So yesterday and the day before, I started a little bit on the bridge superstructure. I still have more details to add and paint, so it won't be finished till maybe Saturday tomorrow. Now since I'm having trouble getting those damn Gundam LED lights like I mentioned on Page 1 of this thread, I went to a store and found an alternative to use, at least for "maybe" lighting the bridge windows. I bought a small LED colored light wand, took off the handle part, and what you see is in the pics below. I'll explain more when I get home from work tonight.

Post # 89
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,40258.75.html

So for the last 2-3 days, I've been working mostly on the bridge superstructure area as well as some of the guns. Read the captions below that go with all the pics as they tell the progress I've made.

All 3 main shock cannon gun turrets as well as the 2 smaller secondary gun turrets do rotate. The barrels on all main and secondary gun turrets do elevate also.








The red rangefinders on the main gun turrets are actually clear parts that were painted red on the insides of those pieces. They were actually supposed to be green according to the instructions. But I liked red better. 


All the barrels for the 3 main gun turrets are drilled out/hollowed probably 1/8th of an inch by the manufacturer.


As part of Yamato's "weapons upgrade" (WHIF), I put an extra anti-fighter gun turret at the bow area.


Another WHIF "weapons upgrade" was putting 2 more (One on either side of the secondary shock cannon turret.) anti-fighter gun turrets in this area. Anti-fighter gun turrets from the kit still need to go in the holes you see in the deck.


As you can see in this pic, there are 2 smaller anti-fighter gun turrets on either side of the secondary shock cannon gun turret. These smaller anti-fighter turrets are not supposed to be there. What originally went there was a rather odd looking rectangular triple barrle gun turret which I didn't like the looks of. So I replaced it with the ball turret style gun turrets. I might add a third gun turret on either side. Not sure yet.


This pic has me perplexed.  See the 2 small ball gun turrets below the bridge window area? Well, those aren't supposed to be there. At least, not in the 2199 rebooted anime. But since I'm up-gunning the Yamato, I put a pair of anti-fighter gun turrets there based on old drawings and blueprints I found on the Net. But...........as with all Yamato source info. on the Net, some drawings show gun turrets in these locations and some don't. 




Remember that green light I mentioned in a post further up above? Well, see the next two pics here: First pic is the front of the bridge superstructure. Second pic is the rear of the bridge superstructure showing green light coming through a small observation window.

Looking good.  The 1/1000 SBY 2199 has turrets below the bridge windows.

Quote from: zenrat on June 06, 2015, 07:00:59 PM
Looking good.  The 1/1000 SBY 2199 has turrets below the bridge windows.

Nope. It doesn't. See the below pic. There's no gun barrels protruding from whatever those things are directly beneath the bridge window area.



Now as for the kit I'm making............for anyone who has a 1/500 scale SBY 2199 kit or plans to purchase one, be careful on assembling the small anti-fighter turrets around the bridge superstructure area. Some gun barrels only fit into the ball turrets a certain way. And trying to attach all the gun turrets plus other random stuff all over the superstructure without breaking anything, especially the gun barrels, can be tricky as you have to position your fingers all over the place to get things to fit. 

Quote from: seadude on June 06, 2015, 09:10:09 PM

Quote from: zenrat on June 06, 2015, 07:00:59 PM
Looking good.  The 1/1000 SBY 2199 has turrets below the bridge windows.

Nope. It doesn't. See the below pic. There's no gun barrels protruding from whatever those things are directly beneath the bridge window area.

Yes it does.  This version does anyway.

I know it does because I just went down to the shed to have a look.  They don't have individual barrels as they would be too tiny but dry brush over them and you will get what looks to me like a triple gun CIWS mounting - last ditch defence for the bridge maybe.
It's probably all a matter of interpretation and doesn't really matter anyway.

Almost at the Finish Line!  Well........sort of. Painting and/or any gluing (if any) of the main Yamato ship should be finished tonight. Decaling will probably be on Weds. and Thurs. Building the internal Expansion Set hangar area might be started late this week or sometime next week. Might not get to all the fighter craft till later this month. As for the MCB's, maybe not till next month to build those.

DONE!

Well, the construction is anyway.  Decaling to commence probably on Weds.   In the meantime, here's a few pics to wet your appetite so to speak. Feel free to ask me any questions or give hints, tips, suggestions, etc.  If needed, I will post more detailed pics if people desire to see certain areas or better details. Just ask.

Woo hoo!

How about a pic of it with something "household" so we can gauge the sheer awesome bigness of the thing?

If you fire a broadside from a space battleship doesn't it move the 'ship into a different orbit? 

The Weapons Officer would be tearing his hair out trying to re-compute the next salvo.......

Quote from: zenrat on June 08, 2015, 02:45:24 AM
Woo hoo!

How about a pic of it with something "household" so we can gauge the sheer awesome bigness of the thing?

Sure. No problem.

Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 08, 2015, 02:58:35 AM
If you fire a broadside from a space battleship doesn't it move the 'ship into a different orbit? 

The Weapons Officer would be tearing his hair out trying to re-compute the next salvo.......

Maybe. But I doubt it. There's probably maneuvering thrusters that will help keep the ship where it is supposed to be.

Cool. The light solution worked really good. Love the big gun turrets.

So to summarize my build of this kit, I'd have to say the following:



This is a fantastic kit!          Probably one of the funnest model builds I have ever done in my life! The craftsmanship of the molded parts and attention to detail is amazing. Hardly no glue or putty/filler, sanding, etc. was needed. All parts pretty much snapped into place. I did have to use some glue. Mostly on about half a dozen parts on some guns or on the bridge superstructure. But other than that, construction was pretty easy. And there was no cleanup of flash on any parts sprues. NONE WHATSOEVER! No ejector pin marks either. If a person wants a truly detailed and amazing model kit of the Space Battleship Yamato, then this is it! Best bang for the buck IMO.  My only complaints about this kit are that there are only 2 places for adding lights (The Gundam LED lights I mentioned on Page 1 of this thread.) : The bridge superstructure area, and the main engine area. If you want to add lights for the wave motion gun and/or the port/starboard viewing windows, then you'll have to do your own scratchbuilding. I haven't put the decals on yet, so a review of those will have to wait until later this week or sometime next week. The bridge superstructure/central deck area can be glued down on top of the main hull if a person chooses not to install any sort of lighting. But for my model, I need the central deck piece to be removable as I will be installing lighting for the bridge windows.

This kit is based on the 2012 rebooted anime Space Battleship Yamato 2199. Some parts, sections, etc. of this model may look different from other model kits of the SBY. How you choose to build your SBY is all up to you. I'll add more detailed pics and further reviews later this week and future weeks as I continue to build the interior hangar bay expansion set, fighter craft, diorama display, etc.

Your comments about the quality of the kit applies to every Bandai kit I've built.

Quote from: Flyer on June 08, 2015, 06:00:16 PM
Cool.

I like the fighters(?) flying next to it on the box art too.

The fighters are available as 1/72 kits.  Search for Space Battleship Yamato on Hobby Link Japan and then select 1/72.