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

[Dan K]

Correction, it's a DVD. I'll look for it tonite.

[baseballbrat]

Correction, it's a DVD. I'll look for it tonite.

Thanks!!!

[baseballbrat]

For all you Musashi Fans............

About 50% off!!!

http://www.squadron.com/product-p/tm78031.htm

I would get this while you can. It's going off sale any minute now!!!

Now is now too late! Sorry!!! Keep checking on their site because they repeat the sale price on a regular basis.

[KevinYoung]

Thanks for the shots Rob think I might have to make a trip there one day if and when I go to Japan.....

[Dan K]

It turns out that my DVD covered a 1/50 Yamato model, not the 1/10 version. Model Art did produce a volume dedicated to this model, and several photos echo yours. However, yours are sharper, and hold better contrast. I would love to see a DVD from you on this topic but, I wonder if there aren't copyright or licensing issues involved. After all, you are using their model.

[Rob Wood]

I wouldn't sell a DVD of photos of this 1:10 model without permission from the Yamato Museum. I've done some research on copyright issues, and the model is, after all, someone's creative work. The same would be true of any model ship I photograph. In this case, I'm reasonably certain I can get permission, especially if a certain percentage of the sales would go to the museum as a donation. It all takes time. I do have a friend who is a well-known and well-respected Japanese businessman who could negotiate a deal for me, if the museum is open to the idea.

Meanwhile, for those of you who are stumped on a particular detail on your own builds, I'm happy to provide photos here that address those issues. Whether or not a particular detail on the Yamato Museum model is the final authority on any given issue is up for debate. In my case, I wanted to photograph every part of the model for my own enjoyment, and to share with other model builders. I had not considered marketing my work on this particular subject.

I have done similar photographic treatments of museum ships that do not have the same copyright constraints (U.S.S. Texas, U.S.S. Alabama, U.S.S. Laffey, U.S.S. North Carolina, and U.S.S. LST 325), and would have little trouble selling DVDs of my work on these ships, but I would still seek permission of the museums associated with them, prior to going to market.

Thanks for all of the support!


Rob

[Rob Wood]

My suggestion to all of you Yamato enthusiasts who are building a scale model of the ship is to use my photographs of the 1:10 model as supporting evidence, or as a starting point in your research on any particular aspect of the ship. The reason is that I believe the evidence that the builders of this museum masterpiece took extremely great pains to thoroughly research each detail before fabricating a piece is overwhelming. And since there are no examples of this or any other class of IJN capital ships still in existence (except on the bottom of the ocean, of course), there's not much else to go on.

One other point is that while it's much easier to accurately fabricate a 1:10 model of, say, an C-32 Mitsubishi Type Zero F1M2-K scout plane than it is to model the same level of detail in something like a 1:350 plastic version, errors will jump out at the observer much more quickly.

Let me illustrate just how far the 1:10 Yamato builders went, as far as fidelity to scale is concerned.

In this first photo, you see how the scout plane looks to the naked eye when standing as close to the model as the physical layout of the space will allow. Note the level of detail visible at that range:



Now look at the scout plane at around 120mm magnification with a zoom lens. You can see every panel line and rivet, the wing ribs underneath the fabric, and just barely peeking out from the edge of the cowl is what appears to be a full replica of the radial engine:



Now zooming in on the cockpit at my maximum magnification of 300mm, you can see that not only are the instruments visible, but each one appears to be an accurate scale model of the original instrument; and if the rest of the model's details are any indication, I'd be willing to be that the rest of the cockpit is just as detailed - even though no one will ever see it!



Food for thought. The guns - even the 25mm AA mounts, are the same way.



Rob

[baseballbrat]

Thanks again Rob for your photo references.

Do you have any photos of the attachment point which the halyard lines are tied up to?

