Tamiya 1/350 Yamato (new tool) The definite mad edition

[Koppalakki]

It may be that the more natural look appeals to me more aswell, but also I like the look in this picture of yamato.
Even though it's recoloring of the original.

[Christian M.]

The white water exploding cloud has something in looking like a seabird or so ...

[baseballbrat]

Lots of great ideas!!! Thanks!!!

Jim

[Koppalakki]

I haven't been able to think anything else than the goddamn deck!

So this is the 3rd installment.



It's the 2nd try with more natural wood, BUT , an overall wash with dark grey ontop of it, with some random sanding for wear and tear.
I think this is the in between, where the jet black stain is starting to wear off revealing some of the weathered deck below it.
I'm planning on sanding it more away on open areas and leaving it more dark for corners etc. At the moment I'm pretty happy about it lets
see what I think when the time comes to actually apply the deck and stain it

[Koppalakki]

I worked on the triple 25s today. I managed to make a production line where I cut parts for 4 guns together.
Then I first made all the necessary bends and assembled first the gun, then the mount. I was able to squeeze 4 guns in 2 hours!

I finished one deck mount.







I used vallejos dark sand for the sandbags, then brown wash , finished with some light drybrushing of sand enamel color.
Judging by the photos I think the silver I used to drybrush the guns had gone bad.
Only made one so probably just repaint the metal parts.

[Koppalakki]

I decided to have the gun and the mount separate to regain better control of the weathering.



To addition I applied even some fluid stains!

Having the gun off gives so much better control and you can precisely apply the pigments etc.
I stuck the guns and the mounts to toothpicks, they have nice holes in them which are perfect for the toothpick to hold it.
Apply a bit super glue and it sticks really nicely.

[Dan K]

Damn, that's nice.

[Koppalakki]

Finally recieved my kit. Not without hitches ofcourse. Glad I sent mail to the shop I ordered it from
to get the tracking code. It had been sitting for almost a week for me to collect it as the Finnish postal service
has pretty much turned into a joke due to the recent outsourcings.

But soon I'll get the party started!

[GewoonWouter]

Nice couple of updates again. Seems I missed something though, what did you order?

[Koppalakki]

I didn't have the kit (Tamiya Yamato) yet. I only had the Pontos set so it was nice to get the main thing aswell!

Last time with the PoW I had to wait for months for the kit to arrive as I didn't get any answers at all and then boom suddenly it arrived.

I got the lowerhull almost ready from the seams, and the only downside is all the sanding kills a bit of the plating effect right on the seams. And damn they are big seams for a modern kit like this,
nothing thick super glue won't fix though but the plating is a bit of a bummer.

Any cool tricks on how to restore it?

[Koppalakki]

Ok

Here's restoring the plating effect first try.

After killing the seam with super glue and sanding the surface was mostly flat and the plating effect gone on the seam.

So

I masked with tape so the raised plating would get some lost tooth. After masking the plate, I used Mr surfacer 500 diluted with Mr color thinner and sprayed it.
I started to work from the sides of the seam keeping it light, then on the seam letting the primer to get more heavy. Later when it's cured I will sand a bit on the edges to keep the
transition smooth. Hope it's enough for it to see through after a new coat of primer. We'll see.



I will go through rest of the plating tomorrow.

[GewoonWouter]

didn't realize you did not have the kit just yet ^^. I agree, those seams shouldn't be there, you pay well for the kit and coming from Tamiya one could expect near perfection. I had some issues with it too, but I won't be bothered too much with it since I intend to place her in some water eventually.

Seems like you are doing a good job though!

[Koppalakki]

Here's the last shots of the hull plating restoration project.



I first taped off the last remaining hullplates.



Then Mr surfacers 500 and some light sanding. There is an edge but lets hope it will be still visible after primer coat.

I also worked a bit on the stern.



I cleaned the molded details and glued the etched decks into place.
I'll continue the details after I get the hull completed and all the necessary seams fixed.



On the downside everything was removed and all the locator wells filled with super glue and sanded.

Here's a couple of shots from the area on the Kure model.





It's a bit different than the Tamiya/Pontos set depicts it. There's a few less support beams there, only 4 small ones and 7 larger ones. On the Tamiya one there's 5 and 9.
The Pontos set provides that many aswell, so I'm gonna trust the Kure model and make necessary corrections etc.



