UNCF Argonaut - Space Battleship Yamato

[Thom216]

Finding myself just looking at my F-8 Crusader rather than doing meaningful work for the US Navy GB, I've decided to run back 'home' to a sci-fi project, just to try and shake things loose.

So, I pulled out one of my 1/1000 AAA-class Andromeda kits, as well as the Ginga and I will be kit bashing them to make an Aquaruis variant.

 

 

There will be some differences, of course. I'm going to remove the dome that comes with the Ginga superstructure, and either greeble the open space, drop the superstructure down some, or fill the space with a third turret. I'm also going to be enlarging the under hull 'scoop' to better match the front one. So, not too much.

 

To start, we have these post towers that go into the main hull.

 

The next step is a drop down hatch, similar to the fighter launch area on the Yamato, but seeing it as more 'gimicky' and with no detail inside, I decided to glue it shut. Doing so did require a shim, as it is a bit gappy around the edges.

 

 

The sides were then loaded up.

 

Getting ready to put the top deck on, I drilled out these details. don't know what they are, sensors of broadside launchers, but they were then filled with short pieces of rod with their ends countersunk.

 

And leaving off here with the main deck dropped in and starting to glue it up. I hit a self-made snafu, as I had glued the lugs and pegs too soon and too far apart, so the sides would not squeeze together. So, out came the snippers and out came the lugs and pegs! Now, I'm gluin and clamping along!

 

Hopefully I can keep my progress going before I stall out again!😅

 

Thom

 

https://imgur.com/a/uncf-olympia-1-1000-andromeda-class-aquarius-variant-0gzprLs

Edited August 25, 2024 by Thom216

[Uncle Monty]

Not your average kit bash! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens 🙂

[ConorC]

Looking great so far. Looking forward to seeing more.

[FG2Si]

This should be a fun kit bash to watch. 

[Yg Models]

not easy to see japanese scifi in BM. 🥰

 

helpful OOB blog for your reference.

http://www.dalong.net/reviews/etc/y33/y33_p.htm

http://www.dalong.net/reviews/etc/y32/y32_p.htm

 

btw, my ship (not 1/1000 series) 😋

Edited August 3, 2024 by Yg Models

[Thom216]

@Yg Models Thanks for the links. Looking at them is showing where I'll need to make the mods. 

 

And cool looking Andie! 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2024 by Thom216

[Uncle Monty]

@Yg Models Gorgeous colours on that ship

 

[FG2Si]

YG, that's a nice Mecha Colle Andromeda. 

 

[Yg Models]

thx Uncle Monty, FG2Si

 

that are color-shift arylic, try it😁

     

 

 

yes, tiny mecha colle series. i have built big ver of SBY, but only 2199 period. And painted same ship in mecha serie 🤭

     

 

[Thom216]

@Yg Models Some good looking model, and I like the colors on that carrier.

 

I'm currently working out the new shape for the belly housing. IMO, it's too slim and rounded, so I'm lowering it and bulking it up.  And I may be able to add some doors for a docking bay behind it.

 

Thom 

[Thom216]

Well, after a few hours work, I have the basic skeletal shape of the new belly housing. I used the shape of the front housing to mimic on the back one and kept comparing against the kit part to make sure it would seat comfortably into the spot for it.

 

I am seeing that I will have to follow that outer curve on the side, so that should be fun!

 

And just to show the original shape and size of the kit piece compared to the new replacement.

 

I'll need to add a few more framing pieces, but I should be able to getting to skinning it real soon.

 

Thom

[Thom216]

Before skinning the part, I needed to add some plastics to settle into the curved recess in the underside that was for the original part. I took some Scotch tape and traced the shape, then transferred that to blank stryene. Once cut out, it was added to the new part.

 

With that done, I started skinning it. And yeah, the part I just put on was damaged, already. I decided to go back and 'fix' something that I had secured with CA, so that part got a little ragged. But never fear, it will be concealed under another layer.

 

Then it was time for another test-fit to see how it looked.

 

I think I can fit a shuttle bay door into that aft part.

 

And I used Gundam paints to check the sanded edges, to see if they needed anymore work.

 

Looking good, so I think I can get onto making the shrouds for the front and back of it.

 

More to come.

