Hachette 1:350 Yamato 2202 Andromeda kit ADVICE/SUGGESTIONS

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I have always loved the Yamato, since I first saw it at five years old. But as much as I do, it got overshadowed for me by the new Earth battleship Andromeda in series two. Beautiful lines, two wave-motion guns -- just gorgeous. So when Hachette did the Yamato in 1:350 as a subscription kit, with all the electronic and motorized bells and whistles, I admired it, but couldn't existentially justify it. When they announced, however, that upon completion of the Yamato series they were going to do the Andromeda...! Well, there was zero hesitation.

Since then, I have come to view what they're putting out as a very, very nice starting point, but building it out of the box with what they provide will yield an unsatisfying result.

Here's one of the cover images:

And, more to the point, here's one of the announcement videos:

Note all the bits that are lit up and, more to the point, flashing. Now here's the ship it's representing. Tell me if you see what isn't there:

...Not really any running lights of any kind. And the engines aren't the color they are in the video of the model:

I'm a little miffed that they crammed in so many lights, but, even though there are many fewer gun turrets than on the Yamato, they didn't motorize them.

I already knew I was going to superdetail this thing -- seal seam lines that don't reflect hull panel lines on the "actual" ship, repaint it, et cetera. If I can find -- or find someone to make -- a 3D model of the bridge, I want to put in an interior. But I need to figure out how to address all the electronics issues. If anyone knows what motors they used to actuate the Yamato's turret rotation and elevation, I would love to know, as well as whether one thinks they can do the same with the Andromeda's. Suggestions for how to replace the engine lights -- with no flicker -- would be most appreciated. I'm facing the prospect of scrapping most of the electronics for this model and doing my own from scratch.

There's ample interior space, even with the structural supports and allowing for electronics. I have some nice brass irises the right size to replace the backer pieces for the wave-motion guns, and I intend to build "prefire chambers" behind them with superbright white LEDs. One of the other models made in recent years was able to create the "accreting motes" powering-up firing sequence effect, and I need to look into how that was accomplished. This model also doesn't include sound, and I'd love to be able to incorporate that.

And, while the "intake scoops" on the belly, the "vents" on various hull protrusions, and a bunch of other places oughtn't to light up, I do like the idea of keeping some of the smaller marker lights. Which the ship seems to run in and around combat situations under much more EMCON conditions than the Yamato, she does still seem to light up for parade occasions:

I'm not going to go quite to that stylized extreme, but it's good inspiration. So I've gotta figure out how to keep the fiber-optics and the SM LEDs that illuminate them, remove many of the LEDs, add others, and motors, create new circuits to run them under a completely different lighting scheme, and create a control box from scratch to drive the whole thing. I know a little of how to do that. I have local resources to assist me with some. And I know there have to be resources out there to help me with the rest, but I have no idea where to look. Anyone on here with experience or insight in these areas... Please, can y'all give me some good starting points?

 

[Analyzer]

Sounds like a great project

I have an Arduino starter kit and one of the tutorials is a motor. I could make a copy of the instructions. There are lots of other nice instructions and projects as well in the kit. If you go the Arduino route, I can help you with writing the code

on the other side of things, it may be easier to have a place like this design a lighting kit for you. You give them what you are looking for and they are pretty reasonable creating it Mini LED Lights for Hobbies & Models

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I have an Arduino starter kit and one of the tutorials is a motor. I could make a copy of the instructions. There are lots of other nice instructions and projects as well in the kit. If you go the Arduino route, I can help you with writing the code

That's a ways off yet. I'm going to be getting Andromeda bits through April. Right now, I'm trying to find out what motors were used with Hachette's Yamato kit. The control board that came with volume 110 was meant to control the turrets for the Yamato, but I don't know how many non-Japanese message boards are out there where I might find people talking about the intricacies of its programming (or reprogramming). Or even what the base of the control system is. We might not need to reinvent the wheel.

on the other side of things, it may be easier to have a place like this design a lighting kit for you. You give them what you are looking for and they are pretty reasonable creating it Mini LED Lights for Hobbies & Models

I've give them a look and maybe reach out. I have a sense of what I'm looking for, lighting-wise:

- Primary "power-on" lighting circuit -- dim LEDs for bridge and Captain's cabin (and possibly something for a hangar deck if I want to fiddle with opening sections of hull -- we'll see), 0.5 second fade up to level; four bright yellow LEDs for aux engines, 3 seconds (plus sound) fade up to level (possibly with flicker until at level)

- Toggle-able subcircuit for running lights to come on during power-up or not -- kit-supplied LEDs for nose, WMG housings, winglets, fins, a few other locations.

- "Main engine start" -- sound effects, then superbright dual-or-multi-color LED, 5 second fade up to level in yellow. Maybe a space warp effect where the engine goes blue with accompanying effects.

- Shock cannon movement, lights, and sound per Yamato kit programming

- Wave motion gun programming and sound per Yamato kit, lights are now multiple superbright white LEDs in place of Yamato kit's one. When this thing fires, I want you to have to look away or need welding goggles to look straight at it, as in the anime.

- Parade lighting -- all the self-illumination comes up in stages to be clarified when I get to that point.

