yvesvidal

Chris, the box is gigantesque ! Just make sure that your better half is away when it arrives at your home. :-) Yves

"Alea Jacta Est" as the Romans used to say: The stern section of the ship has been covered with the main gun, and no access to the large guns is possible in this area: You can see how the Main deck section "E" had to be altered to fit the hull: Now, I will be working on the Quarterdeck positioning and hopefully get a clearer picture of the stern ornaments and galleries. Yves

Folks, this is the kit that many many many modelers have been waiting for a very long time: a replacement for the old and so incorrect NICHIMO kit of the 1/200 YAMATO legendary Japanese battleship. When I started receiving offers to pre-order that model, I jumped on it. I had always considered getting the NICHIMO kit plus the additional FUJIMI kits to improve it but was turned off by the prices. Today, we have a much better substitute thanks to Trumpeter and MRC/Gallery Models which are distributing this massive model on the Western market. I pre-ordered my kit from Squadron for $579, free shipping, no taxes. The kit was made available on June 14th in the USA and was at my door on the 16th. It cannot be better. After a quick look at the kit, I would say that it is a very impressive work, only missing one thing: the wooden decks and perhaps metal guns. Those are already made available by Scaledeck apparently and I am sure the usual PONTOS and MK folks will jump on the bandwagon to add countless details to this 2800 parts kit. I am not an expert of YAMATO and thus, I will limit myself to presenting the kit. It comes in a very large and beautiful box (Trumpeter style), with gorgeous artwork: No mention of Trumpeter can be found on the box or any included literature, but for those who have built Trumpeter kit, it makes no doubt that it is their creation. Inside the kit, we have 7 separate boxes, packed to the hilt: The Assembly manual is 117 pages long: A nice color sheet is also included with decals for the ship and the planes: Let's jump into each one of the seven boxes: This one is fully packed and contains most of the superstructures: Box B contains the guns and all the PE parts: I am not showing all spruces as there are way too many to display. Box D contains the two decks pieces: Box E is dedicated to anti-aerial defense: Finally, the last and biggest box is the massive 5 foot long hull, cast in two parts. The two halves are secured to each other with aluminum parts and plastic parts and provide a very strong and precise alignment. This is it for now. I have placed everything back in the box and will perhaps start a Build log one day. I did not want to miss on that kit, which I am sure will quickly become rare and coveted. I hope you have enjoyed that quick introduction. There are a few beautiful implementations of this ship on the forum that can be used as a guide for improving on the kit. I know that I will be using RGL's build log of his gorgeous 1/350th Yamato for my reference, when the time comes to build that monster. Yves

They will be fine. They may be some delays in their daily operations but they will survive fine. I have to say that they offer today some of the most interesting and unusual models and I wish them all the best. Yves

This type of hull is probably the most difficult to paint. You did a very good job overall, and once you fix the couple of mistakes, it will look really good. Yves

Yes, I will be following this thread, too. Yves

The delicate task of installing the four guns has been done: They are attached to the gun deck, by using a large drop of CA glue under each wheel.I am hoping that will be enough to hold these heavy pounders. With these four guns in place, I can now start putting together the Main Deck Section "E" and continue building on top with the Quarter deck. This should allow me to have a better picture on how to install the galleries and all the ornaments on the stern. A few goofy pictures: I hope you are enjoying that complete departure from the CAF instructions. Yves

After working on the Bow of the ship, I feel that the Stern is requesting some attention. Nothing can be built yet, as I have to lay the floor of the main deck and also study a solution to control the rudder from the wheel (wishful thinking....). At this stage I can start building the main deck on the rear section only. But before that, I have to assemble at least four large guns, to go underneath the "E" section of the main deck. Technically I have to build 28 large guns.....but I hate repetitive tasks. So, I am going to build what I need to move through one section at a time. That will offer a pleasant diversion from the repetitive assembly of 28 large guns at once. The guns are made of a mixture of wood, brass barrel and PE parts. To build 28 guns represents a lot of parts: The guns are glued with CA glue. The barrels are cleaned in a mixture of vinegar and baking soda and left soaking for 10-15 minutes. They are then rinsed in warm water and soaked for a couple of minute into the Black-Brass chemical. They are rinsed again and left to dry, before receiving a light coat of wax. Touch-ups are done with Black Barrel acrylic paint from Model Shipways. Holes are pre-drilled where the black nails are located. I am not using the insanely small and fragile PE parts from CAF. Black nails are much more solid and safer for the heavy barrel. Finally, we have our four guns, that will be placed in the stern section: Just 24 more large guns to go.... At this stage the barrel azimuth can be adjusted. Most likely, I will glue them to their chariot before long. Yves

