Calling all Yamato (大和) and Musashi (武蔵) fans

[J. Soca]

Having dedicated pinging feature would suggest at least some active ASW role is contemplated

Exactly! unfortunately, i haven't read alot regarding this sonar either , moreover i could say i haven't found anything besides what's on AOTS.



Jose

[bucketfoot-al]

Hi folks and Happy Holidays! I have just updated my Yamato/Musashi photo library by adding several DOZEN never-before-seen archive BATTLE photos of both Yamato and Musashi in their final battles. I am adding this comment in case some of you missed the thread in the main forum.

I think you'll enjoy looking at them.

Thanks!

The link: http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... e_battles/

[Mperor]

A new question has surfaced here, haha... Hope my fellow Yamatoholics can help...


1-It's been more than once already that I've seen the air defense control center at the very top of the superstructure painted 'white'.

I was wondering if any of you had noticed that too? What's up with that?


2-Can someone confirm with me... the actual color of the Yamato on her last sortie? I've been tempted to get the XF-55 Tamiya Deck tan but have also been hesitating, considering I have mixed my own board color to give it a distinct wooden color. However, I'm planning a repainting job for my Yamato and Musashi, so... I may decide to change the colors slightly. Any advices?


3-Also, I've been itching to ask this, as it may very well help me... lol But it seems Peter did state he's getting too many messages to answer, so I figured maybe some of you may help me...

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... ato-04.jpg

Do you see the strip of wood that seems to snake around the base of the turrets and the superstructure?

Would someone happen to know how that is done?


Thanks!

[bucketfoot-al]

A new question has surfaced here, haha... Hope my fellow Yamatoholics can help...


1-It's been more than once already that I've seen the air defense control center at the very top of the superstructure painted 'white'.

I was wondering if any of you had noticed that too? What's up with that?


2-Can someone confirm with me... the actual color of the Yamato on her last sortie? I've been tempted to get the XF-55 Tamiya Deck tan but have also been hesitating, considering I have mixed my own board color to give it a distinct wooden color. However, I'm planning a repainting job for my Yamato and Musashi, so... I may decide to change the colors slightly. Any advices?


3-Also, I've been itching to ask this, as it may very well help me... lol But it seems Peter did state he's getting too many messages to answer, so I figured maybe some of you may help me...

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... ato-04.jpg

Do you see the strip of wood that seems to snake around the base of the turrets and the superstructure?

Would someone happen to know how that is done?


Thanks!

Well, I think I can help with a couple of answers anyway.

1. I have seen the top of the tower rendered in both gray and white. What to do? Refer to the photos, of course. If you look on my website, referenced above, you will see that the radars on the fire director arms were - at least on the day the close-up photo was taken in 1945 - painted white. If you look at the most famous close-up photo of the Yamato burning aft and a near miss to port taken during the battle, it appears that the top of the main director MIGHT be painted white. Its not clear enough to be definitive - lots of smoke - the color frankly does not look different in hue than the other parts of the ship that we know was gray, however. Now - in the 2005 Yamato movie, for which the Japanese did an incredible amount of research (resulting in the correct number, shield-shape, and placement of the open AA deck mounts, for example), as well as on the Takara Yamato model 1/700 issued for the movie, which incorporated those changes, the radars and top of the main director were painted gray.

Go to these links and then click the 'View full size photo ' on the lower right - then make up your own mind. In the absence of definitive evidence, I went with the gray as did the Japanese in their 2005 film. I think that, based on the available evidence, that is still more likely than not to be correct.

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... 5?i=77&s=1

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... 5?i=59&s=1

But see the radars and fire director top (photos taken probably right after installation) - those seem to show that the director and radars were white (since you can't really see the director in the photo, which would be the case if it indeed was white. But the ship was repainted before her final mission.

2. The decks were painted a LIGHT GRAY for the Ten-Go mission. You can't go wrong doing that or painting them a light wood (which quickly became visible due to the strafing/bombing on deck.) Personally the light wood looks nicer, and I imagine that some of that must have been visible through the light gray deck coating.

