by Tudor Adrian
1/450 IJN Yamato (Hasegawa)
I've chosen this model because it's worth building it before trying the 1/350 model from Tamiya. It took me 3 months to finish it. And a lot of patience.
The painting instructions, I have to admit, are not very clear, as I had to refer to other models to see the actual painting design. The decals that are specified in the instructions should be applied after soaking them, as the classic model decals. Instead of that, I found the old style decals, where you have to take them off from a small sheet of paper, and stick them onto the model. A little disappointing...
The plastic pieces are not so good, either. I had to spend some time sanding and adding putty wherever required. The two gun directors on the sides of the bridge tower and those at the front base of the funnel are missing, and I had to build them from scratch (I don't think they look very good, but its better than nothing).
I also added a little weathering, with grey spots here and there, as if the ship went through an air attack. The ship is made according to the design and armament it carried during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The signal flags indicate that the ship is turning starboard and needs to communicate - affirmative. (I simulated a scenario of the ship turning back through the Sibuyan Sea).
Yet the GMM 1/500 Yamato PE set really gave this model a new look. Although they're a bit smaller than the actual size, they fit in without any problems; I replaced the crane and the radar with the PE parts, and I added the plane carts, the ladders and, the most important, the railing. The wiring also makes it look better, along with the warship flag and the Vice - Admiral flag (Vice Admiral Kurita, to be more exact).
Overall, I think I turned this version of Hasegawa's 1/450 Yamato battleship into a pretty nice model. I had fun building it and it's my favorite model right now. I hope you like it.
