Battleship Yamato, Tamiya 1/700 scale.

Post by **DBMiller** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 4:17 pm

I'm really going to finally try to build this, after all these years! And by years I mean years! Look at the box, it's a mess!

Add on parts (so far):

I already have this one.

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On the way:
Nice metal barrels for the 18" guns!

A wooden deck should add quite a lot!

Post by **rwsmith14** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 6:39 pm

Great Subject !! should be great !! wooden deck and metal gun barrels are a real nice touch !!

Post by **Lee** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 6:47 pm

Nice !

Post by **Hillbilly** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 10:57 pm

This thing will be a beast!I will definitely be watching this one

Post by **Thumboy** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 3:44 am

Awesome looking project - love the wooden deck

Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:29 am

I'll defiantly be watching this build, I have never followed a ship build before so this looks like a good place to see what techniques our shipbuilding cousins employ.

Good luck!

Post by **DBMiller** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:16 pm

Well, I've never built a ship or used photo etch before, so it will be educational for me as well! Good thing I had a physical yesterday, now I know my blood pressure is ok to start on this!

Post by **heel** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 1:23 am

Following. Hopefully one day I can attempt something like this!

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 4:17 pm

I watched about 30 seconds of this and all I thought was, "are you kidding?" I am NOT doing this for my build. That is final!

For those of you who don't like external links, it's a remote control 1/700 scale waterline Yamato!
As I said, I am not going there.

The video will not past here for some reason.

Post by **muskegman** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 6:54 pm

Very nice and those extras will really add to it

Post by **generalgrog** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:55 pm

Sweet subject....going to enjoy watching how you work that PE!

GG

Post by **ToddS** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:11 am

Awesome!! Enjoy the journey and post lots of pics

Post by **MadDaddy** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 4:16 pm

That ought to look really nice, I'll be watching.

Post by **mincemeat** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 1:30 am

Oooh. Please keep us updated, I'm really interested in buying a Yamato.

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:07 am

Good luck with that small pe. And putting thoose barrels on gonna give you some real joy. Happy modelling!

Post by **DBMiller** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 2:06 pm

Big update coming Sunday! I've really done it now; I'll never finish this one!

Post by **DBMiller** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:18 pm

Battleship Yamato!

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From Wiki:
.Yamato (大和?), named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was the lead ship of the Yamato class of battleships that served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 inch) main guns. Neither ship survived the war.
.During 1944, the balance of naval power in the Pacific decisively turned against Japan and, by early 1945, the Japanese fleet was much depleted and critically short of fuel stocks in the home islands, limiting its usefulness. In April 1945, in a desperate attempt to slow the Allied advance, Yamato was dispatched on a one way voyage to Okinawa, where it was intended that she should protect the island from invasion and fight until destroyed. The task force was spotted south of Kyushu by US submarines and aircraft, and on 7 April 1945 she was sunk by American carrier-based bombers and torpedo bombers with the loss of most of her crew.

Sea trials... and her end.

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The kit and the extras!

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The kit doesn't have too many parts at all. So, naturally, I had to go almost overboard on extras! I say 'almost' because there was another photo etch set with even more! I just didn't see it before I ordered what I did get.

What I bought extra.

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A wooden deck. The set comes with anchor chain and hose reels.

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The 19" guns. The guns are small, as you can see.

But, not nearly as small as the 6" guns! I've had slivers bigger than these! What was I thinking?

I won't be starting this for a few days; I want to get more done on the Marder. But, when I do start wish me luck!

For a little bonus.

[youtube]-T39GaMyP5c[/youtube]

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:24 pm

Holy Crap

This thing is going to be insane (If you don't go insane building all that PE)

Post by **trekfanj** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:15 am

Great choice, DB!

Post by **DBMiller** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:39 pm

Finally, an update! With some building involved!

I've started on sub-assemblies to get warmed up for the photo etch work. As you can see here, the kit's main guns are attached in a row to be inserted into the housing from below. They do not have blast bags on the guns or the housing. The metal guns are designed for the newer Yamato kit that has the blast bags attached already. You are supposed to cut off the guns, drill into the bag and insert the new gun. I can't do that here.

What I did was glue in the guns, attach a thin plastic underside (the kit part is just open), and cut off just enough gun barrel so the length with the metal barrel is the same. The stub of plastic will be useful as a base for sculpting the blast bags. Neat.