Some more detailing going on. I drilled some holes on the supports with a 0.5mm drill bit. Take care it's almost the same width. Not all holes were perfect. I'm contemplating on filling them with glue
and drilling new ones to make them all lined up.



And how they look on the Kure model.

[gscott]

Nice fix on those nasty seam lines. It's a shame Tamiya didn't engineer that part of the model better but I really like how you handled it!

[GewoonWouter]

that's a great fix indeed and not something which I noticed before...darn, now you are giving me more work as well Keep up the good work!

[Koppalakki]

I've working on the hull a lot. I'm almost finished deleting all the seams and have the basic construction completed.
So soon I'll be able to start detailing with all the etches we got! I'll try to get the studio up so I can get a bit more bigger wider photos of her!


In the meantime some turret works.







A definite improvement over the older Tamiya turrets!
I used all the pontos parts, including the blastbags, which I think look pretty damn nice.
I used a motor tool set at low speed to drill the holes into the blastbags carefully, as there really is not much extra on it's side.
There is a nice start to get the drill bit going so it's not that hard to be honest. The barrels haven't been fixed yet and I'm contemplating
on the fact as the poly caps inside might be not enough to hold them at perfect alignment. We'll see.










I also detailed the undersides of the aircraft deck. Most molded and Tamiyas own details went out the window.
I used the pontos parts, which aren't perfect either according to reference. I left the rail alone and added some supports from styrene strips.
I also added styrene into the openings that are covered with the etched grill to replicate the edges protruding over as seen in the Kure model.
One of the protruding triple 25mm mount needed to have a floor made of sheet styrene aswell. I cut a piece that filled it and applied a lot of glue and let it set.
After that excess was cut with a knife and filed smooth. The excess glue will melt the plastic thus filling the seam.

I'll probably go another step by step painting guide on one of the turrets today as it gets more steps and ideas over the smaller parts.

[GewoonWouter]

Nice bit of extra detailing again!

[Koppalakki]

Ok, here's the step by step finishing the turret.

First Vallejos polyurethane primer was applied.



Black airbushed on the edges and on details. Other lines to diffrentiate surfaces aswell.



Base gray color. Started airbrushing where there was no black color, after that fading the seams together.



Base gray lightened. Stick to the centers and create highlights.



3rd coat even more lighter. This time I used masking tape to modulate different surfaces to have hard edges.





Sandbags brush painted with Vallejos dark sand.



Brown wash. I used AK's brown wash for wood decks. You can use oils or enamels don't really matter if you use acrylics as base.
For me using products that are already ready to apply from a jar works better as it's so much easier when you have A LOT of different steps.



Cleaned excess with white spirit. Wiped excess off the brush to keep the cleaning under control. That way you can control the effect.
My motto is less is enough as too stark washes and drybrushing tends to look too artificial and bad.



Blastbags painted with H321 light brown. 2nd coat lightened with white about 50%.



Same brown wash applied.



First 2 cleaned for comparison.



Black wash with AK's wash for nato tanks. Again keeping it clean and not overflowing the wash.



And cleaned with white spirit.



Next some streaking with AK's white for salt stains. I brushed streaks all over the turret.



Blended them with white spirit. Damp the brush with white spirit then get the excess off with a paper towel then start streaking and blending the paint in the same direction as you painted them.
Once again I kept it subtle.



Same with dirt color. I used AK's streaking grime.



And cleaned.



I applied Vallejos satin clear. Just a couple of light coats.
After that I drybrushed. Light sand color for the sandbags and blastbags, light gray for the turret.
I focused on brining details up. (ladders railings etc.)





Last but not least I applied pigments. I sprinkled them with a brush. I used Migs track brown and rubbel dust.
Fixed with white spirit. To top it off I used AK's engine oil for the fluid marks.





Now to add the 2 triple 25mm and it's done!

[rotley]

Beautiful craftsmanship as well as amazing detail on those turrets. The amount of effort in producing such an authentic look is awe inspiring.

[GewoonWouter]

Nice piece of weathering, something which I can appreciate. Just one question/remark though: why would there fluid marks (I assume like spilled lubricant oils or something) on top of the main gun turret?

Cool step by step btw, keep up the good work!