Combining digital and physical techniques to create a complex diorama.
I started in 2015, paused when I moved to Germany in 2017, and in 2023 after a three-year hiatus due to COVID, began working on it whenever I visited my family, bringing new headaches, tools, and paints with me. Despite the ups and downs, the project is still in full swing today.

Set up:

Sprues:

More than 6.000 thousands of pieces combined.

Tools:

Two types of airbrush, one with wide nozzle and a second one for detailing.
High quality prime and paints and a variety of pliers, tweezers, drills, files and brushes.

Decontaminating the sprues:

The sprues are treated with a chemical to release them from the molds, so it's important to wash them very thoroughly so the paint doesn't peel off the surfaces.

The Battleship:

Hull:

Lowerpart

Fly deck:

Side

Deck:

Wooden deck:
I bought two types and ended up choosing the lighter one to contrast with the boat’s dark gray hue. Made of real wood with laser-engraved plank details.

AA Guns:
Assembling the 36 laser-cut AA guns to replace the plastic ones that came with the original kit.

Bridge:

I started building the bridge from the top, replaced the original range finder parts with the laser-cut ones. Then I went down and assembled the air defence command post.

Completed main range finder and air defence command post:

Building and painting the bridge.

Bridge finished!

Handrails:

That was by far the most labor-intensive and difficult task of the entire Yamato project. However, one of the reasons I decided to start the project was when I saw photos of a finished boat and noticed these handrails. This detail, which is present throughout the entire boat, really elevates the level of finish.

Marking and drilling:
Using a fine-tip pen to mark the spots where each of the handrail pole will be installed, and then use a 0.3 mm drill bit. Drill holes at all the marked spots.

Placing the poles:
I inserted each post using tweezers, and also, because the hole was so small, the laser couldn't cut it perfectly, so the metal wire wouldn't fit through all the holes; as a result, I had to manually widen several of them using a needle.

Knitting and trimming:
I started soldering the posts with 0.1 mm copper wire. After getting really frustrated, I ordered another spool, this time of stainless steel. That one was easier to work with, but I couldn’t make very sharp bends, so I mixed both materials depending on the situation.

This task plagued me throughout the entire process of building the diorama, since the cracks were present in many places

Painting:
After installing all the railings, I took a paintbrush and painted them all.

Loading Dock:

Funnel + Center superstructure:

Funnel:

Center superstructure itens:

Attaching Funnel:

Center superstructure to deck Assembly:

Assembly bridge and side DP gun nests to center superstructure:

Main mast and rear rangefinder:

Attaching main mast and rear range finder to center superstructure:

Utility boat set

Customized landing boats with cargo made with photo-etched boxes and lefovers from the Scort ship.

Scort ship:

Hull:

Deck and Handrails:

Support boats:

Sea bed structure.

Planning the seabed.

I wanted the finish of the seabed to stand out from the models above it in terms of technique and materials used, but at the same time, I wanted them to be harmonious. And that harmony would come from the level of complexity in the execution of the seabed.
To appreciate a diorama, we have to get very close to it, so I decided to create a seabed that, when viewed from a distance, would look like a fluid seabed, but upon closer inspection, we would realize it was a low-poly piece. So I decided to create it in 3D—something that, in the digital realm, has zero difficulty and yields results in just a few minutes, whereas in the physical realm, it would be the complete opposite.

In Cinema 4D:

In the 3D program, I started with a plane that matched the model’s proportions and kept adding vertices until I reached a number that, from a distance, gave the impression of fluidity. Then I manually distorted the vertices using Cinema 4D’s own distortion and sculpting tools.

Knowing what a nightmare it would be to rebuild this in tin, wood, or acrylic, I tried to find the sweet spot between the complexity of the build and preserving my sanity. That sweet spot turned out to be 42x11—462 polygons in the real world.