Now - the photo links taken around the time the radars were installed, that shows the top being white (Remember to click the 'View full size image' on the lower right):

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... o?i=15&s=1

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... o?i=16&s=1

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... o?i=17&s=1

Check out the photos and let me know what you think. My bet is that they were painted gray for the final mission, partly so they wouldn't stand out when the ship was attacked. Just a guess, based on the above evidence. The confusion could indeed be due to the fact that they appear to have initially (at installation) been painted white, then probably repainted just prior to Ten-Go.

[Mperor]

Well, I think I can help with a couple of answers anyway.

1. I have seen the top of the tower rendered in both gray and white. What to do? Refer to the photos, of course. If you look on my website, referenced above, you will see that the radars on the fire director arms were - at least on the day the close-up photo was taken in 1945 - painted white. If you look at the most famous close-up photo of the Yamato burning aft and a near miss to port taken during the battle, it appears that the top of the main director MIGHT be painted white. Its not clear enough to be definitive - lots of smoke - the color frankly does not look different in hue than the other parts of the ship that we know was gray, however. Now - in the 2005 Yamato movie, for which the Japanese did an incredible amount of research (resulting in the correct number, shield-shape, and placement of the open AA deck mounts, for example), as well as on the Takara Yamato model 1/700 issued for the movie, which incorporated those changes, the radars and top of the main director were painted gray.

Go to these links and then click the 'View full size photo ' on the lower right - then make up your own mind. In the absence of definitive evidence, I went with the gray as did the Japanese in their 2005 film. I think that, based on the available evidence, that is still more likely than not to be correct.

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... 5?i=77&s=1

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... 5?i=59&s=1

But see the radars and fire director top (photos taken probably right after installation) - those seem to show that the director and radars were white (since you can't really see the director in the photo, which would be the case if it indeed was white. But the ship was repainted before her final mission.

2. The decks were painted a LIGHT GRAY for the Ten-Go mission. You can't go wrong doing that or painting them a light wood (which quickly became visible due to the strafing/bombing on deck.) Personally the light wood looks nicer, and I imagine that some of that must have been visible through the light gray deck coating.

Now - the photo links taken around the time the radars were installed, that shows the top being white (Remember to click the 'View full size image' on the lower right):

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... o?i=15&s=1

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... o?i=16&s=1

http://ultimatebattleshipyamatosite.tri ... o?i=17&s=1

Check out the photos and let me know what you think. My bet is that they were painted gray for the final mission, partly so they wouldn't stand out when the ship was attacked. Just a guess, based on the above evidence. The confusion could indeed be due to the fact that they appear to have initially (at installation) been painted white, then probably repainted just prior to Ten-Go.

Hey!

Indeed, I have already taken a look at your colelction, and let me say they are a very fine collection of pictures!

Hm, it is indeed pretty tough to call. Or rather - decide. I really quite like the original grey look, but I do want to keep some historical accuracy in mind... Agh.

I assume that was proper to the Yamato and not the Musashi?



But my major concern at the moment really is the deck color. I've been favoring a darker, browner wood color, but I'm thinking about changing them into a much lighter tan.

For the Yamato, I'm really considering doing light grey or a very lgiht tank, though mixing the color certainly is quite challenging at the moment, hehe. I'd very likely apply the same color to the Musashi deck.

It'd have somewhat of a greyish/very pale tan to it.

[Louis]

This website shows some detail research by the Japanese on the deck color of Yamato:

http://homepage1.nifty.com/watakan/yamato/

They are in Japanese but you can understand by looking at the pictures. They show how the Yamato deck changes over the years.

[Mperor]

This website shows some detail research by the Japanese on the deck color of Yamato:

http://homepage1.nifty.com/watakan/yamato/

They are in Japanese but you can understand by looking at the pictures. They show how the Yamato deck changes over the years.

I tried blindly clicking in all the tabs but can't seem to find the section about deck colors. =\ I've read the English version (I don't remember the URL for the english version of the page), but it jsut says 'grey'.

I don't know where, but I fully recall seeing a drawing of the Yamato with a grey deck - grey like the square in which your forum ID appears in. Look to the left of the page:

<-------------------

[bucketfoot-al]

THIS: http://homepage1.nifty.com/watakan/yama ... to_aa.html

is the Japanese page you should be reading. The Musashi had her decks painted either black or a dark gray in October 1944. If you go for the light color you will be historically wrong.