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See how nice the metal barrels look next to the clunky plastic ones? Very nice! Also, a bit of superstructure work.

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Post by **rodrant** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:34 pm

Looking good mate ! Really those metal barrels make the difference ! Will follow close this one ! Would like to build one of these Battlecruisers , seems a funny build !

Good luck with it !

Post by **CJSomerset** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:51 pm

Good luck with this! I've just started a 1/48 kit with my first PE set, and I couldn't believe how small they were.......

Post by **Les** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:02 pm

This a really nice looking kit; those PE parts really do help with the overall look I must admit! Looking forward to seeing how all of this comes together. You are off to a great start!

Post by **mincemeat** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:48 pm

A huge improvement with the metal barrels! Any idea how you'll handle the blast bags yet? Since it's a waterline series will you put it in "water"?

Post by **DBMiller** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:54 pm

Thanks for all the positive feedback, I need it! Mincemeat, I'm a long way off from the end, but I will be putting it in water. I've been looking at other waterline builds for inspiration. Photo etch seemed like such a good idea at the start because at this size all the parts look so thick and out of scale. Not so much now!

Some more work:

Here is a shot of some of the smaller kit parts I have to work with. How do I even clean off the flash from parts this small?

This part was bad enough, and it isn't even photo etch!

But, this part...really????? And it isn't even remotely the smallest bit! I'm expected to fold it in thirds to form a triangular tube. Sure, now, where did I leave my electron microscope? That's a millimeter rule, by the way.

That's right, this part.

I gave it a go. I almost got it triangular. This part, an antenna, attaches to the mast up above. You can see the difference between the kit part and the photo etch part. Small, but, wait until you see the part that replaces the little stubs coming off the upright! I will be I hope, rebuilding the whole thing. I only glued it to the kit part so I wouldn't loose it!

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This is what I'm supposed to be making. Riiiiiiight.

Post by **mincemeat** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 12:55 am

Wow, that piece is tiny! Keep at it, the PE will look awesome compared to the original plastic parts!

Post by **DBMiller** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 5:44 pm

I'm really not too sure about this photo etch stuff! And super glue; I can glue my fingers together, the tweezers shut, or the part to anywhere but where it is supposed to go!

Tom's Model Works makes a very nice product, don't get me wrong, but there is not a parts breakdown for the fret so finding pieces is a matter of searching for them! The assembly instructions are weak to useless since there aren't any real photos or decent images to show how things are supposed to go. Also, although the set is for 'any Yamato' kit, it is made for the newer Tamiya or Fujimi kits, so the numbers that refer to kit parts are not the same as what I have. I had to download instructions for the other kit just to know what is what! And, not only are the part numbers different, the PARTS are different! For example, the range finder has a photo etch deck and rail. They are not the same shape as what I have so there are gaps. What should have been one of the easier parts to glue was a mess!

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As for instructions, the flight deck's, made by Lion's Roar, are much better! I can tell what is going on with these, even if the set is made for the newer kit as well at least they have part numbers! This is the Lion's Roar next to Tom's Model Works.

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Since the flight deck looked less painful I gave it a try. First, off with the old detail!

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The part taped in place. Not exactly the right size but should be ok.

And with the vents cut out.

Ahhhh, the joys of an old kit with a warped hull! Clamped up a bit so it will dry flat onto the base.

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Post by **rwsmith14** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:43 pm

I feel your Pain. I hate P.E..

...I just do not the patience to do it... I'm sure your efforts are going to pay off.

Post by **mincemeat** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:47 pm

I see what you're saying. I agree with rwsmith, the pain will pay off in the end. After I've handled small delicate parts, it's really nice to glue something big that doesn't require tweezers, a real pleasure actually. Great documentation of your build!

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:32 pm

The pe that dosent kill you today makes you a better modeller tomorrow when you have unglued you fingertips

good luck friend.

There is always slozap to help
http://www.supergluecorp.com/zap/zap-glues/slo-zap-ca

Post by **DC87** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:15 pm

Serious building going on here, pe will be worth the pain in the end.

Post by **panzerman** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 4:35 am

Looking good with all that after market goodies. The brass barrels are wicked cool. Man....1/700 scale P.E......that's microsurgery. Good luck with the rest of the build.
Bill.

