1/200 Yamato

[Senkan]

I didnt want to drill 300 or so holes in the hull. You could cut off the heads and just use those but that seems to time consuming and I dont have the facilities (a nice bolted down clamp would be nice).

So I bought the punch tool. It has many different heads and Im sure down the road I'll use it again.

[Lazarus]

Superb work so far Ryan, that particular kit is full of problems that need tackling, it will be well and truely worth it as in the end it will look amazing! Keep up the top work!

[sgtryan13]

Thanks Lazarus, and you could not be more right, this kit is flawed from start to finish!

I am finally back on track with this beast, I fixed all the major fit problems using plenty of styrene strip for the deck issues. for the superstructure fit problem, I installed 1" x 4" pine under the deck, and used wood screws and washers to snug the superstructure down to the deck by screwing them into the pine underneath. This required removing numerous previously installed superstructure parts, but the fit is worth it and the repairs should be minimal.

I also began weathering this monster, with an overall wash of thinned black oil paint over the entire hull and superstructure, and then going back and adding some rust streaks in specific areas. I know many "Yamato Purists" out there will say that as the pride of the fleet, not aq spot of rust or grime would be on her, but I like weathered looking ships, and really don't care!

[sgtryan13]

Some more progress shots. I am scratchbuilding the wind baffles on the top of the SS, and added cigarette foil for a non slip texture, thanks to a tip off the main forum.

I am really happy with the fit of the ss to the deck now!

[Senkan]

Oh yes. Sweet looking. Love the weathering. Adds definition to the ship. The ship probably didnt have a lot of rust but you can bet it had a lot of grease and grime all over. Have seen way too many ships just painted and left alone. All they had to do was throw some weathering black into the nooks and crannies to give it a more 3D look.

I hope my hull ends up looking like yours. and good job with tackling those issues.

[sgtryan13]

Thanks Senkan, and I agree, these beasts need a little grime on 'em! I went back and forth about attempting the riveting, I really like the extra detail it added to your hull, but honestly, I am so ready to finishthis project, the prospect of doing any more major additions to the hull had me shaking my head.

I forgot to mention above, I took the pointer from earlier in my progress, and went back and added the armor belt to the mid section of the huill where I had just continued the plating method with the tape. I removed the verticle supports,a nd added a length of VERY thick automotive stripe to simulate the beefy armor belt, i think it looks good, but I honestly don't see a huge difference, slight, but nothing major.

[sgtryan13]

This thing stopped being fun a while ago! Anyways, I have been trudging along, I am finding it easier adn easier to just toss more kit parts into the trash and make them from scratch than trying to sand all the seams and mold lines off the kit parts. Have done a lot more progress, need to take some pics and I'll post more on here, but really, I can't wait to be done with this project.

[Dan K]

I'm another one who's just stumbling across this build now. I can't believe I've emissed it.

I also can't believe the fine work you've done on this very difficult kit, Ryan. Very impressive. About the tape hull plating - I'm seeing it more and more on 1/700 builds, particularly by Chinese modelers. It looks very good, but I do wonder about its longetivity as well. Future as sealer might be a good solution, as you've done.

[richter111]

The model is coming along! There is just the right amount of weathering and I love the little details like the coiled rope.

I picked up a set of barrels from Poland for my build (when I get to it) and will certainly be using this build up for reference.

[sgtryan13]

Thanks guys, I really can't believe the end is on the horizon here, what a long road!

Dan, only time will tell if the tape holds up or not, I really like the look and dimensions it brings to the kit, but I have the concerns as to weather it will come up or not as well. It's too bad, because I would like to start using it on my other builds as well, but I am not sure if I am willing to risk my whole fleet coming untaped some day, we'll see.

Richter, I was actually just messing around when I made teh rope coil one day, and to my surprise, I really liked what it brought to the model. I plan to have several more coils around the ship in various places, as well as other stuff to "busy" the deck up a little. I am looking for the figures I want to order to add a crew to her, to try to make the ship come alive. I plan to show her undergoing the typical daily routiene, with maintenance and drills occurring on deck.

[sgtryan13]

I got a lot of work done on her this weekend, all of the AAA has been assembled and painted, tonight they will get weathering and some PE once installed on the ship.

I also got all of the radar directors done, there were some pretty fiddly PE parts here.

The crane base is finished, the boom that comes off the rear of the crane is non existant in thekit and in the PE sets, so I scratchbuilt one from different shapes of styrene and used a 1/350 hose reel for the cable reel in the middle.

finally the secondary guns, I got tired of messing with the kit parts to make things fit right, so I tossed em and made my own from styrene.

[JIM BAUMANN]

That is coming along nicely-looks like you are over the potential stall.....!!

JIM B

[MartinJQuinn]

Nice work, Ryan. Can't wait to see her on the tables at JerseyCon!

[sirpaul]

The kit is coming along. I can see from all the extra work you have done that the kit has many flaws. But keep rolling. Get an idea on what seems right for you and run with it! After all you are the one it should make happy. Knowing you went the extra mile is what it's all about!!!! Keep up the good work.

[sgtryan13]

Thanks gentlemen, and yes, I am finally over the hump, this build came very close to getting the best of me, I think sheer pig-headedness is the main factor that made me keep pushing ahead. Hopefully the figures I ordered will be here in time for the show in Oct, the only place I could find what I need for a crew was in Honk Kong, so we'll see about shipping.

for all the flaws this kit has, I was actually pleasantly surprised that the AAA guns really aren't all that bad. Just used some spare shoulder braces from 1/350 orlikons and that was it. I could have used the brass AAA from GPM (i think) but I have spent enouugh time and $$$ on this build, and decided I needed to draw a line somewhere in order to actually finish this thing and keep a bit of my sanity.

Little bit of styrene to beef up the rudder, I liked the look on the 1/10 Kure model, not sure if this is really accurate, but I like it so went with it.

[Cliffy B]

Glad to see you're working on her again. She's looking great, keep it up

[sgtryan13]

I tried a different rigging technique, and i am really happy so far. I used Fly Fishing fly tying line, it is a really thin czaenis / mono type line. I positioned the strands somewhat loosely, then I used a mini soldering iron to heat the lines individually and it tightened them like a charm! I was really happy to get the result I wanted on the inner line, where the verticle line pulls the horizontla line down with tension. That was pretty easy to do by just tightening the verticle line first, to get the pull effect, then tightening the remainder of the horizontal line.

[Dan K]

Really, really, really good.

[sgtryan13]

Thanks Dan, she is coming along and looks like she will be done just in time for jerseycon in Oct (not sure if the crew will be here from hong kong in time though).

Small update, all of the AAA is done, the single MG's and the deck edge triples still need to be installed, but the AAA on the superstructure is all in place.

There is no end to the small details that can be added to this kit, last night I added the port and stbd nav lights. I made these from scratch styrene, and for the actual lanterns, I cut down 1/350 modern USN life raft canisters.

I am hopiong to do the main deck rails tonight.

[sgtryan13]

Thanks very much to "sirpaul" of this forum, he generously gave me some leftover flag declas he had, so I was able to add soem color to the rigging of the yamato.