Analyzer, or anyone else who has used Mr. Hobby Aqueous... About how much opaque coverage can I expect to get out of one paint pot via airbrush? Getting one each of all the secondary colors I need. That'll be plenty. But I don't know how much I need for the main hull color. This thing is 50" long. That's not a typo. It's a bit over four feet. I figure about 2400 cu.in. surface area. I have other accounts from elsewhere on the internet and people have apparently gotten widely varying results. I don't know how much is due to some colors needing more coats for full opacity, or some people using more than they need to, or what...

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Okay, I am definitely going to have to wait until the end of the subscription to nail anything down for sure. The videos didn't make this clear, but here's an interview with the designer of the new versions of the ships and the head of development for Hachette:

Tamamori: Compared to Yamato, the design of Andromeda (in the anime) has less detail. So, I was worried about how much we should add to it. In terms of design, I think the most important point is that we increased the number of lines to match the scale of 1/350.

The other point is the lighting. I was very particular about this. The conditions and timing for each light are set in great detail. This is also a result of the online meetings where we were able to closely coordinate with the staff in the field.

Interviewer: How did you devise the lighting system?

Tamamori: Basically, we recreated most of the settings from the story. For example, there’s a scene in which Andromeda, after returning from her maiden voyage, passes over the statue of Captain Okita on Hero’s Hill with a full ship display. The scene is more flamboyant in 2202 than in Farewell. I tried to reproduce all the lights except for the blue lines that frame the whole figure, which is technically impossible in 1/350.

Interviewer: That’s amazing!

Tamamori: In addition, it is also possible to control navigation lights, left and right identification lights, and anti-collision lights individually, and to turn off unnecessary lights during combat.

Interviewer: In other words, it’s possible for fans to recreate the lighting of various scenes in the story by themselves?

Tamamori: That’s right. Not only can you recreate scenes from the story, but you can also create your own situations. This is one of the most attractive features of the model in terms of play value. I’d like to proclaim that I was very commited to the lighting.

Joy: For the lighting gimmick, Mr. Tamamori suggested, “Since it’s going to be displayed in a room, I want it to have an attractive interior function.” When the gimmick is completed, it will be a wonderful night-light to decorate a room. I’m sure your wife will approve of the purchase. (Laughs)

Sato: Having something to convince your wife is an important point of appeal for the product. (Laughs)

Tamamori: In fact, some of my friends told me that they had to ask their wives’ permission to continue the extended series. It takes up a lot of space if you put it together with Yamato, so I think it’s important to get your family’s consent.

Joy: In terms of helping you create a mood, it also has a built-in music player. Of course, I asked Mr. Tamamori to select the music.

Tamamori: I’ve already decided to include the Andromeda theme. After all, I wanted to create a theatrical accompaniment that would enliven the recreation of the scenes from the story. I also wanted to add some music that could bring out a mood for the interior.

Interviewer: I think it would be interesting to have a voice playback function. If you press a button in the full display lighting mode, you could hear “IDIOTS!” from someone on Hero’s Hill.

Tamamori: I hope everyone will recreate that in their own voice. (Laughs)

​

So I'm going to have to wait and see what the model's control systems allow for and then go from there.

 

[Analyzer]

I have not used the Mr Color line yet. I have heard great things about them though and I do have the set for the Domelaze and Darold, but have not started those kits yet. This might help?

International Scale Modeller

www.intscalemodeller.com (ISM) - Established on 23rd May, 2013. An International Scale Modelling forum focusing on fun and information. A haven for all modellers everywhere....

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For me personally, I wound up using a mix of Tamiya XF-82 Ocean Grey and XF-2 white for my 1/1000 Andromeda. For the white parts I used a mix of XF-55 Deck Tan and XF-2 White

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Interesting choice. Going for the desaturated look? I see a lot of miniatures, die-cast models, and other Andromeda toys go with that, but everything I've seen over the years from the shows themselves has it more blue-gray, though not as blue/dark as the Yamato. Here's a link to a translation of the color guide Bandai gave, and conversions to other companies' colors. On top of this, Mr. Hobby also released last year "Andromeda Gray 1" and "Andromeda Gray 2". The first is the darker blue-gray hull color, the second is the lighter, warmer gray of the scoop leading edges, bridge face, and turret covers. I have Gray 2, but was never able to find Gray 1 in stock anywhere. Bandai calibrating things for Mr. Hobby is what led me to getting those. I have a lot of experience with airbrush acrylics, but not these specifically. I've seen people getting good opacity with up to 50% thinned paint, but nothing saying how many square units that would cover.

Have you seen the new anime? With the full class of Andromeda-class ships, including two carrier builds? I am planning my build to be somewhat akin to the TMP Enterprise, with the light gray sections being a hull coating, the red of the WMG and thruster nozzles being a protective coating, and everything else bare hull metal. The elongated trapezoidal hatches will all be done in one finish, but most of the main hull will have a subtle aztec effect of varying levels of gloss to give the effect of welded-together plates in the various hull sections. The later ships in the class -- especially the dark-blue-painted ones -- will have had more paintwork than they earmarked for the prototype (until her later repaint)