Post by **DBMiller** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 3:38 pm

Only a tiny update today. I put it away for a bit once the paints to finish my other kit, the Marder, came in. I needed a mental break to sort out how much I want to put into this kit or even if I finish it at all.

I decided to complete the build after all, but it won't look anything like I envisioned when I spent all that money on photo etch parts, metal barrels, and a wooden deck. One of the reasons is because I didn't count on how hard the photo etch would be to use. The other reason is that none of these parts are made for this old Tamiya kit! They say they will work on any Yamato but that is overly optimistic.

The wooden deck is made for a kit that has a different main deck layout, so none of the knock outs match up with my kit. This means that I'm going to have to cut the deck into parts to try to fit it around the superstructure. This will be fun.

Here is the first piece of wooden deck in place. The quality is quite nice and I would recommend this to anyone thinking about a wooden deck. Unfortunately, It was cut to fit a different parts lay out for the deck than my kit uses. My kit deck breaks at that filler line. The kit this wood was cut for breaks where the wood ends. Also, I think those knock out areas (the 5 squares along the seam) are where the hose reels are supposed to be. Obviously, the reels on my kit will have to go. I also had to cut off all the surface detail that my kit did have for the wood to lay flat, and, looking at the main deck, I think there will be a gap at the back end of the wood. That could be a problem. Otherwise, it looks pretty good in place!

Stay tuned for more disappointment!

Post by **Aliktren** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:13 pm

Glad I'm not the only one not wanting to cope with microscopic PE !

Looking forward to seeing this progress

Post by **DBMiller** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:24 pm

So, I've built the part that separates the 2 sections of wood decking. It didn't even come out too bad.

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In this shot I've removed the hose reels that would not fit under the wood deck.

On the super structure are vents on either side. They fit down in the area between the structure and the gun mounts, port and starboard. You can just make out the part in the photo. At the back end, there are 2 photo etch parts over these areas. First is a screen then a grate. Both have an opening in them for an access ladder, which is another (3 piece!) photo etch part.

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Post by **mincemeat** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:54 am

Don't get down on yourself. In light of the many challenges, you've done an excellent job so far!

Post by **ToddS** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:18 am

Nice start!

The wood deck looks great, and, one day I would like to build a warship. Never done one before

Post by **rodrant** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 10:20 pm

Nice! The wood deck certainly makes it different , very good start here !

Post by **DBMiller** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:55 pm

It lives! It breathes! The Amazing Patchwork Battleship! What hideous experiments were performed to create such a monstrosity? What hidden depravity exists in the mind of a man who would twist nature in such a way? Look if you dare!

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Oh, and I've started on the anti aircraft guns.

Post by **mincemeat** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 1:28 am

It looks fine to me! Every model has its own story to tell. Perhaps There could be something in the area to distract from it? Weathering, tarps, stuff piled up and on the move, little dudes loitering around playing craps?

Post by **eightfooticeman** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:16 pm

14 days left, do you think your going to make it?

Post by **DBMiller** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 1:02 pm

eightfooticeman wrote:14 days left, do you think your going to make it?

Oh, I'm afraid that ship had to die. Not only was I way over my head with the tiny photo etch parts but they, and the wooden deck, were made for a newer version of that kit. Nothing would fit right and I got frustrated enough to trash the build. I suck.

I did learn something from it though. Super glue does not like dry air. It would not set up anywhere but my fingers and I found the reason while looking through old modeling mags. There was a letter about that same problem and the answer was that super glue needs moisture in the air to cure. The pellet stove in my room was drying out the air so much the glue would not set. I could have used accelerator but I have used it before and didn't like it.

Thanks for asking, though.

Post by **eightfooticeman** » Sat Apr 18, 2015 12:02 am

DBMiller wrote:
eightfooticeman wrote:14 days left, do you think your going to make it?

Oh, I'm afraid that ship had to die. Not only was I way over my head with the tiny photo etch parts but they, and the wooden deck, were made for a newer version of that kit. Nothing would fit right and I got frustrated enough to trash the build. I suck.
I did learn something from it though. Super glue does not like dry air. It would not set up anywhere but my fingers and I found the reason while looking through old modeling mags. There was a letter about that same problem and the answer was that super glue needs moisture in the air to cure. The pellet stove in my room was drying out the air so much the glue would not set. I could have used accelerator but I have used it before and didn't like it.

Thanks for asking, though.

No worries mate, try try again is what I say. A for effort!