Hasegawa 1/450 Yamato + Pontos

[Momcil]

Hello everyone and happy new Year! I am starting this (first time here) WIP about the Yamato from Hasegawa with Pontos aftermarket set as main upgrade of the kit plus Eduard PE as a secondary and backup set. I will use also some smaller aftermarket sets plus some custom 3D parts done by myself and printed in the USA...

 

[Momcil]

Collection of material started long ago in 2016 and meanwhile I started with no success the same subject from Tamiya (1/350) and from Fujimi (1/700). I also was tempted and purchased Tamiya and Pit-road 1/700 offerings and several aftermarket sets. At the end I choose the 1/450 scale since the 1/350 was leading to a quite big model for the particular subject while the 1/700 in my opinion does not give a proper feeling of the majesty of the ship. Another aspect I was quite convinced from the very start was the decision to build her as a full-hull model avoiding any kind of diorama. Dry fit of the model is OK with no major issues.

Last thing that I need to point out is that this project actually started few months ago but I waited to complete the hull and some of the main armament before starting this WIP, just to be sure that at least construction will go until the full completion of the kit.

I was really satisfied by the mould quality of the hull. In particular the degaussing cable turned out to be (in my opinion) very realistic and close to the real thing. Here IMHO the kit is superior to the usual 1/350 and 1/700 offerings. The only problem were the fore davits that are really unrealistically moulded to the hull. I was not able to find an aftermarket product in 1/450 and also a custom 3D print was too much time consuming at this stage, so I decided for a very delicate removal of the unwanted plastic. I was able indeed to detach the davits and to create a more realistic appearance without damaging the fine detail in the underlaying area. Final thickness probably can be further reduced, but I decided to stop and not to spoil that delicate area.

In the pictures you can see the nice detail of the hull. No other major modifications were made before gluing the two halves. Also it was nice not to deal with the waterline since this is a typical Hasegawa concept with two main halves that with some inner ribs make the whole hull without any particular effeort.

 

[Momcil]

The stern required more attention since there is a small part of the upper wall of the hull that has to be applied as a separate part. Here the fitting was not perfect and some filling/sanding was necessary. The bow area is much cleaner and was completed with less effort

 

[Momcil]

I removed almost all small structures on the decks since everything will be covered with the aftermarket parts and all small fittings will be repositioned. In a later stage I decided to remove also all bollards except the smaller one on the fore section of the deck and also all hatches leaving only few bulk structures. (highlighted in red everything that was removed)

In the picture a dry-fit of all the decks and also the ship as a whole on my workbench. The fit of the parts is more than adequate. In particular the main and bigger deck fits perfectly with a slight interference. A positive aspect is also the sub-division of the deck parts which is the same as the latest 1/700 offerings like Pit-road

As far as the ship as a whole I am quite satisfied by the overall appearance and dimensions. It is not as big and overwhelming as the 1/350 and at the same time not so small as the 1/700. If you look closer, the hull is somehow outside your full field of view and this, as far as I can feel the model, gives you anyway a sensation of something imposing in the real world

 

[Momcil]

I applied the first adhesive sheet of the wooden deck. Colour and planking pattern is quite convincing and close to the real thing as far as I was able to see from some recent colorized pictures. Apart this, the main work was the integration itself of the deck since it adds a thickness of about 0.25mm that is not foreseen in the kit. So, my decision was to remove all small structures and to fill the holes (deriving from the deck thickness) with custom sized pieces of evergreen sheet. Only in this way all further structures that I will add (the hatch and the bollards) will be indeed above the level of the deck.

On the front part of the fore deck I retouched once more the surface where I removed the moulded chains and made the holes for a more realistic appearance.

 

[Momcil]

The main wooden deck was applied as one piece. I have to say that contour is very precise and couples with all structures moulded on the deck. As before, I filled the holes of all small fittings that were removed so to level everything and to avoid that appearance of "added thickness" typical for the adhesive decks. There was a gap all around the bases of the main guns that I filled with a tiny strip of styrene.

Close to the main breakwater there is a small skylight. This piece was previously removed, the hole filled to level up and after that reattached. I will use this technique also to all other fittings on the decks.

