Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Space Battleship Yamato Mechanic File Set

Released by Bandai in 2006, this set comprised 8 different sections which formed the complete battleship when put together (approximately 36cm long). What was interesting about this set was it offered a cross-section view of the battleship, showing all the technical aspects such as the propulsion, wave motion gun - the Yamato's "trump card", torpedo tubes, side missiles and the hangar where all the fighter planes are contained.



The Yamato has three bridges; Bridge 1 contains the helm, radar, communications and command positions (including those for engineering and ship's defences). At the top of the command tower is the Captain's personal quarters, a chair on a vertical track giving him the option of moving to his command post in Bridge 1 quickly. Either side of the main bridge are radar units, and below is Bridge 2, the main navigation centre of the ship.

Directly below the command tower, on the underside of the ship, is Bridge 3

Space Battleship Yamato with wings deployed


Cross-section view of Yamato

The Wave Motion Gun functioned by connecting the Wave Motion Engine to the enormous firing gate at the ship's bow, enabling the power of the engine to be fired in a stream directly forward. Enormously powerful, it could vapourise a fleet of enemy ships with one shot. However, it took a brief but critical period to charge before firing and required all non-essential power systems to be deactivated, and left the ship powerless and adrift for a short time after firing.

Six forward-firing torpedo tubes (three on each side)

The three larger and two smaller three-barrelled gun turrets of the original Yamato have been converted into powerful energy guns or Shock Cannons. Each turret fires three energy beams which spiral around each other to form a single, more powerful beam, capable of severely damaging or destroying enemy warships. The Pulse Lasers are a set of two- and four-barrelled gun turrets lining the sides of the spaceship, firing energy pulses which can destroy fighter planes and detonate missiles.

Rocket missiles could be fired vertically from what was once the smoke stack of the original Yamato. A fleet of fighter planes were contained within a hangar in the ship's rear underside. The Cosmo Zero fighter piloted by Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar in Star Blazers) was usually launched from one of the catapults on the top deck near the stern. The hangar also contained other non-combat planes for reconnaissance and transport.

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