Hasegawa 1/450 Yamato + Pontos

Joined
Aug 3, 2020
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18
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Location
Italy
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...

176_rd.jpg53095.gif53098.gifCattura.JPG
 
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.

Hull.jpgHull reworked.jpg
 
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

Bow.jpgStern.jpg
 
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

Aft deck.jpgDeck.jpgOverall.jpg
 
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.

Fore deck.jpg
 
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.

Main deck.jpegDeck detail.jpg
 
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

Deck detail.JPEG
 
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

Deck.jpeg
 
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.
 

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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
Birthday-Cake
 
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...

View attachment 281131View attachment 281132View attachment 281133View attachment 281134
Hallo @Momcil
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Birthday-Cake
Are you still working on this model? maybe you can post an update of your work?
 
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
 
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
 
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