"New MSW crew-mate Anthony Kochevar (ajkochev) shares a fantastic build story of his IJN Yamato, in his first MSW submission!"
Edit. Note A special thanks to MSW Senior Editor Rui Matos (Skipper) for providing me with a huge effort in capturing and editing all images contained herein this article...thanks Skip!
Introduction
The Yamato was the flagship of the Imperial Japanese
Navy(IJN) and was considered one of the most formidable
ships of the time. The Yamato had two sister ships, the
Musashi and the Shinano, the later being converted to an
aircraft carrier after the battle of Midway. Yamato underwent
several refits during its career with the 1944 version of
the ship being the most impressive looking as it had the
most anti-aircraft guns mounted on it during that time period.
It was the biggest battleship ever built. It was eventually
sunk in April of 1945 during the “Ten-Go” suicide mission
it was sent on. It was said at the time that when the
Yamato sank she took four-hundred years of naval warfare
with her, as battleships quickly become outmoded by aircraft
carriers during and after the war.
Overview and Materials
The Tamiya 1:700 scale model of the Yamato was retooled
in 1998. Tamiya really improved the fit and detail for this
retooling and the result is a excellent kit. The Hull and
main deck comes as one piece as well as the superstructure
base, which makes working with and painting the
model easier than some other battleships.
The aftermarket photoetch I chose were Tom’s Modelwork’s(TM) Yamato/
Musashi set, Gold Medal Model’s(GMM) Yamato/Musashi
set and Lion Roar’s(LR) Yamato Main Gun detail set. I will
periodically refer to these sets by their initials given in parenthesis.
In addition, several sizes, shapes and sheets of
Evergreen styrene will be used. Brass tubing, paper, various
sizes of wire and stretched sprue(plastic tree from the
kit melted with a candle and pulled apart) will be used for
scratchbuilding other details.
The book Anatomy of a Battleship: The Battleship Yamato by Januzs Skulski is an excellent reference and a must for building this model. I
made tread plate, out of fine mesh ribbon, paper spray adhesive
and white glue. The process will be described later.
You can buy photoetch tread plate but I choose to save a
bit on cost. I also had several leftover Tom’s Modelworks
IJN Aircraft Carrier photoetch sets that had inclined ladders.
You may want to get this set as well as it has a good
variety of parts for any IJN ship.
Tools and Glues
As with most models various shapes and types of X-acto or
hobby knifes will be used to shape and cut parts. Have
several replacement blades on hand as they tend to dull
quickly from use. A pin vise with various sizes of drills
down to #80 will also be used.
A Dremel with cutting discs, sculpting and sanding bits is also a must for this project.
Testors Model Sandpaper will be needed as well. The main
glue will be liquid superglue(not the gel) purchased from a
dollar store in small tubes. Testors clear parts cement and
Tamiya Liquid Cement will also be used but only for certain
applications. Tamiya Model Putty will be used to fill seams
and shape areas. Don’t forget various emery boards,
tweezers, paint brushes, masking tape, needlenose pliers,
nippers and other basic modeler tools needed for the project.
Paint
I don’t mind using department store spray paint when possible
as it is durable and saves money. ColorPlace brand
Almond, White, Black and Fire Red purchased through
Wal-mart will be used on the model. I decided to paint the
hull using Tamiya IJN Kure Grey in a spray can. This paint
sprays and airbrushes nicely. It does not brush well, so I
mixed a matching color using Modelmaster Dark Gull Grey
and Light Gull Grey.
I tested the spray and color mixing on
scraps to get a feel for how to apply them. Several colors
of the craft store acrylics and watercolor pencils will be
used for the decks and weathering. Testors Glosscote and
Dullcote in a bottle will be brushed on at various stages.
Modelmaster Lusterless spray will be used to seal and finish
the model.
Weathering and Other Details
Weathering the ship and adding cargo, ropes, tarps and
other items are entirely optional however I think they provide
a certain realistic and “lived in” look to the model. The
materials used for this will be artists chalk in earth tones
and several shades of grey from black to white. Also a
mixture of 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol and 1/4 teaspoon India
Ink will be used for detailing and weathering. Some craft
store acrylics will also be used. The cargo and other details
will be scratch built with styrene and stretched sprue.
Getting Started
I read the kit instructions carefully several times to become
familiar with how the kit is assembled. Likewise I read all
photoetch instructions and marked which plastic parts will
be replaced or augmented with the photoetch. I reviewed
the book several times as well and started brainstorming
how best to recreate certain parts or replace them with
photoetch. I choose to use paper and styrene instead of
photoetch for the hatches and doors. I carefully reviewed
all the kit frets to get an understanding of where parts are
located, and what will be modified and how.
With a basic
plan of construction formed I proceeded to build and detail
the hull first. The modifications will be listed in the following
pages. In addition every part was removed when needed
and the flash, edges and fret connection trimmed and
sanded smooth. Parts were test fit when possible before
gluing.
 |  About Anthony Kochevar (ajkochev)
I've modeled ships as a teen and started the hobby again in 2005. For some reason I got into the history of the Japanese Navy at this time and started building ships of this navy. I also do N Scale model railroading, reef aquariums and a few video games. | |
Copyright ©2009 by Anthony Kochevar. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Armorama. All rights reserved. Originally published on: 2008-07-20 | | |
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