This was one of those times when I joined a pre-order but it never arrived. This was also one of the reasons I kept my 1/500 Yamato 2199 in storage. The expansion set came out around mid-2014, just half a year after the 1/500 Yamato 2199. In a nutshell, the expansion set gives you that beautiful hangar, complete with 32 Cosmo fighters, a pair of Cosmo Zero catapults, the side stabilizer wings and the stand if you want to display the Hangar outside the Yamato.
What amazed me was that the guys at Bandai must have thought this out when they were designing the 1/500th scale Yamato 2199. I am not sure as to why it was not included in the original kit but now that it exists, I was glad. The only issue then, was to secure it.
The Contents
Let’s start off with some images of the runners. The box is approximately the size of a MG kit, holds 6 runners, a decal sheet and the assembly manual.
The Assembly Manual
The Plan
Originally, when I was watching the Anime, my mind somehow assumed the rotation of the palettes were circular. And so, I was searching for small motors with reduced RPM. Then, I also realised that as the palettes moved about, they are always upright which means the initial idea of spinning just spining the whole assembly is out. So, I would have to design some sort of wall to lead the palette around; a fragile mechanical solution which, if it does jam, will be destroyed by the spinning motor. The whole hangar in 1/500 scale is already very small and so, it is too risky.
Alternatively, I can go nuts by sourcing 32 1/72 Cosmo fighters and build the whole hangar from scratch, something which is a great challenge from all levels.
In the end, I think its just better to give it some SMD LEDs and try to simulate the lighting as shown in the Anime instead.
