1/500 scale BANDAI Space Battleship Yamato 2199

[seadude]

Might as well get a new thread up on my new project. 

So, a few weeks ago, I bought the 1/500 scale BANDAI Space Battleship Yamato 2199 model kit below from Amazon for around $130 or so.



This is not your average Yamato kit. It is the most detailed SBY kit I have ever seen! The level of detail on this kit has to be seen to be believed! And the parts fit? Well, from what little I have done tonight, the parts fit is incredible. Almost like a snap fit kit. From what I have read and seen on the Net so far, there should be little or no gluing, filling, and sanding required. But if someone does want to glue, fill seams, and sand, then that is optional and up to you if you want to build a better model to whatever specifications you desire. Now here's the confusing part: To the best of my knowledge, there's 2-4 different 1/500 SBY kits.  The picture above is the best kit there is. It came out in 2012 or 2013 I think and is based on the re-booted Space Battleship Yamato 2199 anime series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Battleship_Yamato_2199

The second best kit is probably this one:


But I didn't stop with buying the Bandai SBY. After a little more research and reading, I found out there was a 1/500 scale Expansion Set that could be inserted into the SBY that shows what appears to be a rotating drum type hangar bay for the Cosmo fighters.  Sweet! I bought that as well!
http://www.zangeki.com/pic/figure/bandai/space_battleship_yamato/500-190136/190136_2.jpg
At least 34-36 fighters come with the hangar. Does the drum hangar rotate? From what I have read of the instructions, it doesn't appear to.

What I have noticed of the SBY kit that I bought is that it is 26" inches long which is 6" inches more than the other 1/500 SBY kit shown above. The main gun turrets rotate and the guns elevate. There are clear parts for the wave motion gun, bridge windows, engines, and the amidships viewing ports. Another nice feature is that this kit can be lit up. You can use regular wiring and LED's to light the engines and so forth, but you may have to cut through some internal bulkheads first. What's great about the kit I bought is that it can take the same LED lights that are used to light some Gundam robot model kits which is shown below.




There are internal spaces in the SBY to fit the green and yellow LED's for the respective Bridge and engine areas. But the downside is that there is no places to use these lights for the 2 smaller secondary engines as well as the main wave motion gun, and also the side viewing port windows.

Painting the SBY is a bit tricky. I either have to use Testor or Tamiya paints as those are the only two brands near me. What I have come up with so far for the main hull color is Testor Model Master Acryl # 4744 Intermediate Blue. As for the red bottom hull color, I haven't decided on that yet.  But wait, there's another idea! Been thinking of changing the Yamato's color scheme. Instead of the classic Intermediate Blue top and structures, and red hull bottom, I'm giving consideration to a Haze Grey top hull and structures, and blue bottom hull. Similar to what the US Navy did here as an experiment:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1173/04017331.jpg

Although I would like to add internal lighting for this kit, I may skip it instead. What I have decided to do for displaying my SBY is to have it in some sort of dock/maintenance facility similar to what you see in this pic:
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/313/9/3/space_battleship_yamato_wip01_by_celsoryuji-d4fo8aq.jpg
If it's going to be in a dock, then why add lighting, right? And besides, I don't know a hill of beans when it comes to electrical work and LED's. I'd probably burn out the whole apperatus inside the Yamato. What I bought for creating the dock scene are called "Mechanical Chain Bases". They are mostly used for displaying Gundam robot kits, but could be used for other sci-fi stuff as well.
Mechanical Chain Base # 2
http://www.tamiya-shop.ca/shop/images/kotobukiya/miscellaneous/b_KOT-25661.jpg
Mechanical Chain Base # 3
http://www.1999.co.jp/itbig05/10057992.jpg
Mechanical Chain Base # 8
http://plamoya.com/bmz_cache/f/f0989f7e6ba0a29445db2276bd801a23.image.484x500.jpg

As for other additions/deletions/whiffing of this kit, I have decided to add a few more smaller 1/500 scale anti-fighter laser gun turrets on the ship. I bought a second really cheap ($49) 1/500 SBY to rob parts from.
http://freetimehobbies.com/1-500-bandai-starblazers-space-cruiser-yamato/
The quality of this kit is bad. But I only bought it cause I needed the extra small laser guns from it. As for other modifications to my Bandai SBY, I am thinking of opening some of the bow and aft torpedo missile hatches too. You know, the ones below the bow anchor. I found some tiny 1/100 or 1/144 scale missiles that are the perfect size. As for other modifications to the kit, I haven't decided yet.

Pictures to come later in the week.

[seadude]

P.S. - Going to buy in a few days some 1/700 scale pre-painted photoetch figures to add on the SBY and on the dock mechanical chain bases. 

[Captain Canada]

Yes you're definitely going to need to populate the docks with workers. That will really bring it to life.

[Sticky Fingers]

I'll be watching this with interest! 

[seadude]

I'll be watching this with interest! 

Good. I could use an audience.   

[seadude]

Just picked up Mechanical Chain Bases #'s 2 and 8 from the Post Office this morning. Though #2 box was a bit squashed.  The contents seem to be ok though. I'll have pics ready tomorrow sometime. Will order 1/700 photoetch figures and other accessories tomorrow to put on the chain bases to make the dock scene more busy and such. Things like crates, vehicles, ammunition, etc.

[seadude]

Ok, a few pics for tonight.

Plenty of internal space in the forward hull section for lighting or anything else. But if regular wiring and LED's are used throughout the ship, a person may have to cut through the internal bulkheads.


