Combining digital and physical techniques to bring a complex diorama to life.

I started this project in 2015, then paused it when I moved to Germany at the end of 2017. For the next couple of years, I kept it alive on annual visits home to Brazil,until 2020, when COVID put a stop to travel altogether.
After three years away, I finally made it back in 2023 and picked the project back up, and I've kept working on it during visits ever since, hauling new tools, paints, and (inevitably) new headaches along with me each time. Ups and downs aside, the project is still going strong.

Research:

A total of 432 sailors, 2 ships, 13 airplanes, and 19 boats; 632 balsa wood planks for the seabed; a 15-kg block of Guatemalan green marble; and a 20-kg Teak wood plank.

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 Yamato Battleship:

Hull:

Lowerpart:

Since the hull were 75 cm long, the sections had to be bolted to an internal frame to maintain rigidity.

Painting and weathering the lower hull part.

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.

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

This task plagued me throughout the entire process of building the diorama, since the handrails were present everywhere.

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:

I finished this part at step 52 of 100 (not counting customizable parts and extras), and I don’t know why, but I decided that just the Yamato wasn’t enough. My OCD took over, and I ended up deciding that I SHOULD add extra elements around the ship, so it would no longer be just a kit but would tell a story of its own.

Which brings us to the next part .

Imperial Japanese Navy utility boat set

Got a set of IJN utility boat set with all sorts of support boats.

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

Ukuru Scort ship

Hull:

Deck and Handrails:

Support boats:

AA guns:

Sandbags:

Wiring:

a squadron of Zero fighters

Painting the fuselage:

Panel accent lines:

Drilling the canopy:

Custom metal canopy:

Placing Stickers:

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 32 transverse x 11 longitudinals, 652 vertices in the real world.

In Real World:

Printing:

I took the PDF to the print shop and had it printed to scale, so that each vertex would be approximately 3.5 cm, making the entire seabed measure 105 x 35 cm in total.

Testing the ratio:

I grabbed the rods and started testing them underneath the model to see how they'd look, and I really liked the result. I'd been too lazy to start on this bed, but seeing the rods underneath the model got me excited.