If you run this page through the translator it will help. Or, just go to the last page on my Yam/Moose library and you will see the diagrams of the final configurations of each ship's decks that I took off the above website; Moose Oct 1944 - DARK; Yam Apr 1945 - LIGHT.

[Mperor]

THIS: http://homepage1.nifty.com/watakan/yama ... to_aa.html

is the Japanese page you should be reading. The Musashi had her decks painted either black or a dark gray in October 1944. If you go for the light color you will be historically wrong.

If you run this page through the translator it will help. Or, just go to the last page on my Yam/Moose library and you will see the diagrams of the final configurations of each ship's decks that I took off the above website; Moose Oct 1944 - DARK; Yam Apr 1945 - LIGHT.

Wow! Thanks a lot Al!

Those are the drawings I was referring to!

Thanks for correcting me, as I was rooting for going with the XF55 Deck Tan for the Musashi and end it there. This really changes the equation.

It's too bad that in the 2005 Yamato film, the deck of the Yamato did not look as greyed out as it was supposed to be, as it really had that tan look - light but still tan.

I actually find the very dark grey, nearing black, color quite... interesting. The look actually pleases me, so I think I may very possibly go for that one - and go for the light grey for the Yamato.

Again, thanks a lot!

[bucketfoot-al]

You're welcome. Of course, theoretically there is no need for historical accuracy from the standpoint that building a ship like this is in a way, as much of a work of art as my sculpting one of my dinosaur sculptures is.

The difference is that we really don't know what those critters looked like with the flesh on, so we have a lot more leeway there than in making a known ship (and, being that ship builders are very much into historical accuracy, it necessarily prevents us from going 'off the reservation', so to speak). My Nichimo kit cost me about $270 with shipping from Japan (NOT the RC version, which is more expensive.) The 'add-ons' in terms of photo-etch, then the photo-etch and other resin castings I had to make from scratch (those years of building and customizing dinosaur and other models came in handy :>) cost me at least twice, or three times as much! Why? Because I wanted as close to 100% historical accuracy on my Yamato circa April 1945 as I could get. ANything less would have been a disservice to the ship and the memory of her crew, to me. (Yes, I painted the decks light tan, but I figured that if the Japanese could do that for the 2005 film, it was either correct or at least acceptable. And it certainly looked better than having the whole ship being two different shades of gray. And in any event I do not think that the light gray could completely hide the wood color underneath. So that was a small compromise).

As a side note, as I've mentioned before, since I am not a ship kit builder (stopped that over 30 years ago in my youth), and I don't have 300 unbuilt kits in my closet, I had a bit more time to devote to satisfying my historical curiosity - hence my decision this past Summer to devote even more hundreds of hours and $$$ into creating a Yamato/Musashi Web Photo Library - to prevent future IJN enthusiasts from the frustration of having to search all over the world for info.

So - my custom Nichimo Yamato I built for myself. The website I built for all other IJN enthusiasts, and I am gladdened and humbled by some of your positive comments on it.

Now I can get back to those unbuilt diorama kits of Ray Harryhausen fantasy films that have been collecting dust in MY closet over the two years it took me to complete my Yamato endeavors. (Until a good 1/144 Yam kit becomes available that is - if the good Lord is willing, I WILL build a 1/144 Yam before I die! I collected enough 1/144 Pitt-Road/Takara Yamato main, secondary, AA and machine gun kits made in connection with the 2005 film to outfit the ENTIRE ship (there went another grand). So - now I'm just waiting for a good 'base' model to use them on. Now THAT one will truly be 'museum quality, if I ever get to make it.

Enough of my rambling. I may have more combat photos to upload to my library soon, and I will probably be replacing some of the recently uploaded combat shots with better, higher resolution versions. I will make the requisite announcements when that is done, so... STAY TUNED!

[Mperor]

It's actually pretty funny, you know why?

You're like the super advanced version of me, haha. I actually wanted to work with the Tamiya, as best as I could, to really learn and develop the skills. Because I was not that experienced at first and I wanted absolutely to enter the hobby through a ship that I really loved, I pick the 1/350 Yamato and Musashi sisters for the interest, and let me say, so far so good. I've made some mistakes but definately learned from them.

The ultimate prize for me, however, is that 1/200 Nichimo set! (Or anything of that scale, should any manufacturer come up with a new set.)

