I've been a huge fan of the anime Space Battleship Yamato since it was televised in an English dubbed form (as Star Blazers) in 1979. It's safe to say that this show was the prototypical stage for my interest in ships (the space Yamato and Star Trek Enterprise after refit are my two favorite sci-fi ships of all time). In it, Earth is being hit by radiation bombs sent from the alien Gamilas Empire and humanity's last hope lies in the remains of the IJN Yamato (this was before the real Yamato was discovered broken in half).

The Yamato is rebuilt in secret for space travel with alien technology to travel to the planet Iscandar (the source of said technology), to bring back the Cosmo-Cleaner-D and save the barren, radiated Earth and humanity from extinction.

I've got some of the smaller models of the Yamato from the show, but could never obtain the then-largest kit at 1/500. Then Bandai announced the production of a be-all, end-all Yamato kit in the magic 1/350. But this wouldn't be just any kit... brass barrels, PE, lights, sound, motorized turrets with motorized gun movement... truly a masterpiece.

And at a masterpiece's price (check out the cost of shipping):
http://hlj.com/product/BAN946749

So... sadly, plans to obtain one of these were put on a very far back burner until suddenly one showed up on ebay at a low price... I mean, an incredibly low price (I'm still baffled as to how this person did this)! The time was now (thanks to my Dad for a Christmas present)! And so...

Miss Jaclyn shows us just how massive this box is. It easily dwarfs anything else I have. 1/250 and 1/200 Yamato boxes are longer, but this one is has much more mass (the 1/350 Kongo, Akagi, Nagato- none of them come close).






The packaging...






The press movie by Bandai (note that the brass barrels haven't been painted).




I'll probably start on her sometime in spring with a build log on the ModelGeek section of Kitmaker as it doesn't exactly fit here on MSW. But I thought y'all would get a kick out of this.

use to love starblazers going to look for the thread during the spring

Ok, that's cool! I never saw Star Blazers, but that's one incredible model. And thank-you to Miss Jaclyn for the size comparison.

HLJ wanted $500 for it? It better make the coffee in the morning, too.

Jim

...anything to avoid waterlining the hull ....

I'll be looking forward to seeing this build.

Frank

I have seen a couple of features about the redesigned IJN Yamato spacecraft on the web and I was wondering if anyone would go for it.

Being far too eat up with Sci Fi for my own good, I am surprised I haven't sprung for one or tried kitbashing a ship kit into one. Can't wait to watch you work your way through that one Dade.

Haven't seen one built yet. Looking forward to what you're gonna do with it.

Thanks for the responses, guys. I was kinda worried that nobody would really find this very interesting, but am glad that wasn't the case. When I start the build log over in ModelGeek in the spring, I'll leave a post here for any who want to check it out.

Frank, yep, this thing is the non-waterline-PLUS thanks to all of the extra stuff the space version has (including the 3rd bridge on the underside).

Jay, I had considered that kitbash idea myself, but after really going over over what the process would entail, I figured the "Time Is Money" ratio wasn't quite my thing.

Awesome kit Dade! And huge!

Kenny

That's one serious box. After the build's over, it looks durable enough to serve as storage--not bad.

I wonder if this kit will inspire a similar mod for the Akagi?

--Karl

interesting?? you kidding me? LOL That is the score of the year.... really looking forward to this blog! love the box art.... cheers!

WOW!

I saw that Bandai was releasing this some time ago, but the cost was too prohibitive for me! Definitely looking forward to seeing this get built.

I actually had a (much smaller) Yamato model that I bought when I was in Tokyo - in 1981!

To add to the atmosphere, the opening to the first season. Ah memories...




I'll also have to make sure to put some shots up of the instruction book (and it is a BOOK) and the Yamato Style book when I do the build log. It also has a really nice laminated cardboard "manual" for operating the features of the completed model... Very few models have made me want to drop everything to work on them like this one has. But hey, I've been waiting almost 30 years for something like this...

Karl, since 1974, this model has 3 television series and 5 movies (Final Yamato holds the record for longest animated movie of all time) backing it. It's a cultural phenomenon in Japan to the point where the theme song is almost a second national anthem in Japan. Every Japanese person I've ever known, regardless of age, can hum the tune and sing the line "Uchuu Senkan Yamato!" With this in mind, this model seems almost a forgone conclusion. Since the Akagi (or any other ship) was never rebuilt for space combat and never had a media blitz like this, the Yamato's likely the only deal in town for a subject like this.

James, I had thought about framing the box art with the Yamato taking off until I saw that a beautiful lithograph version of both sides of the box is included. They thought of everything! So yes, this art is going up on the wall.

Grant, I have the 1/1000 kit of the Yamato that I built years ago. It doesn't look great considering my skills at the time, but it still has a place of honor on top of the PS3.

Also, the fascinating story about the creation of this kit can be found in the following link. Really neat stuff!
The Crown Jewell...

Hi Dade!

Yes, I am aware of the Spacecruiser phenom in Japan. It is an outgrowth of the pride the Japanese people still have in the IJN. It's interesting to note that such sentiments do not extend to the Army. This is probably because the IJA was the personification of the military government at home with its kempeitai.

Hey Grant, that's a cool Avatar!

--Karl

Actually, the show isn't because of pride in the IJN, but rather the Yamato itself. The name of the ship means everything. Since Yamato is the ancient name for Japan and her people, the class-leader super battleshipship, with its ill-fated last mission fits in perfectly with bushido and the idea of a noble sacrificial death in overwhelming odds. The story of the ship on its last ditch mission in history (and almost in the show, and finally in the last movie), the ship's name, etc. resonated hugely with Japanese audiences. This is why it isn't Space Battleship Musashi, or any other IJN ship.

But this discussion is getting way off track in a topic that already stretches the definition of this forum...

So when are you going to marry this girl?? She seems pretty tolerant of all your model building. Better snatch her up before she wises up.

Dade,

Thanks for posting that opening. That sure brings back memories! Somewhere around here I have a DVD copy of the first movie - I'll have to dig that out and watch that when I'm off next week.

And to echo Steve's comments - yep, she's a keeper! My wife is very tolerant of the "hobby" - and is probably as knowledgable about the Pacific War as anyone else I've met. I don't know too many women who would prefer to sit through "Letters from Iwo Jima" or the recent Japanese "Yamato" movie than some romantic comedy. If she's supportive and interested, it makes things so much easier.

Karl - thanks for the compliment! "Dr. Strangelove" is one of my favourite movies!

Sorry for the delay in responding- I've been juggling my cruiser entry, a new set of instructions for Admiralty and a bunch of other stuff.

Miss Jaclyn and I been together for a few years now and we're just waiting for everything to "click" financially, etc. before we get married. So for now we're just kinda holding steady since it's worked well so far.

She's a happily willing participant in my modeling, but I think that's because she's an artist herself and a novelist by trade (she just signed a great two book deal), so she gets the whole artistic aspect of models. We often have "Read/ Model Time" where she'll read to me for a couple of hours (either her own stuff or someone else's book) while I build and she'll help me open the bottles, etc., that my arthritic fingers can't. It's a good trade off since I often brainstorm with her about plot aspects for her writing.

It probably also helps that she's in her 20's as Generation Y understands this sort of stuff much better than Generation X (I'm a member of) on down- we also play video games together, go to conventions, etc. I couldn't ask for a better best friend and partner and it's no exaggeration to say that without her, my builds would suffer as she's had her helping hands in every single one at one point or another.

PS: Her favorites that I build are my ships and railway items... tanks not so much.

Lucky guy!

I agree with Steve, better chase her down until she catches you.