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

[Cpt. Sushi]

Hello everyone, I have some little doubts about the model I'm building at the moment. On the picture below you can see small platforms mounted to the 46cm guns (2 for each gun), also some kind of brackets mounted on the outer guns showing to the center.



My question is, were those still carried in 1944?

Thanks in advance

[Atma]

Those was some kind of training aiming devices, they where removeable.

[Cpt. Sushi]

Oh ok thanks! :)

[Senkan]

I think they look cool.

[Rob Wood]

I visited the Yamato museum in Kure, Japan in June. I took hundreds of photos. I'll share a few now, but if anyone has any requests for particular detail shots, just let me know, and I'll see what I have, then post it here.

Rob

[Thomas E. Johnson]

I've been looking over the new Tamiya 1/350 kit, and judging from the way they designed and tooled the kit, I dare say that they intend to release an early fit kit of the ship as well. They engineered the superstructure and surrounding decks so it it would be very easy to swap in parts for an as built late December 1941 - 1942 version, as well as a 1944 Layette Gulf version.

[Haanaya]

Hi all,

A question which is more a point of interest than anything else, does anyone know how much the weight of Yamato increased after the 1945 refit, and did this make a difference to the draft? I know the two guns disapeared from the sides of the bridge which would have made something of a difference, but there was a lot of anti-aircraft guns, etc (You all know all this!), I just was pondering if there was any real difference in draft/speed?

Over to you guys!

[mermaid]

Model in Kure does not show any hull plating corresponding to the Tamiya version.

[Bill_K]

Rob,

I would be interested in hearing more about the Yamato at the museum in Kure. Do you know the scale, who built it, and when? Thanks for posting the pictures. They look to be a great resource for anyone building a Yamato.

Thanks,
Bill

[Vladi]

According to Steve Wiper's Yamato Class Battleships (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shipcraft-14-Ya ... 1848320450) it is 1/10 scale and was built by Yamamoto Shipyard Cp., Ltd. Construction took 8 years, completed in 2005.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

Model in Kure does not show any hull plating corresponding to the Tamiya version.

Looking really close, I think I do see hull plate welding joints on it. The ones on the Tamiya kit are exaggerated for purposes of bringing out the detail, like many details on models are.

[Atma]

Fujimi's amazing 1/500 IJN Yamato with a complete set of PE is re-released, so hurry up:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10139717

[Mike Lowe]

Thomas, if you look at the new Yamato kit you will see the letter M on some parts. This indicates Musashi location holes. Also the decks do make it easy to make an early version of either ship.

[chuck]

Model in Kure does not show any hull plating corresponding to the Tamiya version.

Looking really close, I think I do see hull plate welding joints on it. The ones on the Tamiya kit are exaggerated for purposes of bringing out the detail, like many details on models are.

Most of Yamato's hull was riveted with overlapping joints. I think Kure model simply omitted the joints.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

As a rule I don't like to lay wooden decks on 1/350 models because it looks out of scale to me once its cut so it will fit around all of the molded deck details, which then look like they are to small. The new 1/350 Yamato kit however there is little choice. The sides of the main deck don't make even clean joints with the middle main deck section, and sanding it down will destroy the molded deck planks, and it would be next to impossible to rescribe them properly. The only way to have an even deck is to use an after market wooden one.

[EJFoeth]

You can replace the decks by Evergreen 2020 car siding, with prescribed lines every 0.020". Because the lines are recessed you can easily correct the filling of the deck lines at the seem. You'd have to separate all original parts from the deck, which could be a lot of work, but then you'd have a great deck. Even without those horrible 'plank ends' that some kits have.

[chuck]

As a rule I don't like to lay wooden decks on 1/350 models because it looks out of scale to me once its cut so it will fit around all of the molded deck details, which then look like they are to small. The new 1/350 Yamato kit however there is little choice. The sides of the main deck don't make even clean joints with the middle main deck section, and sanding it down will destroy the molded deck planks, and it would be next to impossible to rescribe them properly. The only way to have an even deck is to use an after market wooden one.

I used Northeast Scale lumber's strips to plank the deck, plank by plank. They are superior to pre-scribed wooden sheets or styrene sheets for the following reasons:

1. The seams and joints are very subtle, as they should be in your care about accuracy. The lines on pre-scribed wooden deck sheets are far too thick, and the grooves on plastic sheets far to consipicuous, compare to true scale. You can never tell there are seams on a real-ship's wooden deck if you were to place your eyes the same scale distance away from the real ship as you would when you view your model.

2. The strips are thin enough so the planks are almost scale width. I did this on my Yamato. The planks came out to be about 8" wide in scale, they were 5" wide on the real Yamato. Fancy deck sheets so in vogue now draw in massive deck plank seams that are each 2" wide, with badly off color yellow deck planks almost 2 feet wide.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

As a rule I don't like to lay wooden decks on 1/350 models because it looks out of scale to me once its cut so it will fit around all of the molded deck details, which then look like they are to small. The new 1/350 Yamato kit however there is little choice. The sides of the main deck don't make even clean joints with the middle main deck section, and sanding it down will destroy the molded deck planks, and it would be next to impossible to rescribe them properly. The only way to have an even deck is to use an after market wooden one.

I used Northeast Scale lumber's strips to plank the deck, plank by plank. They are superior to pre-scribed wooden sheets or styrene sheets for the following reasons:

1. The seams and joints are very subtle, as they should be in your care about accuracy. The lines on pre-scribed wooden deck sheets are far too thick, and the grooves on plastic sheets far to consipicuous, compare to true scale. You can never tell there are seams on a real-ship's wooden deck if you were to place your eyes the same scale distance away from the real ship as you would when you view your model.

2. The strips are thin enough so the planks are almost scale width. I did this on my Yamato. The planks came out to be about 8" wide in scale, they were 5" wide on the real Yamato. Fancy deck sheets so in vogue now draw in massive deck plank seams that are each 2" wide, with badly off color yellow deck planks almost 2 feet wide.

Yeah I know they are exaggerated planks and caulk joints. But so many other details on models of various themes are exaggerated also to make them stand out. I live with it. It does make the model look more interesting, and in my opinion, there is no such thing as a perfectly accurate model to begin with.

[Bonus Donum]

Rob Wood, I was wondering if you had two pictures of each side of the funnel of the yamato, im building a 1:1 scale model on minecraft and i wanted to know where the small tubes are positioned.

[Atma]

Model Factory Hiro have a 1/700 Yamato under development, and those of you that know the model cars that Model Factory Hiro have released in the past know that the kit if it eventually make it to the market it will be SUPERB in detail(and expensive even for 1/700). Model Factory Hiro was a resin/white metal manufacture of model cars in the past and now it seems they are trying to reach new markets in the modeling business.
Here is a link of the CAD:
http://www.modelfactoryhiro.com/new/en/archives/6634


If you want to know what to expect from the Model Factory Hiro's team, take a look the Lotus Type79 1/12 released few months before by Model Factory Hiro(notice the price by the way):
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10179218