It is just outside of my financial range at the moment, as I've already spent quite some money on the Yamato sets, and I'm interesting in getting other smaller sets of other ships and things, so the Nichimo thing would wait for me... Heh, though I noticed it is getting harder to get your hands on it.

I may be able to get my hands on a 1/250 Doyusha kit from my local store at an affordable price, BUT, the thing is, they're out of stock, and I'm really not sure if they'll manage to get it in for me. Not sure if you've dealt with that kit, heh.



As far as deck colors, I'm attempting my best to go for historical accuracy - just for that sake. Like you, I'd like to stay as realistic as possible to really represent the ships' spirits as well as their crew's on their final battle.

Though my skills are still lacking, especially, for instance, in rigging. lol It's impossible for me!

I seriously thought about the idea of trying to photo-etch my Yamato, but the PE cost way too much for me at this point. With the cost, I'd rather build an all new Yamato. lol

[bucketfoot-al]

I have added my comments below in UPPER case. That does not mean that I am shouting at you, its just so they stand out better.

It's actually pretty funny, you know why?

You're like the super advanced version of me, haha. AND PROBABLY A MUCH OLDER VERSION, TOO.

I actually wanted to work with the Tamiya, as best as I could, to really learn and develop the skills. Because I was not that experienced at first and I wanted absolutely to enter the hobby through a ship that I really loved, I pick the 1/350 Yamato and Musashi sisters for the interest, and let me say, so far so good. I've made some mistakes but definately learned from them.

I MADE MORE MISTAKES ON THAT 1/200 NICHIMO THAN I CAN COUNT (BEING THAT IT HAD BEEN 32 YEARS SINCE MY LAST SHIP! ) AT LEAST 1/3 OF MY TIME WAS SPENT CORRECTING ERRORS I MADE. BUT, 1/200 IS A FORGIVING SCALE, AND I AM PRETTY HANDY COURTESY OF ALL MY OTHER MODELING WORK.

The ultimate prize for me, however, is that 1/200 Nichimo set! (Or anything of that scale, should any manufacturer come up with a new set.)

BE FOREWARNED: ONCE YOU BUILD A DETAILED 1/200 SHIP, YOU MIGHT FIND WORKING ON SMALLER MODELS TO BE LESS INTERESTING DUE TO THEIR LACK OF DETAIL WHEN COMPARED TO THE BIG SHIP. WHENEVER YOU GET AROUND TO YOUR NICHIMO, MAKE SURE YOU READ BILL WALDORF'S STEP-BY-STEP ARTICLE ON BUILDING THIS SHIP, ARCHIVED ON THIS WEBSITE. YOU CAN ALSO READ MY OWN ACCOUNT AND UPDATED PHOTOS ON MY WEB GALLERY (NOT THE ONES ON THIS SITE, AS I HAVE UPDATED THE SHIP FURTHER SINCE THEN.)

It is just outside of my financial range at the moment, as I've already spent quite some money on the Yamato sets, and I'm interesting in getting other smaller sets of other ships and things, so the Nichimo thing would wait for me... Heh, though I noticed it is getting harder to get your hands on it.

I WOULD ONLY ADD THAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO THE NICHIMO UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO GO 'ALL THE WAY', MEANING GETTING BOTH GOLD MEDAL MODELS PHOTOETCH SETS FOR THIS SHIP. AT THAT SCALE, YOU NEED TO DO IT JUSTICE. AND ALSO PICK UP ALL METAL GUN BARRELS FROM THAT POLISH MODEL SHOP - INCREDIBLY CHEAP - DON'T BUY METAL GUN BARRELS ANYWHERE ELSE!!! Hhttp://www.gpm.pl/eng/index.phpERE IS THEIR LINK:

I may be able to get my hands on a 1/250 Doyusha kit from my local store at an affordable price, BUT, the thing is, they're out of stock, and I'm really not sure if they'll manage to get it in for me. Not sure if you've dealt with that kit, heh.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT BUY THE DOYUSHA KIT. THERE IS A REASON ITS SO CHEAP. OUT OF ALL THE BIG YAMATO KITS IT IS BY FAR AND AWAY THE WORST IN TERMS OF ACCURACY. IN THE LARGER SCALES I WOULD RECOMMEND THE 1/200 NICHIMO, AND IF YOU'RE AFRAID THAT IS TOO BIG, THEN THE 1/250 ARII KIT. THE TAMIYA IS THE BEST 1/350 KIT, (AND TAMIYA IS NOW SELLING SMALL CREWMEN FOR THE SHIP - CHECK ON IT ON EBAY!) BUT AGAIN, I WOULD RECOMMEND GETTING ALL METAL BARRELS AND PHOTOETCH, AND MAKING SOME MODIFICATIONS TO THE TYPE AND NUMBER OF DECK GUNS.


