Space Battleship Yamato 2199, Cosmo Reverse Ver. [WIP - First Bridge & Missile Launch Tower]

 With water decals application on the hull and deck of the 1/1000 scale Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse Version) now complete, it's time for the next stage. Among others, this involved the assembly as well as the final stage of painting of selected details for the First Bridge (the structure with the clear green piece atop it) and Missile Launch Tower (the red funnel-like structure behind the First Bridge).  This was followed by the application of a water decal on the tower. Both were then attached onto the deck of the space battleship via a snap-fit assembly process.

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse Ver.) work-in-progress: First Bridge & Missile Launch Tower

Additional painted details are the clear green 'windows' of the admiral's private quarters ...

... and the opaque greens of the what seems like spotlights at the base of the Missile Launch Tower.

 As to what details were painted, let's just say only one color was involved but with one being opaque and the other clear. Previously the First Bridge had its hull basecoated in the space battleship's iconic grey, and its bridge windows painted a clear green, while the Missile Launch Tower was basecoated in grey and red. Both were then panel-lined with black. 

 On this particular step of the build, the windows of the admiral's private quarters (located at the very top of the First Bridge) was painted clear light green. Additionally, the Missile Launch Tower openings was painted in a gun metallic hue while a series of spotlights at the base of the tower were painted in an opaque light green hue. Once the part details were painted, it was time for the assembly process.

Apart from the continuation of the assembly process and added painted details ...

... the other piece of work done at this stage was the 'square-dash' decal on the Missile Launch Tower ...

... however still missing from space battleship's deck are its primary/secondary guns ...

... as well as four more anti-aircraft (AA) guns on each side of the hull ...

... and these will be located relatively lower than all the existing AA-guns.

 While assembly of the First Bridge already completed prior to painting the admiral's room windows, the Missile Launch Tower was still mostly in its component parts or minor sub-assemblies. Putting the launch tower together was a straightforward task without any complications (see below). 

First Bridge, plus base structure of Missile Launch Tower and pieces of the tower itself

Base structure that holds the Missile Launch Tower, which at this stage, is in three separate pieces

Yet to be assembled pieces of the space battleship's Missile Launch Tower

Missile Launch Tower of the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 after it has been assembled

Base structure that holds the Missile Launch Tower and the tower itself

Missile Launch Tower, after it has been attached to the base supporting structure

Missile Launch Tower with water decals applied, attached to its base supporting structure

First Bridge of the Space Battleship Yamato 2199, with all its 'windows' painted clear green

First Bridge (left) and the Missile Launch Tower atop its supporting structure (right)

 Once these two main sub-assemblies i.e. the First Bridge and Missile Launch Tower were fully-assembled, it was then time to snap-fit them onto the space battleship's deck. If my memory serves me, this process was a bit nerve wracking because (a) the fit was quite tight even though I had placed masking tape over the connecting holes to prevent paint from clogging them up; and (b) there were a lot of thin, fragile parts sticking out from both main sub-assemblies thus exposing them to potential breakage during the assembly process. This scenario tends to happen to me a lot mainly because I like to paint the individual parts or sub-assemblies before assembling them. 

Before attaching the First Bridge and Missile Launch Tower onto the space battleship's deck ...

... the Hangar Bay with its docked space fighter aircraft was moved out of the way, and then ...

... the holes onto which the bridge and tower fit into were exposed by removing the masking tape (note: tape's function is to prevent paint from getting into the holes and making the fitting too tight) ...

... before the Missile Launch Tower and its base structure was attached onto the space battleship's deck ...

... followed by the First Bridge; the assembly process was tricky with so many fragile parts sticking out, and with the fitting still being quite tight even without having paint clogging the aforementioned holes.

First Bridge and Missile Launch Tower after being attached onto the space battleship's deck

 At this stage of the build, there are still large chunks of empty space on the deck and hull. So essentially there is a ways to go before the Space Battleship Yamato (Cosmo Reverse Version) can be considered complete. For one thing the photos on this post show a ship that's missing her Primary/Secondary Deck Guns, Rocket Anchors, Spacecraft Catapults, Stabilizing Fins, and the Third Bridge. Most of these structures have been painted with the exception of the ship's main stabilizing fins. Moreover, there is also the matter of applying decals onto the deck guns.  

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse Ver.) work-in-progress: fully-painted First Bridge and Missile Launch Tower with its base supporting structure attached onto the deck (side view, from left)

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse Ver.) work-in-progress: fully-painted First Bridge and Missile Launch Tower with its base supporting structure attached onto the deck (side view, from right)

 Other than the items mentioned in the preceding paragraph, there is also the matter of the base itself and the accessories for the base. The base itself needs to be painted, and the appropriate description sticker applied to its side. Meanwhile the base accessories consists of tiny 1/1000 scale miniatures of various types of spacecraft that appeared in the anime.

Shown here is an isometric view of the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (Cosmo Reverse Ver.) ...

... and from this zoomed-out isometric view we can see that the space battleship is still ...

... missing its deck guns, anti-aircraft guns, fins, third bridge, catapults, rocket anchors, ...

... and the tiny individual spacecrafts (excluding ones in the hangar bay) for placement on the base.

 If my experience with the hangar bay fighters is any indication, then I have a feeling this project will hit a speed-bump when the time comes to paint the aforementioned tiny spacecraft. I didn't particularly enjoy painting those tiny fighters in the hangar bay so it stands to reason that I won't like it any better painting different types of spacecraft. Who knows, if there is less repetition involved then maybe I won't hate it as much. Anyway, up to now at least, the project seems to be progressing along at a steady pace. I'll deal with the potential speed-bump when I get to it. So here's to small victories in our hobby projects. Cheers, and see you soon in my next post!