1/350 Yamato new tool questions

[Harvey]

Hi guys,

I am about to begin construction of Tamiya's 1/350 new tool (2011) and wanted some input on what PE I should get for the kit. The first question (and the easy one) is whether I should buy a wooden deck for the kit as the cheapest I can find one is £13 which isn't too bad but when you add that price to the grand total it does seem quite expensive, I have had no previous experience with wooden decks so if someone can tell me whether they really do make a difference (especially on a expensive kit like this). Next is any further PE or barrels, I definately want railings and would be prepared to use the 1/350 Tamiya handrail set despite the effort and complexity, I also think I want the barrels for atleast the 155mm guns and possibly the 127mm and main guns, but do brass barrels really make that much of a difference say apart from them being hollowed out? I am further considering purchaesing Rainbow's 1/350 single, triple and double aa sets as I am not satisfied with the aa included with the kit, but can find very little about the rainbow stuff which looked a bit flat in the pictures. Then stacking all this together I relised that I could just buy the Flyhawk detail set 350071 (the cheaper one) for not much more. So should I buy the Flyhawk, which would really be pushing the money I want to spend on this boat (keep in mind I am buying off a 14 year old's saved up pocket money). If anyone can supply any more info or instructions for this Flyhawk kit I would be very happy.

Also if anyone has any unused PE from their Yamato build for a (very) cheap price I would be greatful

I know I've asked alot,

Harvey

[Gremlin56]

http://www.modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=8535

 

I still have it in the stash, it's brilliant and I absolutely refuse to kick the bucket before I use it on a Yamato build

[Harvey]

I'd love to buy the lionroar kit but it's wayyy to expensive unless I want to be in debt for the next few years of my life

[Jockster]

Hello Harvey, there isn't much difference really between the Lionroar and Flyhawk sets. Both require an awful lot of patience and you will need to get additional reference material because there's more in these sets than they show in their instructions.

Wooden decks are an excellent addition to any model but not essential. They are a thin sheet of wood laser cut to match the actual kit. Plank details are laser etched into the surface of the wood while holes for deck fittings are laser cut. The wood decks usually have a self adhesive backing covered with a thin plastic film that you just peel off. This film can be used as a mask for the deck during the rest of the build!

Metal gun barrels just look great, straight and round and hollow. That said, the Tamiya kit items are pretty decent.

Have a good look around the net at what other builds have used and see what appeals to you.

ATB.

Kev.

[Harvey]

Thanks Kev I think whatever I buy I'll make sure I get at least some gun barrels

Harvey

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Hi Harvey,

 

I built my first ship with PE around your age. It takes me back further than I'd care to admit! I barely think of myself as a grown man let alone old!

 

The kit is nice, if occassionally criticised for being over complicated.

 

Most of the accessories are in the nice to have category, but do make for a better model providing you have the execution of it all.

 

I do like wooden decks. I also like brass barrels. You may find it more cost effective to get one comprehensive detail up set than buying it all separately.

 

Also, with the benefit of hindsight I'd suggest putting value on the instructions that come with the detail sets. They're not all equal and some leave much to be desired and cause a great deal of frustration.

 

I wish you all the best with this

[Overpin]

I think it all depends on how patient you are and what your skill level is. If you haven't previously built ships, a 1/350 battleship can be a daunting task even without PE, and the Yamato isn't a small boat. I got too ambitious with my first build, a 1/400 Tirpitz and never finished it, now I'm slowly grinding my way through Academy's 1/350 Warspite with minimal PE and it has already been almost a year in the works and only now is it nearly complete. I found that just some railings and a wooden deck make a big difference.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not trying to discourage you from PE, just go into it with the right mind set! 

[Harvey]

Thanks Oberlin and Jamie, I should hopefully be able to finish this build, I have had previous experience on two other ships, 1/800 America by Kangnam and the 1/450 Akagi by Haesagawa with some Eduard railings. I built the Akagi very quickly and I did finish the America after becoming impatient with it due to it being such a poor kit. The summer holidays are coming up and I think I could get a large portion of the kit done in that time.