As far as deck colors, I'm attempting my best to go for historical accuracy - just for that sake. Like you, I'd like to stay as realistic as possible to really represent the ships' spirits as well as their crew's on their final battle.

Though my skills are still lacking, especially, for instance, in rigging. lol It's impossible for me!

YOU KNOW, I WAS INITIALLY RELUCTANT TO TAKCLE THE RIGGING, BUT FOUND IT SURPRISINGLY EASY TO DO USING A METHOD I DEVELOPED:

1. USE NYLON FISHING LINE - YOU CAN PAINT IT BLACK ONCE ITS SET UP;
2. PUT A DROP OF ZIP KICKER (IT MAKES INSTANT GLUE SOLIDIFY ON CONTACT) ON THE PART OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE THE CABLE IS TO BE ATTACHED TO;
3. PUT AN EVEN SMALLER DROP OF INSTANT GLUE ON THE TIP OF THE CABLE - MAKE SURE YOU USE THE TEFLON EXTENDER TUBES FOR THE GLUE, SO YOU DON'T USE TOO MUCH);
4. TOUCH THE TIP OF THE CABLE TO THE SPOT ON THE SHIP AND VOILA! INSTANT CONNECTION!! YOU REPEAT THE SAME PROCESS WHEN CONNECTING THE CABLE TO AN OVERHEAD CABLE; A DROP OF ZIP KICKER ON THE OVERHEAD CABLE, AND A DROP OF GLUE ON THE END OF THE CONNECTING WIRE - BUT MAKE SURE THAT THE LENGTH IS NOT TOO LONG OR TOO SHORT BEFORE DOING THIS PROCEDURE!!!!
5. LASTLY, DECIDE HOW MANY CABLES YOU CAN DO COMFORTABLY - LOOK AT MY NICHIMO FOR EXAMPLE - IT HAS JUST ENOUGH CABLES TO LOOK GOOD, BUT NOT SO MANY THAT IT RISKS BECOMING A DISASTER DURING THE STRINGING PROCESS.

I HOPE THIS HELPS. I CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA ON MY OWN WHEN IT CAME TIME TO DO THE CABLES, AND THEY BECAME THE EASIEST THING TO DO DURING THE ENTIRE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS!! BUT - I REPEAT - MEASURE OUT ALL CABLES SO THEY ARE THE RIGHT LENGTH BEFORE GLUING THEM PER MY INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE.

P.S. YOU NEED TO GET THE TEFLON TUBING I REFERENCED EARLIER BEFORE YOU BEGIN ANY WORK - YOUR LOCAL SHOP SHOULD HAVE IT, OR ITS AVAILABLE CHEAP ON EBAY. ALSO MAKE SURE YOU USE A SUPERGLUE GEL - NOT LIQUID GLUE!!! BONDINI SUPERGLUE GEL IS THE BEST THAT'S EVER BEEN MADE. YOU CAN FIND IT ON EBAY PRETTY CHEAP. BUT REMEMBER THAT YOU WANT THE GEL VERSION. THE TEFLON TUBES WILL FIT THROUGH THE BONDINI BOTTLE OPENING WITH NO PROBLEM.

I seriously thought about the idea of trying to photo-etch my Yamato, but the PE cost way too much for me at this point. With the cost, I'd rather build an all new Yamato. lol

[Mperor]

Thanks for all these advices, Al.

All of them are noted.

I've actually never thought about using fishing line to rig the ship. I mat give that a try sometime soon.

