Yamato Class Battleships

Book excerpt: The Japanese Imperial Navy’s impressive but ill-fated WWII battleships are examined in detail in this fully illustrated modeling guide. The volume in the ShipCraft series offers in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of WWII Japan’s Yamato-class battleships. These were the largest warships of the Second World War and the largest battleships ever constructed. They also carried the largest naval artillery ever fitted to a warship. And yet, neither Yamato nor her sistership Musashi made much impact on the War. Musashi was sunk during the battle of Leyte Gulf while Yamato, deployed in a deliberate suicide attack on Allied forces at the battle of Okinawa, was finally sunk by US carrier-based aircraft. This lavishly illustrated volume takes the modeler through a brief history of the Yamato class, then provides step-by-step instruction for building a highly accurate model. Also included are hints on modifying and improving the basic kits and information on paint schemes. The strengths and weaknesses of available kits of the ships are reviewed, and the book concludes with a section on further research references.