[Harvey]

This may sound a bit ambitious but I'm planning to put lighting inside the hangar and bridge sections of the kit using my knowledge from school electronics lessons 

[Jockster]

I wouldn't worry about lighting the hangar Harvey, very, very little of it is visible. The bridge, however, lends itself well to the idea of lighting añd has plenty of room for LEDs and wiring.

The Tamiya new tool Yamato is going to take you around 300 to 400 hours build time without adding photoetch. Add a detail set and you can double that. 

It is a lovely kit though and thoroughly enjoyable to build.

Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies also sells Colourcoats paints which has the right shade of grey to match. Kure Naval Arsenal grey, you are going to need a couple of tins of that.

Just a footnote, the Tamiya kit seems to be a 1/35 model of the 1/10 Scale model in the Yamato museum at Kure, if you haven't already done so then Google some pictures of that one.

All the best,

Kev.

[bootneck]

15 hours ago, Harvey said:

This may sound a bit ambitious but I'm planning to put lighting inside the hangar and bridge sections of the kit using my knowledge from school electronics lessons 

The Yamato spent the whole of her short life under wartime conditions, which means that lighting on the bridge was set at mimimal, or even none, at night to avoid detection; only the dials on the instruments would have been illuminated.  Lighting the bridge on your kit would have to be almost undetectable, otherwise you would just be doing it for artistic presentation.

 

Mike

[Harvey]

Thanks for the info bootneck, I'll keep it in mind when Iget to the lighting part

[Overpin]

Sounds like you know what you're doing and I'm looking forward to seeing your build. Lighting the ship sounds interesting. Even though it might not be historically accurate, I do think a fully lighted Yamato would be a really impressive display.

[clipper]

I'd forget the lighting idea too, as others say. Even on modern merchant ships at night, the deck officers are paranoid about about extraneous light affecting their night vision - so can't imagine what it was like on a war footing! And of course, during daylight the ambient light would be brighter than any wheelhouse/bridge lighting too. I'd illumate a large liner or ferry, but not a warship. Save the cash and effort, and buy these good third party gun barrels. All the best, and keep us informed of progress.

[Harvey]

Thanks for the info,

I'm still so unsure about the Flyhawk kit for £55 I will get more for my money but it still seems like alot to add to a kit that's already so expensive. I think I'll compare prices and count my money to see if it will really be worthwhile.

Thanks for the input everyone, 

Harvey

[Overpin]

One could argue that quality PE is the way to go for an expensive kit. You wouldn't serve 5£ wine with a 40£ steak. 

[Jockster]

You could go down the route of generic Japanese railings, ladders and steps. Combine that with barrels for the 460mm/155mm/127mm guns and a good wooden deck and that should turn an excellent kit into a jaw dropper! 

If you really want to go further then replace the radar with etched parts. Everything else in the kit is fine out of the box.

Research is definitely the key, her final voyage was Ten-Ichi-go or Ten-go, a suicide run to Okinawa. This was the only time that the white chrysanthemum was painted on the sides of her funnel/stack. With this her aircraft, boats and crane mast were removed. Bear this in mind if you use the decals in the kit.

[Harvey]

I will probably not go for her Ten-go fitting then, as I do like the aircraft and crane. Had no idea about the chrysanthemum though, so I'll make sure to avoid that. I've found the Flyhawk kit for a cheaper price and will probably order soon. That should sort out the ladders, barrels and the AA mounts was concerned about. It will also give me extra detail. 

[Jockster]

Good for you Harvey, you'll have many hours of frustration but many many more hours of fun. I wish you all the best with your build!

[Harvey]

Thanks! I think I've already begun my build on the lower portion of the hull where no photo etch is needed, I'll probably document it under another topic in this section of the forums.