Thanks! Jim

[Rob Wood]

This one really stretched the outer limits of my resolution and Photoshop skills. I can see that I could have spent a second day at the museum, shooting fittings. Well, I have some images that at least show how the various cables and halyard lines are rigged, at any rate. What I see by zooming in is single-pulley blocks on top, and turnbuckles hooked to eye-bolts at bottom. There are several variations of turnbuckles and eye-bolts, but only one type of block and tackle that I can see.

[baseballbrat]

Thanks Rob!!! I have been looking for these photos for a couple of years now. You're the only one so far that has taken pictures of the fittings. Did you take any photos of the signal platform at the point of where the flag lines (Signal Halyard) are attached? (Page 59 C2/3 of Yamato Anatomy of a Battleship)

[Thomas E. Johnson]

I'm going to add some crew to my 1/350 Yamato, which portrays the ship in the final days of her operationing life. The Fujimi figures I'm using say to paint both the officers and the enlisted crewman in either navy blue or white, depending on the season being winter, or summer. However, I took a look at some footage of the Japanese made movie about the Yamato, and I'm seeing AA gun crews wearing Khaki pants & jackets and battle helmets. I'm don't know much about the uniforms of the non US Navy WW2 naval services, and my internet searches aren't very helpful. Before I start adding all blue crew to my model, should I be adding crewman painted with different color clothing also?

[Rob Wood]

On the signal platform:

Unfortunately, the halyards tie off inside the walled platform. The only way to see how they tie off is from above, and the only way to see from above is to go to the highest gallery, and that takes you so far away that it would require a 500mm lens, a tripod, and lots more light. Most of the shots of the platform show the halyards disappearing down into it. Here's one from the underside that's interesting, but doesn't give you what you need:



However, I did have one shot that at least gives you a hint:



To show you what it took to slice that image, here's the photo I took it from:



Sorry I couldn't be more helpful on this one.

[Rob Wood]

On the IJN uniforms:

Different seasons and ranks called for different types and colors of uniforms. I don't know much more than that, but you can Google Imperial Japanese Navy uniforms, and get some ideas:



The 1:10 Yamato Museum model has a few officer or petty officer figures in either white, blue or greenish khaki, but I don't know what they signify:

[Charlestonguy]

Nob question, what are the red balls (pictured in Aug 7 post) in the rigging line?

[Dan K]

Those are insulators. They're usually depicted in white, but perhaps we've been wrong all along?

[baseballbrat]

Thanks again Rob! You came through again!!!

[prowannab]

Rob Wood; Would you happen to have any high detail photos of the wreck model at Kure? I'm doing some soul searching on my current project, and am pretty sure I've messed things up. Which sucks, but it would be better to fix things now before I go any further. The only ones I can find are fairly small. The ones that are large are so distorted ,I'm having problems seeing what's going on in there.Also if there are any good pics of the actual wreck that you might have will be extremely helpful. Thank you for your time, since you've already helped us out so very much. I kind'of hate asking, but I'm in a pinch. Thanks again for what you have already contributed to the community.

[Rob Wood]

Those are insulators. They're usually depicted in white, but perhaps we've been wrong all along?

Generically, those are called guy wire strains (also known as Johnny Balls), and they come in all sorts of colors and shapes. In the days of sailing ships, they were made of glass, and people actually collect them. The purpose is to break the conductivity of a guy wire in case it becomes electrified by coming in contact with a live electrical wire or a lightning strike. In searching through my photos of the 1:10 Yamato, every object on the model that has anything to do with safety is painted red, and in keeping with the meticulous attention to historical detail evidenced in this model, I'm going to go out on a limb and state that in the case of these Yamato Johnny Balls, my money's on red.

Read more about this subject here: http://glassian.org/GuyStrain/



Rob

[baseballbrat]

Rob, Do you happen to have any super close up's of these Johnny Balls? Also do you know what color the guy wires are. They look black.

[Rob Wood]

Sorry, I never focused on those. However, you can extrapolate from looking at others. These look spherical, which makes them unique. Most of the others I've found on the Internet are rectangular with rounded corners. However, we know for certain that they have two opposing grooves, and (probably) holes going through. Here are some examples:



Rob