Seaforth Publishing

ShipCraft #14: Yamato Class Battleships

by  Steve Wiper

Reviewed By  Rob Folden, IPMS# 45545

MSRP: $24.99 ISBN: 978-1-84832-045-1 Website: www.seaforthpublishing.com So I had just received the new Fujimi Yamato kit, and I was at my local IPMS meeting at the hobby shop, browsing through the books hoping MAYBE there was one on the Yamato. I came across this book by Seaforth Publishing. I flipped through the pages and came across a section showing kits of the Yamato, and low and behold, there is the brand new Fujimi kit. So I quickly snapped the book up and I am very glad I did. [I later found out the shop had JUST got the book in that day.] This is the fourteenth book in Seaforth’s ShipCraft series. The book is a combination of reference material, available kits, and finished models honoring the world’s largest battleship ever built. At only 63 pages, the book is packed with information on the Yamato class super-battleships. From the laying of the keel for Yamato, all the way through till her death at the end of the war, the book doesn’t miss a detail. Dozens of photos of the Yamato and Musashi fill the pages and are complimented by color plates and line drawings. The book starts out with a little background information behind the design of the Yamato. This section includes various data tables detailing the ships specifications, floatplanes, boats, and guns. The remainder of the book’s reference section [it is split in the middle] follows the Yamato and Musashi’s careers in the IJN. Thorough research went into this section, as all of the two sister’s movements are chronicled. The first half of the career section is loaded with detailed photos of the two ships, including close-ups of the radar systems and different gun mounts. While several of the photos have been published before, I found many of them to be newly released. This is a real treat, as many ship modelers will note that very few photos of the Yamato class exist. The second half of the career section includes the color plate and line drawings of the Yamato in her 1941 configuration, Musashi in 1944, and the Yamato again in 1945 as she would have appeared at the end of her service. Also included are many of the photos taken of the two ships by the USAAF during their attacks of the IJN 1st Fleet. Most interesting of these battle photos are two series of photos, the first detailing the final attack on the Musashi, and the second showing the final moments of the Yamato. The middle section of the book is dedicated to modeling the Yamato class. The section starts with a listing of various books published on the Yamato. The author then gives a very comprehensive listing of the various kits in each scale, but what is even better is that each kit has a micro review with it, including pictures. The author covers every scale from 1/2400 up through 1/96 scale. Also covered are all of the photo-etch sets available for the various scales as well as wood veneer decks and resin 1/350 gun replacements. But the author goes a step further, and provides a Modelmaker’s Gallery of some of the best Yamato and Musashi models ever made. These photos give a lot of extra detail and reference information to modelers, including one I will be using, the crane harness for the floatplanes. There is also a small selection of photos from the full size Yamato set, built in 2003-4 for the Japanese movie "Men of the Yamato". The set was full sized, and included most of the ship’s deck and structures from mid-ship forward to the bow. The set was built by the shipyards and based off the original plans. The majority of the superstructure was left off, and digitally added in from footage shot of the 1/10 scale Yamato on display at the Kure City Naval History and Science Museum. Officially the world’s largest Yamato class model, the model is super detailed to depict the Yamato in her final voyage. The author was thoughtful to include several pages of photos of the giant model. Overall I have to give the Yamato book a solid recommendation. Not only is it full of reference photos and model photos of the big ship, but it is also a very good read as well. I am very pleased I stumbled across this book, and strongly recommend it. Model builders, Yamato buffs, naval history buffs, and WWII history buffs will all be able to enjoy this book. My thanks to Steve Wiper for all the hard work he put in gathering all of the information and photos for this publication.