Building the Hachette Yamato, Part 2

by Tim Eldred

Back in Part 1, I showed you how this massive beast was packaged up and sent off into the world, one volume at a time, over a couple of years. Since then, we’ve gotten an interview with a representative from Hachette who talked about the design work that went into it. (Read that here.)

Now it’s time to get down to business and actually build the thing. And what a build it is! I photographed the entire process volume by volume in such a way that you could see what it was like without getting bogged down in a lot of minute detail. (There are already Japanese blogs for that.) By waiting until I had all 110 volumes in hand, I could research those blogs and identify problem areas to watch out for.

As big and impressive as it is, it isn’t perfect. I can’t imagine the brainpower and coordination it took to plan something this elaborate and deliver it to the public. There were bound to be some cracks in the armor. Other builders found them and allowed me to avoid a few headaches, which made it far more enjoyable. That said, prior to opening up Volume 1, I hadn’t done any serious model-building in a good ten years. So it was like diving into the deep end of the pool for my first scuba lesson. Some things were great, others not so much.






This customized metal “spec plate” was one of a handful of extras offered to subscribers in Japan. (Or, in my case, subscribers in America with a Japanese agent to collect and ship them.) Here are some additional specs not included on the plate:

Building period: 18 days

Total length of model: 37.25″ (3 ft, 1.25″)

Finished weight: 12lbs (approximate)

Exterior parts: 450

Interior parts: 458

Motors: 14

Electronic hubs: 9

Screws: 614

Lights: 109

Total wiring: 995.75″ / 83 ft (model), 137″ / 11.5 ft (stand)

Total fiber optics (before trims): 637.75″ (over 53 feet)

Number of screws lost in the guts, never recovered: 3


4 thoughts on “Building the Hachette Yamato, Part 2

  1. Tim there’s not enough kind words to convey the appreciation towards your efforts w the site – and documenting this build is another amazing addition.

    Held off building ours until you posted, thank you for the honesty and hope the struggles are quickly forgotten by such an amazing outcome.

    • Part of me wishes I could start over and do it all perfectly. But there’s nothing about the finished model that I can’t live with.

      • Great documentation of this build, Tim! I’m on issue 93 right now, and I should’ve planned ahead on some parts to make it easier, like the way you didn’t attach the fins and radar to the top of the bridge tower until the end. Very clever. Some of your advice here is already helping me.
        I 100% share your frustration with the screws. They should only be for attaching metal parts to each other. They’re a disaster going into plastic.
        This is definitely the most anger-inducing kit I’ve ever built, lol.

  2. I’m a little late to the game and am stuck hunting for parts via eBay and Yahoo auctions Japan (I have 73% of the parts to date, waiting to get all of them before I start building). Since the Hachette series seems to be quite popular and they’ve released a third ship, I wonder if they will do a second subscription run for the Yamato herself as she seems largely unchanged between 2202 and 2205? It would make sourcing the parts way easier!

    In the meantime I am living vicariously through your excellent build, having read through it more than a few times already!

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