The new IJN Yamato

Greatmodels has it for preorder $281.00

http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=TAM7802

Interested,but will have to check out reviews 1st

I posted a bit of a preview here with a preview kit I was able to fondle and photograph. Short answer: not without its faults, but it looks nice for anyone who can afford it.

TRACY ,would it be worth saving my schekles for ? I have never had a YAMATO in any scale .After helping build the U.S.S. WISCONSIN for BaD SHIPMODELS for the museum at NAUTICUS I am fired up for something impressive that might be the "other guys" pride and joy . I just wish you would get a word in somewhere for a NELSON or RODNEY in 1/350 or bigger ? . Thanks for everything         tankerbuilder .

It really depends. There are three options:

1) Old kit, no imporivements

2) old kit + Lion Roar

3) New kit + variety of aftermarket you desire*

The Lion Roar set can certainly help the old kit, but from what I've seen there's still a lot of work to do if you want it "correct" that will already be done on the new kit. As sort of an example, a friend is building the same preview I wrote about and has posted his photos here and you can compare the old stack to the new and see the differences in the pipes and platforms.

* Tamiya is coming out with their own aftermarket guns, PE, etc, as well as the aftermarket guys.

Got to the website of HobbyEasy and click on the Yamato pre-order photo. It has a number of photos of  the finished ship without the PE. Looks good!

It's in stock at Greatmodels this week at $ 381.00,I just can't do it at this point,too rich for my blood.

Cyber-Hobby just made a post in HS's Ship Chat that they have it for 1599 Yen, about $205 US. Shipping? I don't know. That's basically half price. And a good deal I believe. Shipping will be expensive. The box is 31" long, 6" deep, and 11.5" wide and weighs in about six pounds. It's well packed but it won't stand up to normal UPS, FedEx, or USPS handlers. They could break a steel brick!

As for the kit: Stunning won't even come close to describing it. 100 assembly steps in the manual. Yes MANUAL! Not instructions. The detail level is beyond anything I've seen before. The multi-part lower hull WILL require some minor filler, the fit isn't 100% perfect. That has been the only filler needed and I'm up to the main deck. So far the fit has been perfect. Upper and lower hull, and MID HULL, all fit great. The waterline plate becomes the mid-deck for the full hull build. This hull will NOT twist or bend.

I haven't counted the parts yet, and I have to for the review, but I figure about 400 in photo etch, not all used, 100 polycaps, 50 screws, nuts, bolts, and probably 2500 parts in plastic, not all of them used. Two sheets of decals for linoleum and the various shutter assemblies on the gun control turrets. Plus vents and other low relief details. 

The molds will be used for an early/mid war Yamato and the Musashi as there are dozens of dimples marked on the bottom of the decks and inside the hull with Y and M and not all the Y holes get opened.

All the guns, gun control turrets, major spot lights, cranes, and catapults can be moved or removed after assembly due to the polycaps.

The three main turrets have interior details and the traverse gears are there with a partly detailed full barbet. 

So far everything fits perfectly as long as you erase any hint of sprue gates or nubs on the photo etch. There is no room for error in this kit. 

The detail level looks very good to me but might be overdone for some. Even the triple 25 mm guns have visible breaches and ammo bins and muzzle flare. No more "lumps with bumps". All the larger guns can be elevated as long as you leave off the blast bags. 

My review kit included two of the three Detail-Up sets. The turned aluminum 18.1" barrels plus a dozen or so shells, and the railing set. I have permission to ignore either/both sets as they are optional. However the barrels will be used. Basically Plug & Play. The railings? I won't have the time to drill 400 .3 mm holes, glue in the 400 photo etched stanchions, and then string in the .1 mm copper wire. So far the railings are the only thing the basic kit is missing. The kit includes all the necessary photo etched ladders, inclined ladders, decking, platforms, antennas, and radars. Plus a ton of detail parts like search light covers and other bits I haven't checked on. 

This kit is light years better engineered, designed, and molded than the originals. There isn't a single part that isn't new tool. 

The only after market you might want is the degaussing cables, the railings, and the guns. The kit will look great without them but they would only make it even better. If you have the time to use them. I won't, sadly. 

The catapults are in plastic but seem pretty detailed and delicate. Photo etched ones would be better, I'm sure, but the kit ones look fine to me. 

The kit includes a Yamato reference book in Japanese and English, a full sized color profile, and a small correction sheet. At the moment Amazon and others have used "A Glorious Way to Die" and other Yamato reference books for a very fair price. I ordered a couple different ones for less than $20 including shipping. 

So the big question. Is the Yamato worth the premium price? Well, only the buyer can decide that. For the MSRP of $417 I'd hesitate but it is discounted in a number of places. For $200-$300 it is a lot of model for the money. The detail sets won't cost all that much in comparison.

