Partwork Models Forum

This is a project I've been working on before I joined these forums, the very first partworks kit I got sucked into-I just had to get into it. Some background info: Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese animated series that aired in 1974 and was translated in English for the Western audience five years later under the new name of Starblazers. It tells the story of the Yamato, a starship built from the carcass of the WWII battleship, and its crew whose mission is to go to the planet Iscandar to retrieve a device which could cleanse the Earth of radiation that was left from the bombing of another alien race. The story of the Yamato spawned several movies and reboots, with the latest one being Yamato 2199, released in 2012. Yamato 2199's story continues with Yamato 2202 (2017) and the upcoming 2205. This partworks kit is based on the Yamato's design from 2202, which doesn't really deviate too much from the original design from the 70's. Hachette's Yamato 2202 run is scheduled for 110 issues, with the current issue being #62. This is what the completed Yamato will look like:



This is where I am on this project, up to issue #55:



All the panels are metal, so it's a heavy sumbitch.

#56 gives you one of the side torpedo tube openings and shows you what the typical fiber optic setup looks like for the lighting:



#57 was a no build issue, it gives you a big motor for rotating one of the main guns. #58 gives you a red centerline panel and shows you how each panel is attached with its own metal bracket:



This panel is attached to the previously shown panel with the torpedo tube openings:



#59 is a big piece of the deck which will be the base for smaller AA guns. One of the previously assembled main guns is attached to this deck along with its motor from #57:



#60 sets up a side panel that goes underneath the AA guns:



That's all I got for now, but let me end with some tips that I wish I knew of before starting this build:

-Do get a long necked micro screwdriver, preferably with a magnetized tip. There are many times that a screw will have to be buried in deep, narrow spots to secure the panels.

-Long tweezers with bent curved tips come in handy when installing lighting parts.

-Pay attention to the length of the optic fibers. So far a few issues have fibers of different lengths, and it was easy to overlook which one is needed for a specific step.

Thank you, I am looking forward to your build. Its looks to be a superb model
Well done

booth wrote:Thank you, I am looking forward to your build. Its looks to be a superb model
Well done

Thanks, so far it IS a superb model!

The Covid months have left a huge amount of my issues languishing overseas, but now they're here, so onwards we go!

#61 allows one secondary gun battery to be completed and provides fiber optic cable. There are two pairs of cable, supposedly one 35 cm in length, and the other is 30 cm. I had to measure each pair and make sure I used them in the right steps.

My cable pairs actually measure at 25 cm and 19 cm. I used the longer pair for the appropriate step. I'm hoping this won't be a spot of trouble later.

I don't think I mentioned it before, but the circular bits that get illuminated by the cables are mega tiny and easy to lose. I highly recommend tweezers and a light hand when fitting them onto the hull parts.

#62: Not much here, just a motor for the gun battery from the previous issue:


#63: Starboard torpedo tube ports to be attached to a hull piece from #60. Also a magnet for the winglets (not provided yet).


#64: A no- build issue: just a gear and a big motor.

#65: Parts to complete the torpedo tube ports from #63 and adds lighting to the assembly:

This step had a few annoying factors going on:
1). Tiny lighting lenses
2). Optic cables of three different lengths
3). A magnet strong enough to attract the tiny screws you're trying to drill home.
4). Used parts from previous issues that I completely forgot about. Tiny parts.
5). More tiny parts to lay aside for who knows how long.
Despite this, it all went swimmingly:


#66: Adds the bottom half of the assembly from #63:



#67: Lighting cables and bulbous structures for the bottom half of the hull are given. Also an actual LED for an ejection port of some sort on the port side is provided:

A lens from issue 65 was taken from its sprue here, and there are two different screw sizes to take note of. The tiny ejection port door is not on any secure hinge. It's secured and pivots by friction alone from two raised points on the upper edge. It'll stay on its own for display purposes, but I removed it for now because I fear I'll lose it during assembly. The are actually several parts like this that I set aside like the anchors and torpedo tube doors on the bow.

On a side note, this was the first issue I ran into that didn't have any illustrations or articles from the show. Instead, I get an ad for the Blu Ray release of the anime-kinda lame.

#68: This looks like a bottom centerline panel with one lighting point-an easy step:

The last clear lens from #65 was used and left an empty sprue.

Looking good so far, hull looks similar to Hachette Bismarck but better fit . Enjoying this build.

steve131 wrote:Looking good so far, hull looks similar to Hachette Bismarck but better fit . Enjoying this build.

Thanks, steve. That Bismarck is a beast as well. Hachette must be enamoured with it having released two models of it.

#69: More bulbous structures for the bottom half of the hull, and another LED that mirrors the one from issue 67:


#70: Parts that set up the mechanism for the torpedo tube port doors are given. A few small parts are left over for later steps.