 

Thom

 

[Thom216]

Alright, more work has been done on the new housing, To start the front shroud, I laid down Scotch Magic tape and traced out the basic shape against the hull, then started making the pieces. I'd use thin cardboard to rough out the shape, then use that as a master for the styrene parts, and glued them on when they looked good. The Scotch tape is also to keep me from prematurely gluing it down to the hull.

 

It's a bit rough, but I'll start sanding that out when the rear shroud is finished, which started with some walls to frame the shuttle bay doors.

 

Some thin stryene was then bent against the hull and cut to shape. They were bowing up a bit from the hull, so they were super glued down to the tape to keep them steady when those areas are skinned.

 

And a comparison with the front housing in place.

 

I'm liking the look of it!

 

Thom

 

I'll get that rear skinned then start filling/sanding it to shape, and then think of what I'm going to put into the front shroud for details.

[Yg Models]

you may like this spaceship, Cordoba in Crusher Joe. 

i like battleship has multi barrels rather than one mega barrel, but is too large for me.😂

 

https://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/cw19/

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10690032

Edited August 18, 2024 by Yg Models

[Thom216]

11 hours ago, Yg Models said:

you may like this spaceship, Cordoba in Crusher Joe. 

i like battleship has multi barrels rather than one mega barrel, but is too large for me.😂

 

https://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/cw19/

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10690032

 

Been thinking off and on about getting a Cordoba. Great looking space battleship.

 

I skinned the back part of the housing and, after taking it off the hull, started sanding. No pics yet of that, but here the part is in all it's roughness.

 

Thom

[Thom216]

I forgot to take a pic of the smoothed rear of the housing, but it will be in following pics. For the base of the ventral fin, I used a PE saw to get it off the kit part, and it'll be flush-mounted to the new housing.

 

Then I moved to the vanes that go inside the front shroud. I used card stock to mock up the fit under the shroud and then traced out the rake. 

 

 

And then those finished up in stryene and glued in. There's still a slight gap between them and the hull, but a shim of 0.05 should be enough to close it up.

 

 

I went back and forth on whether or not I should keep this separate from the hull. Gluing it on now would make it easier to blend the sides in, whereas leaving it off would make it easier to detail and paint the inside of the shroud. I have decided to leave it off until after paint.

The long, rectangular pieces of plastic on the inside are there to add more mounting material for when the pods slung under the hull are pinned on. 

 

And last pic is a little shim of plastic to fill a small gap between the hull and the back of the housing.

 

Next up is finalizing the fit along the sides and detailing the interior of the shroud. Time to hit that Greeblie Horde!!

 

Thom

[Thom216]

Alright, I am calling the new housing (almost) done! I glued on the base for the aerial/fin from the kit and got some greeblies for under the shroud.

 

Now, I can move onto the main conversion, putting the Ginga's superstructure onto the Andie's hull. For that, I'll need the rear half of the Ginga's main deck and the integral side pieces from its hull.

 

Now, this would be a lot cleaner if I was using the laboratory dome, but I won't be. It seems fitting on the Ginga, but not a super battleship. So,. I'll be swapping the number3 turret with it. 

 

It's tipped back a little bit, but once I put the side pieces on, it'll level up.

 

More to come

Thom

 

[Yg Models]

Ginga R.I.P. 😝

 

for me, i like the rear deck design on DAOE-01 Asuka. 😉

http://www.dalong.net/reviews/etc/y39/y39_p.htm

[Hunter Rose]

That's some really nice work with the modding, the housing piece on the belly looks great! 

[Thom216]

@Yg Models The remnants of the Ginga will gain new life!😉

Thanks @Hunter Rose. It's hit or miss sometimes, but it's getting there.

 

And talking about hits and misses...

I decided to make a little more 'adjustments' to the height of the superstructure. I had already sectioned out a bit from the bottom to lower it, but it was still looking too high, esp with the height of the number 3 turret. I didn't want it to sit too much higher than the first two, which it was. 

Here's before.

 

I'm sure it wouldn't have looked bad at all, but I wanted it lower, and of course, lower means wider, so it was pulled apart.

 

And since those side panels have inset details, they are not smooth on their backside, so I had to remove some plastic from the main hull. Unfortunately, I cut off too much... Test fitting showed there would be a gap under the added side panels.

