I am considering back dating Tamiya’s 1/350 Yamato to 1941 configuration. Has anyone attempted this, and does anyone have any suggestions?
PS. Does anyone know of any source for metal barrels? Lion Roar offers a set, but I like to deal with a source that might be willing to change the composition of the set to correspond to Yamato’s 1941 fit.
Have you considered starting with the Musashi? She is an earlier config.
Yes, I have. But the amount of serious modification seems to be similar. In both cases I have to cut away the new deckhouse midship and install the wing 6" turrets that were removed in 1943. The Yamato kit seems to offer more in terms of surplus parts I can save for other projects.
I’m getting ready to start this conversion myself. I had to buy a 2nd kit (it’s either that or resin cast copies of the secondary armament). Plus with all the modification required to the superstructure and main deck I’m having to replace the entire main “wooden” deck with real wood planks. Also the “Anatomy of a ship: Yamato” book by Januz Suluski is a must. I wouldn’t attempt it with out it.
But it does have to advantage of not having any PE radar to make. And I did buy the Lion Roar turned barrel set.
I am in the same boat. I have not actually bought the second kit yet, but I expect I will have to. Are you replanking the deck with real wood? Where did you get the wooden planks?
Does Lion Roar provide enough 6" barrels for 1941 Yamato?
Yes I’m replanking with real wood. I haven’t gotten the wood yet, however I do know where I’m getting them: Micro Mark. They sell the appox size, 1/32 thickness. $4.30 for a set of 10. I figure I’ll need 13 or 14 sets for the whole deck.
No the Lion Roar barrel set only has enough of the 6" barrels for the late version. I’ve either got to buy a second set, or live with what I got.
Are you going to plank around the deck furniture such as ventilators, bollards, etc, or are you going to remove all the minor deck furniture and then add them back after planking?
I am exploring the possibility of sanding the whole deck and then rescribing the planking lines.
I’m going to use the kits Forecastle and stern. Cutting away the “wood” part of the plastic deck. All the ventilator’s, ammo boxes, bollards, etc will be cut away from the plastic deck and glued on the real wood. I tend to replace a kits ballards with scratchbuilt styrene rod anyways. I’ll first mount the hull on it’s display (I’m thinking of a row of keel blocks). Then fill the inside of the hull with foam to create a platform for the wood strip’s to sit on. I’ll white glue between each strip and compress with a clamp. Till I get the almost 4 inches of beam, and shape the deck to the hull by sanding. I’ll let the natural variation in each 1/32 strip be seen.