 

[Momcil]

Main deck was glued to the hull and integration of the applied wooden sheet is ongoing:

1- it is quite visible the "added thickness of the deck
2 - "sealing" with a strip 0.25mm height in order to have the board up to level of deck
3 - bollards were removed and the empty space filled with a custom shaped piece
4 - hatch removed, gap filled and hatch repositioned
5 - small bulk structures do not need a specific integration, wooden deck fit is OK
6 - I really like this detail on the hull, hope not to offend anyone but I see it better than all other offerings both in 1/350 and 1/700 scale

 

[Momcil]

Integration of main deck is ongoing... close to starboard side there is a very small hatch, also for it I have used the previous method to remove it, fill the gap and reposition at the proper level of the deck

 

[Momcil]

The fore deck was glued to the hull so now the whole wooden deck is in place. I sealed all the contour with the styrene strip and removed the breakwater between the two parts of the wooden sheets. Small custom pieces of styrene were applied to fill the void and to make the whole surface flush.

 

[Uwek]

Hello everyone and happy new Year! I am starting this (first time here) WIP about the Yamato from Hasegawa with Pontos aftermarket set as main upgrade of the kit plus Eduard PE as a secondary and backup set. I will use also some smaller aftermarket sets plus some custom 3D parts done by myself and printed in the USA...

Hallo @Momcil
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 

[Uwek]

Hello everyone and happy new Year! I am starting this (first time here) WIP about the Yamato from Hasegawa with Pontos aftermarket set as main upgrade of the kit plus Eduard PE as a secondary and backup set. I will use also some smaller aftermarket sets plus some custom 3D parts done by myself and printed in the USA...

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Hallo @Momcil
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Are you still working on this model? maybe you can post an update of your work?

 

[Momcil]

Hello! thank you very much for the greetings.

About the work in progress indeed the kit is in a much more advanced stage. I was posting the update to another web site, but for sure can also post here in SoS

 

[Momcil]

Currently the project is on-hold because I have moved (and also completed) to some minor projects: a 1/72 airplane and a 1/48 AFV

 

[Momcil]

Hello everybody! It has been a long time since my last post... indeed the contruction of the Yamato has been continued and I will gradually share the progress, hope you will enjoy

 

[Momcil]

Next step was the integration of the forecastle. Here the first requirement was to use a 0.75x0.25 strip to "seal" the part instead of the 0.5x0.25 for the wooden deck. The main issue was that the wooden deck indeed was adding a 0.25mm thickness while the forecastle was almost flush with the hull sides. To solve this first I sanded a little bit the styrene strip, after I glued the front part of the foredeck slightly higher than the sides of the hull and a last operation I sanded a little bit the sides of the hull. The final result is that even this last strip was flush with the forecastle and integration of the deck seems now complete at 100%. Close to the bow are visible some imperfections on the outer side of the strip. This indeed is the hull that needs a gentle retouch due to some burrs of the mould

 

[Momcil]

Here She is in all her glory. At this stage I have overcome the issue of the davits and integration of the wooden deck is complete. The fundamental aspect of this project was the deck since I am not very good at painting and had achieved so-so results with painted decks. The 1/350 for me was too big and painting work could have been too demanding (to avoid the toy-like appearance). About the 1/700 I was feeling more confident as far as detail and hull painting, but wooden deck in that scale for me is not very realistic due to the added thickness. So the 1/450 was my last choice after a long research and even failed attempts to complete both the 1/350 and 1/700 offerings

 

[Momcil]

First approach with PE: deck fit is really good. Again I tried to take into account the added thickness of the PE foil even if this is smaller respect the wooden one. The bollards close to the hangar have been removed and repositioned at a proper level. The same for the hatch close to the crane pedestal. While the bigger bollards close to the hull side have been completely removed and the void filled with a custom styrene piece. I will replace them all with aftermarket products.

 

[Momcil]

I added the rails and the ladders. After that started the integration of the deck. As you can see, even if the PE thickness is small some kind of a gap is still present, and a styrene strip will be added to the contour. First two pieces are ok, the other will follow...

 

[Momcil]

Working on the flight deck completed with the biggest PE part I have ever used! The fit on the plastic part is exceptional, but there is an issue, at least important for me. Since the thickness of the wooden deck is higher that the aircraft one, there is a step between the level of the two elements which are not flush

 

[Momcil]

Solution was to glue several strips all along the edge of the hull. A nice outcome was that half-round part that I sized to fill the space under the third turret. This part has a double function to level the deck and to fill the space between the wooden deck and the turret column.