I am trying to finish the outside of the hull and add a few details which are not included in the kit. This is done in a much easier way, without any of the guns installed. First the holes used to lift the gun-port lids. Even though the kit provides for all lids and associated hinges, no rope is provided to build that feature. The holes are about 1 mm in diameter, which may be a tad too large for the real ship. The Anatomy of the Ship book is not very generous with details. The next holes will be the scuppers, used to evacuate the bilge and deck waters. COREL shows their approximate location on the plan of the Bellona kit, but CAF has no mention whatsoever. I will be using COREL instructions to install the six pipes on each side. Yves

I definitely hope some figures in 1/48th scale will become available. I am not sold on the Amati figures of 35 mm.... Yves

Incredible !!!! Until I saw your fingers, I thought you were displaying pictures of the real thing. Absolutely beautiful and perfect. Yves

It must have been heart wreaking to cut that nicely shaped bulb at the bow, to install the front rudder.... Yves

Allan, yes the kit (lack of) instructions, makes a brief mention of tapering. I decided to not reduce the thickness of the knee of the head. Instead, I filed the figure to make sure she fits on the head. Artistic license.... I suppose. Yves

I like these half hulls build, by Billing Boats. Yves

Thanks to the modern technology (3D printer and associated software), you are turning this otherwise unfinished model, into a very nice and realistic model. Congratulations. Yves

Thank you Kevin.

More work on the Head of the ship, with the installation of the hawse holes and cheeks. At the beginning of Session #3, there are some recommendations regarding the drilling of the hawse holes. Being cautious, I went to my Session #5 box and pulled out the Hawse plates, set them in place on the bow and marked the holes with a pencil. Then I went back to the Session #3 instructions and compared the dimensions. I am glad I proceeded the way I did, as the indications given in Session #3, are not at all right. Again, we have reached a stage in this kit, where owning all Sessions (3 to 5) is essential to avoid major mistakes. Then comes the assembly of the upper and lower cheeks. These are made of four parts: two are cut by laser and the other twos have to be carved, bent and refined for a decent fit. You can see below on pictures 35 and 36 how it is done. This has been a tedious task, requiring a lot of precision, sanding, filing, painting and gluing. I am glad it is behind me and even though it is far from being perfect, this is the best I can do at this moment: Upper cheeks are now in place: I think I will go back to work on the stern, for a change of pace..... Yves

Nice progress on the hull. Compared to a period ship, that hull seems relatively easy to plank... 🙂 Yves

That is amazing Tobias. Thank you so much for publishing these pictures. As a matter of fact, you should start a new thread relating the event with all your pictures. Besides the National Galleries in Barcelona and Annapolis (Maryland), I have never seen a larger collection of exquisite models. You guys have incredible skills and patience. Yves

Tobias, I wish you could publish more pictures of that nice room with all these models. Is it a museum or your own display room? Yves

Some more progress, on the bow. Having the front of the ship open, was disturbing me. The front bulkhead only comes in Session #4 and in my humble opinion, it is too late as I will show in the coming description. They assume that the main/upper deck must be installed before setting the front bulkhead. I like to disagree and will propose a solution moving away from what CAF is recommending. The picture above shows the beginning of Session #4 instructions. The main deck and bow deck are not exactly at the same level (in the model). Using the 1a/1b beams, I glued them in place to match the level of the main deck: I then glued on top of beam "1a" only, a 2 mm strip of wood to put on the same level the front of the bow with beam 1a: This will create the front deck. I now have to cut from the main deck parts A, the sections which are used to plank the front of the ship: These two parts are then glued and a central piece is inserted to finish the deck. The remaining section of deck A, do fit perfectly, although 2 mm below. That is no problem at all. Using some 0.4 mm shims, I then position the front bulkhead (coming in Session #4): So far, so good. I like the fact that two sides are now joined by a very stiff piece of plywood. The decorative rails are not working very well and some "deconstruction" is necessary: I would strongly recommend to not install any of the front rails, until after building the front bulkhead and adjusting the round houses. The moldings on the round houses have to match these rails and that is not obvious to do. The front deck (crapper) is planked: The vertical surface of the bulkhead is covered with the 0.4 mm planking as well. Everything is finely sanded, the deck receives Wipe on Poly (multiple coats). I now apply the first two coats of Ultramarine blue: There is still a ton of work to be done in this area, but at least I am feeling better about the solidity of the model. Yves

Oh, how much I agree with that. I could not do the BELLONA in 1/64th scale. I just love the 1/4 inch scale. Yves

This is going to be epic..... Yves

Amazing. I have always admired people who can place small models into bottles. This boat is not only unusual but the bottle is one of a kind that you do not see too often. Yves

An unusual subject. I am all for it. Yves