ian Grant Smith viewed from its port side entering Arbroath Harbour. Courtesy: Anthony Leigh, Aurora Media Group International LTD)

A bit of background on the Shannon Class Lifeboat…

The RNLI Shannon Class lifeboat is the latest and most advanced all-weather lifeboat in service with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the British Isles. It features a fibre-reinforced composite hull, uses twin water jets for propulsion (rather than traditional propellers), and includes a new launch and recovery system. The Shannon is designed to replace the older Mersey-class and has a projected operational life of 25 years, but its hull and wheelhouse are built to last up to 50 years, with a full refit planned midway through its service. The Shannon represents one of the RNLI’s most ambitious projects, with a production run of 50 vessels—the charity’s largest ever.

(Photo: Lifeboat Prototype: experimental Fast Carriage Lifeboat 2 on Trials off Lowestoft, Suffolk circa April 2006. Courtesy Scott Snowling)

At many stations Shannons are launched by a newly designed Shannon Launch and Recovery System (SLARS) by which a tractor propels the lifeboat on its cradle into the water. The cradle is then tilted and acts as a mobile slipway as the boat is launched by release of a single bow strop from the wheelhouse, rather than the old carriage launched method of four chains being released by crew members on deck. Recovery is bow first onto the cradle, which then rotates through 180 degrees, enabling the boat to be launched again within ten minutes. An increasing number of Shannons are kept afloat at moorings or a pontoon berth as they replace Trent class boats and the boats are also capable of being slipway launched, although only Swanage currently has a slipway launched Shannon. The boat at Workington uses the same davit crane system as the previous Tyne-class lifeboat.

(Photo: Bridlington Lifeboat, RNLB Anthony Patrick Jones viewed on the SLARS, 17 December 2023. Courtesy: Arollin96227).

This project

Over the years we have been on many family and friends summer holidays to the West Country and around the UK. Our great friends Janice and Colin are usually with us on these trips and they are also great supporters of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). When the new Airfix kit of the Shannon Class lifeboat became available, Sara and I decided that I must build one and give it to them as a gift – let’s hope that I do the project justice!

The plan is to build the model as much from the box as possible and add a few details here and there to add a bit of finesse. Fingers crossed…

The Airfix kit…

The kit was released by Airfix in 2024 as a Starter Set and to date that is the only boxing available. I won’t be using any of the small paint pots etc included in the package, just the kit and I can’t wait to get started, now my highly detailed Zoukei-Mura F-4C Wild Weasel in 1:48 scale is now finished. This Shannon Class Lifeboat is definitely well outside my comfort zone and I just hope that I can pull it off and produce a half-decent replica of the real thing.

Before we get started, if you want to take a closer look at this Airfix kit set, we featured it when it came out in Maritime-Here Now-Kits.

The box art will be helpful as will the painting guide on the reverse…

The current kit comes moulded in the much better darker grey plastic with all parts well moulded and crisp… Click on images below:

The kit decal sheet is excellent and printed by Cartograf, ensuring great quality…

Just before we head into the build proper, it’s worth mentioning that Airfix have released a separate decal sheet covering all the Shannon Class RNLI lifeboats currently in service (2024) and so I bought that as I want to give my completed model to our friends – let’s hope they like the end result…

The build…