A good model builder will get about three months or more of fun model building time with the kit. It's not as fiddly as the Dragon Scharnhorst but the wow factor is going to be much higher I think. 

I'll be happy to answer any questions on the kit as long as it doesn't keep me away from the bench too long. I have to turn this monster in on February 1st and I can see 10 hour sessions at the bench in my future. Heck, I watched the Packer's game with a TV tray full of parts in front of me. I air brushed parts during the commercial breaks and half time. Oh, speaking of air brushing: buy LOTS of paint for this ship! I custom mixed a full ounce of Kure Gray for the build. I'm going to have to mix up another one at least. There are acres and acres of plastic in this thing! 

Bruno Schielzeth

Cyber-Hobby just made a post in HS's Ship Chat that they have it for 1599 Yen, about $205 US. Shipping? I don't know. That's basically half price. And a good deal I believe. Shipping will be expensive. The box is 31" long, 6" deep, and 11.5" wide and weighs in about six pounds. It's well packed but it won't stand up to normal UPS, FedEx, or USPS handlers. They could break a steel brick!

As for the kit: Stunning won't even come close to describing it. 100 assembly steps in the manual. Yes MANUAL! Not instructions. The detail level is beyond anything I've seen before. The multi-part lower hull WILL require some minor filler, the fit isn't 100% perfect. That has been the only filler needed and I'm up to the main deck. So far the fit has been perfect. Upper and lower hull, and MID HULL, all fit great. The waterline plate becomes the mid-deck for the full hull build. This hull will NOT twist or bend.

I haven't counted the parts yet, and I have to for the review, but I figure about 400 in photo etch, not all used, 100 polycaps, 50 screws, nuts, bolts, and probably 2500 parts in plastic, not all of them used. Two sheets of decals for linoleum and the various shutter assemblies on the gun control turrets. Plus vents and other low relief details. 

The molds will be used for an early/mid war Yamato and the Musashi as there are dozens of dimples marked on the bottom of the decks and inside the hull with Y and M and not all the Y holes get opened.

All the guns, gun control turrets, major spot lights, cranes, and catapults can be moved or removed after assembly due to the polycaps.

The three main turrets have interior details and the traverse gears are there with a partly detailed full barbet. 

So far everything fits perfectly as long as you erase any hint of sprue gates or nubs on the photo etch. There is no room for error in this kit. 

The detail level looks very good to me but might be overdone for some. Even the triple 25 mm guns have visible breaches and ammo bins and muzzle flare. No more "lumps with bumps". All the larger guns can be elevated as long as you leave off the blast bags. 

My review kit included two of the three Detail-Up sets. The turned aluminum 18.1" barrels plus a dozen or so shells, and the railing set. I have permission to ignore either/both sets as they are optional. However the barrels will be used. Basically Plug & Play. The railings? I won't have the time to drill 400 .3 mm holes, glue in the 400 photo etched stanchions, and then string in the .1 mm copper wire. So far the railings are the only thing the basic kit is missing. The kit includes all the necessary photo etched ladders, inclined ladders, decking, platforms, antennas, and radars. Plus a ton of detail parts like search light covers and other bits I haven't checked on. 

This kit is light years better engineered, designed, and molded than the originals. There isn't a single part that isn't new tool. 

The only after market you might want is the degaussing cables, the railings, and the guns. The kit will look great without them but they would only make it even better. If you have the time to use them. I won't, sadly. 

The catapults are in plastic but seem pretty detailed and delicate. Photo etched ones would be better, I'm sure, but the kit ones look fine to me. 

The kit includes a Yamato reference book in Japanese and English, a full sized color profile, and a small correction sheet. At the moment Amazon and others have used "A Glorious Way to Die" and other Yamato reference books for a very fair price. I ordered a couple different ones for less than $20 including shipping. 

So the big question. Is the Yamato worth the premium price? Well, only the buyer can decide that. For the MSRP of $417 I'd hesitate but it is discounted in a number of places. For $200-$300 it is a lot of model for the money. The detail sets won't cost all that much in comparison.

A good model builder will get about three months or more of fun model building time with the kit. It's not as fiddly as the Dragon Scharnhorst but the wow factor is going to be much higher I think. 

I'll be happy to answer any questions on the kit as long as it doesn't keep me away from the bench too long. I have to turn this monster in on February 1st and I can see 10 hour sessions at the bench in my future. Heck, I watched the Packer's game with a TV tray full of parts in front of me. I air brushed parts during the commercial breaks and half time. Oh, speaking of air brushing: buy LOTS of paint for this ship! I custom mixed a full ounce of Kure Gray for the build. I'm going to have to mix up another one at least. There are acres and acres of plastic in this thing! 