#71 Not a lot of parts here, just three sizes of screws and a motor for the torpedo tube doors:

The difficulty level ramps up a bit for the assembly involved. The panels assembled from the past recent issues come together, and the small parts and metal tension cable from #70 come into play to mount a motor:

Snaking the tension cable through the right spots and installing the stops on each end proved to be a pain. Magnetized, long necked screwdrivers made assembling the finished result a breeze:


#72: Gives you parts for the underside fin and the base for the secondary bridge:

Just don't be a dummy like me and almost glue the fin backwards.

A small tip regarding the optic cables (SL and ACL): it will make things easier later on to direct those cables to go underneath the red plastic motor mount and point them towards the rear of the model.

#73 is the top portion of the second bridge and its lighting:


#74 Works on the interior of the second bridge with parts left over for later. Also included are what look to be braces for the stands to hold up the partially assembled Yamato. It still looked precarious to me so I just left mine on its side.

#75 is quite an intricate step. You'll find interior parts for the second bridge and a walkway ramp. Note the etched handrail parts. Yeah, this is gonna be fun.

The holes where the handrails go are not uniform in depth. I had to line them up as best as I could:

The assemblies from #72 and #74 come together:

The ramp was tedious to put together. Not only because of those handrails, but there are also two piston-like shafts that have to be lined up at the same time when the parts come together. If all goes well, the ramp comes down when a tension cable is pulled upward:

The finished cross section. Can't wait to clean up all those wires and optic cables:


#76 installs the motor and lever for the cable that opens the loading ramp using parts left over from #75:

I suggest threading the tension cable through the two parts (the gray spindle and the mount) and putting them together inside the hull. There is so little maneuvering room to thread that cable otherwise. It sure is getting messy in there:

#77: Steps like these are an ordeal, but oh so satisfying in the end. Pictured is one of the LED modules that illuminate all the fiber optic cables that run all over the hull:

The cables are grouped in clusters of four and tapered down into a two part plug:

The excess cable lengths are cut, then the plug is inserted into a specific LED module cavity. You have to make sure you have enough slack to finagle the plug into the module. The instructions say to cut 1.5 cm of excess cable to make this happen. With my ham hands, it's already difficult as it is to manipulate parts in that hull interior, so I recommend cutting even less than 1.5 cm to give yourself more flexibility in optic cable management.

Coercing the cables to go in a specific direction was made difficult by the fact that I just didn't want to break anything. I always had to find a good hand hold where I wasn't applying force to the secondary bridge or the underside fin. Getting the wires from other parts out of the way will clear the space up, but take care with the circuit boards: those solder points can be weak.

I recommend grouping and plugging the orange flagged "ACL" cables first. Plugging in the white flagged "SL" cables first will give you less room for the ACL cables to be plugged in:

It's certainly a lot less chaotic in there now:


#78 gives parts and three different screw sizes to assemble the base of the AA guns:

Do not drive the screws in this step too deep:

If they get in too tightly, the control arms won't swing easily. I don't know how strong the motor will be for this mechanism, but I erred on the side of caution and kept the screws loose enough so the arms don't come out of place.

Putting the plates in order took a bit of trial and error in making sure all the posts and pegs all lined up. If all goes well, sliding the bottom plate forward and back should rotate ALL the posts.


#79 is all about the turrets for the AA gun deck:

Only four are attached to the deck from issue #59. It looks like they won't be attached to the base assembled in the previous issue:

#80 provides the motor that will rotate the AA guns:

The big gear and mounting plate from #78 were used. I figure this was the last chance to make sure the posts and control plate from #78 were working like they should before getting held in a fixed position by the main gear. Before securing the motor, the gear has to be fixed in this position:

The instructions point out that the peg on the main gear has to be inserted into the slot on the control plate when securing the motor:

Make sure the motor mounting plate is oriented correctly when attaching it to the assembly from #78:


#81 unfortunately did not continue with the AA gun deck as I hoped. It gave another set of AA turrets and one winglet:

Gluing the magnets is the only assembly step here. Each magnet has an "S" printed on one of its surfaces. The "S" has to pointed in a specific direction for each magnet when gluing them to the winglet, as shown by the red arrows:


#82 gives parts for the other winglet and screws to attach the cross section that's been coming together since #56:

It was not an easy task to get that cross section screwed together:

It gets so heavy trying to find a position to drive screws while not breaking any exterior parts. If someone walked in on me while I was putting it together, I imagine it would look like I was playing a weird looking cello.

#83 gives parts to complete the remaining winglet, provides pieces of the AA gun deck, and allows me to partially assemble the vertical missile launcher (which on the real Yamato was a smokestack):

I guess I was expecting a little too much in hoping that the missile launcher would have a gimmick in opening up and showing ordnance inside. Instead, I get a choice of launcher top lids, one with closed silo doors and the other showing open silo doors with minimal detail.

I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that all the magnets that I installed up until now were oriented correctly- the winglets hold on well:

It's gonna be a hell of a time trying to work in there:

With that, I'm all out of parts for now. 27 more issues to go!

Wow that was some hard work but worth it looking good.

steve131 wrote:Wow that was some hard work but worth it looking good.

It sure was, and it certainly has been a fun build.

There is still a solid 1/3 of the ship left to go with only 27 issues left-this will be interesting.