Shannon

 22nd September 2025

It seems a long time ago that I made a model of the  Severn Class RNLI lifeboat, the largest in their fleet.

Recently Airfix introduced a new kit of the Shannon Class All Weather Lifeboat introduced by the RNLI in 2013. The boat was designed in-house by the RNLI and its most revolutionary feature is its self righting ability. It has a crew of six, and is powered by two Scania DI13M, 650 hp turbo charged engines giving a top speed of 25/27 knots and a range of  250 nautical miles. Propulsion is by a water jet system making the boat more maneuverable and eliminating the danger for conventional propellors fowling on debris, a constant hazard when in the vicinity of damaged vessels with floating rigging and the like. 

Much work on the design included built in shock resistance for the crew. There are six seats designed with that as a priority and each seat includes its own dedicated data screen so that all members can see navigation, weather, and other features at the same time.

The kit is well designed by Airfix and goes together well. It is promoted as a "Starter Kit" but I think it is really more difficult than that. It has been a long build for me, partly because of other personal distractions, but it is now complete and set up in a diorama which is not included in the kit. That was all scratch built by me. The lifeboat crew were not included in the kit and had to be outsourced as was the 1/72nd scale inflatable dinghy. The lifeboat is speeding to the rescue of an unfortunate casualty, and having just got "eyes-on" are about to turn and save another life.. 

Please click photos to enlarge

I put an LED light inside the cabin but it idoesn't look right somehow