 

Thanks for all the great info,it should be trulty impressive,I will give it a thought,but I got Akagi,Independance CVL-22,and Graf Spee in Queue,so we'll see.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32962271@N05/sets/72157628358993235/

Not the greatest pictures. I don't have a 12 megapixel camera or the time to use one. But it will show you what I have in front of me and what's in the box. Ignore the mismatched paint and stuff, it's a work in progress. Things will improve as I go along and get each area finished. 

I think it will give everyone a good idea of just what's involved in this monster kit.

The one thing I will say so far: it's FUN! Everything fits properly. Everything looks good to my eye. There is a LOT of work needed but you won't end up fighting the kit parts as long as you prep them properly. 

Bruno, a couple of questions for you when you get a chance. Was it you that said there was a camoflauge diagram for hull and deck similar to Nagato and others at wars end? How is the fit of the main deck on the sides where it appears it was made that way for earlier fits? I see the outer deck edge on bothe sides is missing due to the possible  wing turrets for early fit. How is the planking detail. That's all, I don't want to take up anymore of your time.

No Echo210, I wasn't the one to bring up any camouflage on the Yamato. As far as I know at the moment the Yamato carried standard Kure Gray paint and weathered cypress decks on 04-07-45. That may change when I get the other reference books.

The main deck to the hull sides might take a bit of tape to pull them in a little but nothing serious. I think loosening the screws and shifting the hull sides might make that gap disappear. The two side pieces of the main deck are pretty heavily modified to take the new gun emplacements. Shaving off the drip rails and all the rest. The outer deck pieces fit very well to the main deck but a bit of sanding to bevel the edges might be required. Pressed together the pieces leave a gap about the same as the planking and I think it will all but disappear with the smallest amount of effort. The planking has end cuts every fourth plank, which I believe is correct for the Yamato. The depth and width of the planking seems to be about right for the ship. With a bit of work the deck will be stunning. 

I've had to curtail any other building today. I caught a kitchen knife on my right thumb earlier and I ended up bleeding all over the kitchen floor. High blood pressure and blood thinners don't help any. I should be able to work again tomorrow, with luck. 

Hope you heal soon Bruno. With regards to the decking on the date she was lost, I think it might have been black, actually. This photo of her in October 1944 is known to be when she had her decks camouflaged by application of a "wash" that included soot from her stacks*. Note that the wood portion looks darker than the metal (painted) decks.

This shot of her in April 1945 shows the same appearance; wood deck darker than metal. I've never seen any color shots of this so I don't know how the actual appearance was, but I'd presume a flat soot color with wood slightly visible in high-traffic areas and sooty streaks on the hull below and maybe a scale foot or two on bulkheads above the deck. Not the most visually appealing.....

* From her Tabular Record of Movement at CombinedFleet.com

18 October 1944:
Black deck camouflage, intended for the night breakthrough in the San Bernardino Strait, is hastily applied to both YAMATO and MUSASHI. The main component is soot from YAMATO's stack.

Honestly from the looks of Bruno's pictures I have a strange feeling that we may see a 1/350 Shinano in the near future seeing as the Shinano started out as the Yamato and Musashi's sister ship before her conversion mid build. So if Tamiya decides to release a Shinano all they have to do is replace the superstructure of the Yamato/Musashi with one specific to the Shinano and keep the hull as is since the hull from all three are the same.

Since Hasegawa and Fujimi have both released 1/350 scale IJN Aircraft Carriers in the past 4or 5 years. And Tamiya has never had a 1/350 scale IJN Carrier released at all it is logical to assume the reason for the retooling of the Yamato/Musashi is to set the groundwork for a Shinano Carrier.

It's been discussed and it's not really the case. The shape of the top of torpedo blister differs, negating the use of the lower hull (perhaps the forward piece). The stern under the fantail is also different, so the aft upper hull is also unusable. That doesn't leave much commonality that can be re-used.

Right now I'm sticking with weathered Cypress decks but I'm willing to change if I can find any proof of something different. 

I feel that the ship had been in dock for a while before the Ten-Go operation was called up on April 5, 1945. As a kamikaze mission for the Emperor and the glory of Japan I have the feeling the ship was cleaned up and made to look as good as possible for her final glorious mission. But that's just my feelings on it. The facts may be different. 

I could see where the soot applied for her last night mission could still be seen in the low traffic areas but if I have the choice of "crisp and clean and Bristol fashion" or "beat to death junk yard survivor" I'll go for crisp and clean just to honor a warship and her crew. 

I don't see the Shinano coming from this mold. Like you said Tracy, too many minor but noticeable differences in just the lower hull. But the early/mid war Yamato and the Musashi are almost guaranteed. The molds are clearly designed with that in mind. 

 I beg to differ that the hull construction concept is sound: Restauring the plating is a nightmare.

 Gaston