Port side of the forward hull section:


Underside of the forward hull section. On the left of the pic are 2 rows of really small hatches. These are VLS missile hatches. From what I have read, I guess the designers/producers of the 2199 re-booted show decided to put more defensive armament on the underside of the Yamato as they thought this was a blind spot. Above the two rows of VLS missile hatches are large angular hatches. It's my guess that these might be for crew escape pods maybe? In the center of the pic, but to the right a little more, are 2 more rows of tiny VLS missile hatches.


The wave motion gun is actually a clear part that I painted blue on the backside, then inserted into the model. It may look lighted in the pic, but it's not.


Pic showing one of the viewing windows. They are clear parts that I painted clear green from the inside, then installed. The green color is hard to see in the picture. Maybe better pics in the future will show the green tint of the windows. Also, you can see more of the 2 rows of tiny VLS missile hatches.


Top view of the forward hull section showing the large amount of interior space.


Forward hull section with the main deck piece installed.


Pic showing the aft section of the main hull. The grey angular hatch on the bottom is the hatch that the Cosmo fighters exit/enter through from the hangar bay. The internal cavity where that hatch is is where the Hangar Expansion Set goes with all the Cosmo fighters.








I was going to post some preliminary pics of the mechanical chain bases I have for displaying the Yamato, but that'll have to wait till tomorrow. Sorry, folks.

[zenrat]

I thought you'd painted it already but then I realised it's a Bandai kit and so comes in the right colours.
Looks good.
What are your thoughts on weathering?  I resisted weathering my 1/1000 like a regular battleship as it's not one.  But how would space weathering look?  I just made mine dirty as I wasn't brave enough to try for micro-meteorite impacts, blast marks and CREWS scarring on the hull (plus, what would all that look like?)

[seadude]

I thought you'd painted it already but then I realised it's a Bandai kit and so comes in the right colours.
Looks good.
What are your thoughts on weathering?  I resisted weathering my 1/1000 like a regular battleship as it's not one.  But how would space weathering look?  I just made mine dirty as I wasn't brave enough to try for micro-meteorite impacts, blast marks and CREWS scarring on the hull (plus, what would all that look like?)

I will paint the Yamato. The colors I mentioned are in my opening post.   As for weathering, that's a good question?  I'm not sure what to do. It's hard to say what weathering would go on a spaceship. I think I'd rather do a diorama where the SBY is just finished being built and is currently being supplied. That's why I got the MCB's (Mechanical Chain Bases) for a dock/maintenance scene. And speaking of MCB's, I just finished putting them together tonight. They're really quite easy to go together and the parts can be disassembled and changed into different configurations, and all the bases can be linked together to create larger bases and dioramas. I did a test fit of the Yamato hull on just the two bases I had. I think I'm going to need more.  And the MCB's are definately going to need to be painted and decaled in some way. Plain bare plastic doesn't look so good. No painting instructions were on the box nor were there any decals that come with the MCB's. So I'll have to use some creative freedom in detailing these things up. I'll show preliminary pics tomorrow. Otherwise, the MCB's I have won't be painted, decaled, etc. till after the Yamato is completely finished. Lighting might be an option too, but I haven't figured that out yet.

[seadude]

Got some new pics today. Mostly of the MCB's (Mechanical Chain Bases) I'll be using to create a dock/maintenance diorama for my Space Battleship Yamato. These MCB's are generally used for 1/100 or 1/144 scale Gundam robot kits. But with a bit of ingenuity and creative freedom, they can work for other sci-fi or maybe non-sci-fi stuff as needed. No painting instructions or decals come with the MCB's. So a person will have to use their creative freedom in detailing them however they wish. They go together really easily and can be configured and linked together in numerous positions. I think there's at least 8-10 different MCB's out on the market.



All the small holes you see in the floor and in other parts are so that the girders, manipulator arm, and other various MCB accessories can be re-positionable. Definately a plus for changing diorama configurations. 


The "walls" of the MCB's can even be stacked on top of one another in case people need taller hangar dioramas. 


Another possible configuration:


If you look at the next two pics, I'm not sure one floor piece is going to be wide enough for my Yamato. If I were to take my Yamato dock diorama to a contest in the future, the judges must be able to see all around the ship and so forth in order to properly judge it. Therefor, I will have to have a lot of space between the Yamato and the MCB's so that the judges can get good views of everything. Two floor plates wide as shown in the very last pic may be good enough.

[Captain Canada]

Good thing it's only 500 scale...that thing is huge ! Sure going to be a neat piece when it's done.

[Sticky Fingers]

You could almost swing a cat in that thing, almost 
Love all the moulded-in detail, it will pop under some light panelline washing.

[seadude]

Not much going on. The main hull has been pretty much assembled. I'm into the painting part right now. Though I have to wonder if using Testors Intermediate Blue is the right color? I've viewed dozens and hundreds of pics, and looked at color reference charts, and to the best of my eyesight, the main upper hull/superstructure looks like Intermediate Blue. Other people's mileage may vary, but that's what it looks like to me.  But this model won't be spray can painted or airbrushed. Particuarly the airbrushing. I don't have an airbrush and my eyesight isn't good enough for airbrushing. So hand painting will have to suffice. Sorry, folks.
In other news, waiting for the 1/700 scale photoetch figures and cargo to come from Freetime Hobbies next week. Still need 1/700 scale vehicles to use in the dockyard maintenance diorama and will order those in the next few weeks when they become available. Three MCB's will not be enough for the dock diorama I want to create. Looks like I'm going to have to order 5 more!  The 1/500 Yamato is such a big ship that I'm going to need a lot of MCB's for the diorama.  More pics to be available in the next day or so. 

[Captain Canada]

This is gonna be huge !

[zenrat]

Intermediate Blue works for me.  And anyway, in the end its your model and you can paint it whatever colour you like.
I used a grey (an RLM one IIRC) for the upper works of mine but something with a bit of blue in would have looked better.