2024 AIRFIX RNLI SHANNON CLASS LIFEBOAT - what do you get in the new starter set? 

My pleasure Bob!

And also Gary.... 17k subscribers! Congratulations and well deserved for all the hard work you do. 👏 👏👍😁

Well done indeed. Try to paint seals on the cabing nad then press 'glass; into place. Another issues is material shrinkage which causes gap between last window and the body. Looks like Airfix still has to learn a lot about model design, 3D model is not the universal solution.

Well it was lovely there yesterday!

This is something that plagues many manufacturers - announcing a kit at the start of the year then not knowing when they will actually get it. Yes, it is a function of having the production in India, the shipping between there and here is unpredictable even without Houthi attacks essentially closing the Red Sea route - when I asked when this was due it was almost a case of "depends if the container ship turns left into Harwich or right into Rotterdam first"... As for the extra cost, there is certainly that but I really don't know the kind of value that would be. To me it's always a pity they are not moulded here!

And i will definitely have to get that spare decal sheet!

I don't know when they'll have stock sadly - I don't know if RNLI have put in a bulk order that maybe gets sent to their own distribution system or if they go direct to stations. But the release is next week so they might have pre-shipped to distributors already.

The RNLI also protect the seas around the Republic, so they went with an Irish river name this time!

@garys_stuff indeed they do Gary...there is a R N.L.I Lifeboat station in Howth which is about 20 minutes away from me on a bike....and so its not a coincidence after all they chose the "Shannon" name?

RRP on Airfix website is £19.99

@@roddymorrison9723 ok , that's not too bad tbh , nearly twice the parts of a normal starter set so makes sense along with the extra 2 paints and paintbrush .....

Yes, and yes. The kit markings itself includes "Jock and Annie Slater" based in Wicklow (and also on the supplement sheet.) Other Irish bases include Lough Swilly, Courtmacsherry in County Cork, Dunmore County Waterford, etc

@@randalscott7224 awesome....defo getting this

@@jaws848 oops! 13-01 is based in Dungness, Kent. Sorry, my bad! But the other Irish stations mentioned are still on the supplement sheet.

@@randalscott7224 no bother,ita all good my friend..👍👍👍

Interestingly, the RNLI chap addressed this issue - first, their ethos is that they will save everyone without question, secondly that migrant boats in the English Channel accounted for about 2% of their rescues last year. The majority, it seems prevalent in summer of course, are town and city dwellers who live away from the sea, have no understanding of tides and currents, go down to the coast with their cheapo paddle board or inflatable dinghy and get into difficulties first time on the water. One wonders, with tongue slightly in cheek, if there is any correlation between the people who express that opinion about 'foreigners' and the people who form the bulk of the shouts that the RNLI answer...

@garys_stuff Exactly, Gary! However, I don't think these types have the ability to think that way,......simply because it's outside the box.🙄

I am one of "those" people Mark and have no problem admitting it. Interesting that, whilst the RNLI's own website states that 2022 launches covering these "channel crossings" amounted to only 3% of the total number of launches for the same year, it was still 290 launches with the total number of 108 lives saved out of 269 sea bourne individuals rescued. Given that the number of crossings has been growing almost exponentially year on year (85 were rescued in a joint RNLI / Border Force operation on Tuesday), I suspect the numbers for 23 and 24 will be much higher. I would also suggest that none of these figures cover the actual number of migrant individuals transported to the UK in RNLI vessels. What was also interesting from their website is that the RLNI operate under international maritime law which allows them to enter and operate in French waters which begs the question why these individuals are not being returned to France from where they came from (I cannot believe that a previous precedent of returning French nationals directly to France does not exist). Regards.

​@@garys_stuffI'm sure your new contacts could provide a comprehensive breakdown of last year's launches Gary and then we can see if there is indeed a correlation. Please feel free to update this comments thread?

@jeffholt9437 Thank you for your polite response, Jeff. With the statistics you have offered, it does indeed show that this issue has a much greater complexity than most folk realise, myself included. Your points are certainly valid, and no doubt have a certain foundation. However, my statement was, as I'm sure you will have inferred, aimed solely at those who simply react with a basal instinct. As Gary indirectly implied in the last part of his response of how the irony is lost on these types. I reiterate again that the RNLI is a wonderful institution, and ALL souls whilst at sea are deserving of preservation. Where they alight, however, is another issue. Regards to you too.

It's the Tudor crown now, I'm told.... more "pointy"???

@@garys_stuff That's what I mean Gary.. the RNLI symbol has the crown that dips in the centre. It changed to that when George VI (male) died and his daughter (Elizabeth II) became sovereign. I'll have to check what crowns Victoria and Elizabeth I had. If the female thing is right both should dip in the middle. Elizabeth I was Tudor though.

I've looked it up now, and I'm still non the wiser. Victoria's 'mini crown' is domed but her full size crown is dipped. Victorian postboxes have crowns with dips too. Maybe the 'mini crown' was for general use and the domed one for State occasions. Queen Elizabeth I who /was/ Tudor has the dipped crown /not/ the Tudor one - albeit obviously in her case the only images are paintings.

Really have no idea what you are talking about... not a lifeboat anyway?

This channel has absolutely no connection to DCS World 😂

Sorry don,t know what has happen here did not mean to post on your channel apologies