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

[modelmanuk]

thanks for the scans does anyone make replacement 25mm AA guns

[bucketfoot-al]

I would think that Harrier "Jump Jets" would still be the best choice. The deck is nowhere near long enough for anything other than vertical take-off. Adding the elevator would add some space, of course, and I presume the rear main turret would have to be turned sideways during take off and landing to minimize the obstruction posed by the barrels.

Fun to think about isn't it? Man, what a good idea. Now what do you replace the 5" AA cannons with? AA rocket launchers? Don't need 12 of them that many. Might want to keep the lower level of guns.

What about all of the AA machine guns? Of course, automatic AA gattling guns are the replacement, but you certainly would not need as many. Which would maximize the open deck space. Given how cramped today's ships look, adding more weapons to the gigantic Yamato platform is an intriguing challenge.

The other questions I would have are - where to install the radars and what types, and do you think that the main mast ought to be removed (a no-brainer to me)?

What do you think about my suggestions?

[Marco_Trigo]

Is it possible for F-35 to operate with such a small deck?

Oh, apparently they just don't operate on small budgets...

Marco

[SGer]

I heard that the decks of Yamato and Musashi were painted black before Leyte, though I doubt black will look good with Kure gray. Which shade of gray do I use for the deck?

[Senkan]

The decks weren't painted. They used soot from the smoke stacks to darken the decks. This would have left lot of streaking. But the whole deck wouldn't have been black.

[bucketfoot-al]

Here are two large digital "paintings"of Yamato. The first one was done by Michal Korotko and it has already been linked to a few years ago on this thread; However, I have taken the liberty of correcting a few errors in the original:

1. I have removed the float plane visible past the barrels of Turret #3 because none was on board during the final battle;
2. I have made the two 5" battery muzzle flashes about 5X larger as on the original the flashes are so tiny they look like pea-shooters;
3. Finally, I removed the airplane smoke trail leading to the explosion on the right side of the photo, because no USN planes were crashed into Yamato during the battle. So now it in fact looks like a bomb exploding as it should.

Be sure to right click on it and choose 'view image' to see it at its full size.

Enjoy.

[bucketfoot-al]

I found this image on Deviant Art.com, made by krim_art. It was apparently produced for an on-line war game. I modified it by removing the crane tower which was removed in 1945, and by slightly enlarging the planes overhead.

Be sure to right click on it and choose 'view image' to see it at its full size.

It is really quite spectacular, especially as wallpaper.

[Vladi]

Thanks to bucketfoot-al for the pictures, they are really great!
Note to the first one - the deck looks quite reallistic (like a deck painted by sooth etc.), do you think it looked like this or was it even darker (like the famous B-24 photos from Oct 1944 seem to suggest)?
Note to the second - referring to what someone (probably Dan K) wrote here earlier, Yamato has probably never exposed so much rust, especially when laying at anchor in home waters, right?

[bucketfoot-al]

Well, I defer to Senkan regarding the deck's dark color. Yoshida refers to the deck being "jet black" during operation Ten-ichi-go, but that doesn't tell us how it was made dark. Senkan's explanation seems to me the best (ie soot-stained deck).

As far as the rust on Yamato, she certainly did look rusty after a long tour in the Pacific - see this linked photo from 1943 on my website:

http://www.battleshipyamato.com/index.a ... 3?i=39&s=1

Whether she was cleaned up prior to Ten-ichi-go, I don't know, though I would guess that she probably was - to some degree - as she was repaired post Leyte Gulf and refitted with more AA machine guns...

[Vladi]

Thanks for pointing that picture out! So for Leyte the weathering in fact might have been heavy as it has been over 3 months she has been out of Kure to Lingga.

[Atma]

Great pictures ! Thanks
And be sure to check the online video of building the new Tamiya 1/350 IJN Yamato:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGLJ8hye9gs

[bucketfoot-al]

You mean the Imperial Chrysanthemum Crest. It was made out of wood and exactly 2 meters in diameter. It was painted bright gold.

[Guest]

Mosdt people say Musashi and Yamato are the same ship but Ill never believe

[J. Soca]

You mean the Imperial Chrysanthemum Crest. It was made out of wood and exactly 2 meters in diameter. It was painted bright gold.

Vlad, do you know if the chrysanthemum had some kind of special coating? I think i read once it was made of hinoki cypress just like the deck but i could be wrong. I think its amazing to see that crest in place after all these years well acturally i don't know if still there since the newest pictures i've seen date to 1999.. still 50+ years still a long time for something like that


http://www.spacecruiseryamato.com/ijn/dive.html


Jose

[bucketfoot-al]

Jose - No idea if it was coated with anything other than paint. Its pretty cold 290 meters down at the bottom of the South China Sea. That probably makes the wood rot more slowly - plus I imagine that it is made out of some pretty hard wood.

[rdsaplala]

Hi to all.

I just returned to plastic ship models from a prolonged stint in building wooden period ships. I'm currently working on tamiya's Yukikaze as a warm up, but couldn't resist getting the new tool 1/350 Tamiya Yamato.

Just want to inquire from the IJN experts for feedback on this new Yamato kit (i.e. are there any errors/inaccuracies that need correction?) May I also know what reference materials I should invest into as preparation for building the kit? I'm particularly interested in materials that have good line drawings and photos. Thanks.

By the way, I wouldn't be surprised on the longevity of Yamato's wooden Chrysanthemum Crest. Some hardwoods, such as Oak are quite resilient materials. In fact, some ship wrecks of wooden period ships dating back to the 17th/18th century have been discovered with a significant amount of their timbers still intact.

[J. Soca]

Jose - No idea if it was coated with anything other than paint. Its pretty cold 290 meters down at the bottom of the South China Sea. That probably makes the wood rot more slowly - plus I imagine that it is made out of some pretty hard wood.

Thanks Vlad, say have you seen newer pictures of the crest?

By the way, I wouldn't be surprised on the longevity of Yamato's wooden Chrysanthemum Crest. Some hardwoods, such as Oak are quite resilient materials. In fact, some ship wrecks of wooden period ships dating back to the 17th/18th century have been discovered with a significant amount of their timbers still intact.

Quite true, Mary Rose is one of those that comes to my mind. I myself want to buy the new tooling not just yet though, i Have Januz Skulkie's book and Gakken#50 i intend to use both as reference although given the age of SKulkie's book and that #50 is a materful done CGI booklet which depicts the ship pre-45 i want to look for a newer source. thanks for chiming in

Jose

[rdsaplala]

Thanks for the tips on the Yamato references, Jose, will include them in my "holiday shopping list"

[Timmy C]

Just black is fine. There's no need for metallics in this scale asides from the propellers.

For the crest, some kind of metallic gold/brass/yellow-ish colour - no need to be too specific.

[USN_Matt]

I have a tamyia 1/700 Yamato that I screwed up a few years ago. I decided to go with a dark gray for the hull and an almost black for the deck (the hull turned out to be 2 different shades and the deck turned out glossy...) To replace this, I am planning on getting a new one and gong all out on it. So, which company would be the best for a 1/700 Yamato and which company makes a good PE set for it?

Also I know this is the Yamato and Musashi thread, but I could not find one for the Shinano. My question with this is, how hard would it be to convert the Yamato I have completed into a Musashi and does anyone have a set of plans for the Shinano? I have been doing some heavy research of pictures of both and if I do this, it will be one of the first scratch builds I have done 'cause usually I just build them out of the box