My nearest future goals really are perhaps to get my Yamato girls one PE set each, probably from Lion Roar... But my wallet is protesting as in one of those PE set costs quite more than a 1/350 Tamiya Yamato set. *Sigh* Damn it! lol



As in at the moment, I'm actually stuck somewhat with the deck painting. I'm about to mix the colors and start repainting my Yamato deck, but suffering from the beginner's mistakes, I have trouble yet worry about removing some cemented parts, because for instance, the turrets' barrels bother me when I paint the deck.

(Both my ships have an original dark tan deck color, but I've only decided recently to repaint the deck colors.

I at first wanted to spray paint the entire super structure, as well as the guns a Kure grey, but my store ran out of Kure Arsenal colors, so I'm postponing that for as long as it takes for them to restock. Yet on a sidenote, I worried about the paintjob if I finish the deck now, since I'll have to cover the deck thoroughly as not to have the Kure grey mess up the deck.

The other worry is precision painting, which is by far th ehardest thing to overcome. I still try my best to place a tape around the edge of the superstructure, so that the deck color won't accidentally spill over onto the metal parts... But it's VERY hard! Besides, there are some really hard to get spots in the superstructure, so that does give me somewhat of a headache. The success is limited, but so is the mistakes. So I'm at somewhat of an impasse at the moment about handpainting it, heh.

Then, when I get the spray can, I'll have to worry about how to color the deck properly so that the grey doesn't spill over. The guns can be arranged, as they are fairly small, I won't mind repainting them black if the Kure arsenal colors them.

Painting is so hard!!!

[bucketfoot-al]

Memo for future reference (with the caveat that I have never done a Tamiya 1/350 Yam, so I don't quite know how its set up on the sprues):

Paint the deck BEFORE putting any guns/superstructure on it. Assemble the superstructure and guns and paint them gray BEFORE connecting it to the deck.

Now, I deserve two slaps for stating what is probably obvious to you by now.

One more thing about painting those plastic decks. Once you're done painting it, let it dry, then dry brush it with a slightly lighter version of the color. Dry brushing is exactly what it sounds like: do not put water on the brush, put a little paint on the dry brush, run it a few times over some wood to thin it out - and then - make LIGHT-HANDED strokes along the deck, in the same direction. This will add some lighter lines and - from a ways off - it will look like there are planks on the deck (hopefully.)

That is what I did with my Nichimo Yamato deck. A lot of folks are fooled at first glance thinking that I replaced the original plastic deck, but I didn't - just painted it, and tehn dry-brushed some lighter lines using a WIDE brush (the wider the better because the fewer strokes, the more uniform it will look when finished).

[Mperor]

Aa a matter of fact, most guns and paintable things, I have painted them while rthey were on the sprues.

The challenge, and main difference with the Tamiya model is that the base of the superstructure is already on the deck. It is one and one piece together.

What you add on top is basically the bridge, the funnel as well as the gun directors, etc.

I wish I could have painted that section first and seprately, hence the challenge.. =\

[degrelle]

Hello from Romania,
Is anybody here who tried something like this? http://www.hlj.com/product/KALMD35002
If so, please give us some details how to install and paint that...Regards,

[Mperor]

By the way, guys, those who have worked with the 1/350 Tamiya Yamato...

Have you noticed that among the decals, there is one of 3 kanjis that are supposed to go to the stern of the ship?

I was wondering - anybody knows what those 3 kanjis stand for?

[chuck]

They are Ya, Ma, and Tow. They are not kanji. They are hiragana writing the name of the ship phonetically syllable by syllable. The Kanji version of the ship's name consist of only 2 characters, and is on the box and on the name plate for the display stand.

[Mperor]

They are Ya, Ma, and Tow. They are not kanji. They are hiragana writing the name of the ship phonetically syllable by syllable. The Kanji version of the ship's name consist of only 2 characters, and is on the box and on the name plate for the display stand.

Did the real Yamato actually have that painted on the stern?

[chuck]

They are Ya, Ma, and Tow. They are not kanji. They are hiragana writing the name of the ship phonetically syllable by syllable. The Kanji version of the ship's name consist of only 2 characters, and is on the box and on the name plate for the display stand.

Did the real Yamato actually have that painted on the stern?

No photos of the Yamato I know of shows any trace of a name on the stern. However, it was standard Japanese practice before the war emblazon the ship's name on the stern using raised hiragana metal characters, painted white. During war time they were often painted out. So it's your call.