 

So, of course, I went down a short rabbit hole of new siding and sanding and fitting, and ill-fitting, as the new siding fouled the fit of the Ginga's side panels and ugh!! But, I pulled myself back into line, told myself to keep it simple, stupid, and pulled it all off. I sometimes make too much work for myself.

 

Here are the side panels added, 'measured' up against the new height of the top deck. You can see the slight gap that will need to be covered up later on, but that shouldn't be too bad at all. And you see the nice 'stepped' rise for the turrets.

 

And doing that means that the top deck doesn't fit anymore at the front, so that will need to be fixed. And considering how worn the piece is becoming, I think it'll be easier to scratch a new one and remount the turret's barbette, again.

 

More work to follow!

 

Thom

 

 

Edited September 2, 2024 by Thom216

[Thom216]

On 9/2/2024 at 10:20 AM, Thom216 said:

And considering how worn the piece is becoming, I think it'll be easier to scratch a new one and remount the turret's barbette, again.

 Which, it turned, out was, I traced the opening onto Scotch tape, then transferred that to blank styrene. The barbette was pulled from the old piece, a new hole cut and set in with TET and CA. Once on, the sides were sanded to shape.

 

The aft deck was also beyond use, so that was repeated.

 

The back deck was glued to the bottom of the superstructure, as both will be kept separate until after painting, making painting the inside of that easier.

 

ATM, I'm starting to clean things up, using CA to fill/smooth over old details on the dies, and thinking about adding details to the new decks. but, I thnk, the major conversion is now done, and hopefully I can zoom through to completion!

 

Thom

 

 

[Thom216]

And considering the side pieces done. They are as 'smoothed' in as I can get them.

 

Then I'm going to take a little dip into the PE stash to find some stuff, as well as some plastic bits-n-bobs, to give a little more detail. 

I won't be using all of these!

 

And I think the Viper launch PE from the BSG Pegasus may look good as broadside missile arrays.

 

Thom

 

[Yg Models]

maritime kit not within my range, so quite few to use PE sheets.

my best try was the grill on AFV.

 

will you add railing along the deck, wire for flags as per maritime kit?😝

 

[Thom216]

10 hours ago, Yg Models said:

maritime kit not within my range, so quite few to use PE sheets.

my best try was the grill on AFV.

 

will you add railing along the deck, wire for flags as per maritime kit?😝

 

Nice work on that PE! 

 

And I have seen models and artwork, showing sails and lines and flags, and they are pretty cool looking, but I'm going to keep this clean in that regard. Not too much time left for the build, as is.😉

[Thom216]

Alright, been a bit more work since the last update. I decided not to use very much PE, just a few pieces here and there. I figure if I have to go overboard with detail in one area, I'd have to go overboard in all areas. Rather than use the long PE part for a missile array, I went to blank plastic, using squares similar to those on the Yamato kit. And I used misc plastic parts, most cut down for detail pieces.

 

 

At the base of the superstructure, the blue-grey vents are donated from a 1/72 TIE Interceptor, and replaced the damaged ones.

 

And a check of the look and fit.

 

Then I moved onto the bow wings, which seems pretty superfluous on a space battleship. Some comments on the Face suggest they could also be radiators for heat disputation, but if that's the case, the job is already done and they'll have to find some other ways to dump the heat.

Since getting rid of the wings will leave some gaps in the side, I cut off what I needed and used them as filler.

 

Those were sanded flush, and I found another use of the long PE piece that was going to be the broadside missile array. They are just the right length to cover the resulting trenches.

After the fact, I could also have simply put some tiny detail pieces in there also, but for here they now serve as chaff/flare/decoy dispensers.

 

And then onto the lower pods. Since I completely replaced the housing they attach to, I needed to adjust the pod's struts. First, becuase the side angles are different, I needed to add material to the struts to keep them from having a 'toe-in' when they were added. Here you can see the white styrene added to change the mounting angle.

 

And the holes drilled in the new housing for the pins that will be used to mount the pods. There is extra plastic material inside to give more material for the pins to mount into.

 

Drilling for pins!

 

I used cut down satin pins for this, three each which maybe a bit overdone, but I'd rather have more than less. And since they are slightly out of line with each other, they provide a bit of added friction, which is handy. Neither one is loose.

 

Another view showing the added material to change the angle of the strut.

 

The pins.

 

And both in place.

 

From now, it just needs a little cleanup and then I think I can get onto paint! Now, what colors to use..?

 

Thom