The Japanese Military Attache in Germany was VERY impressed when he was shown the work being done on the 80cm monster guns intended to smash any conceivable fortifications. And when he reported back to Japan, the IJN technical branch was even more impressed. So much so that they really, really wanted to do one better. Instead of the limited mobility of a railroad gun that needed to disassembled to travel, why not a battleship with a whole battery of similar size guns? With the superdreadnaught Yamato already under construction, could the hull take a really big upgrade in it's main armament? Not really, was the short form answer, the turret mounting hardware already fitted lacked the diameter to accomidate a bigger gun, but the second hull for what would become the Musashi was still in very preliminary construction, and could be modified. After much debate, both on the exact configuration of the gun, and ways to fit it to a ship, the best compromise design was tentatively settled on three twin turrets with 80cm rifles, a bit shorter and with a lighter projectile than the German weapon, but still with roughly comperable range and overwhelming armor penitration. Secondary weapons would do away with the fore and aft 15cm turrets and instead have broadside batteries of either four or six 15cm or 20cm turrets and six twin 12cm DP gun turrets.
A while back I began trying to correct/backdate the old Tamiya 1/350 Yamato kit, which needed a lot of slice and dice to be accurate. With the new Tamiya Yamato kit now available, the old kit is a sad shadow of the subject, so what to do with a half-chopped hulk? Why, do something wild and wacky with it! So, I've replaced the kit main deck, cast a copy of the new Yamato superstructure (one of the weaker features of the original) and have begun to dress it all out. The new turrets will have to be scratch-built, along with a lot of details, but not anything all that difficult. I'll be fitting it with six twin 20cm turrets (typical cruiser turrets) and a bunch of triple 25mm flak. Wee!
The alternate Shinano would use a spare Yamato hull (I got an advance sample of the new Tamiya kit, not enough to do a complete build, but enough for madness) and would represent an alternate battleship/carrier version instead of the full carrier. The Nr. three turret would go away and a flight deck built up over the rear main deck (creating a extra hanger deck) and carry a pair of launch decks on each side of the ship, flanking the superstructure with only a little over-hang to the sides. The forward batteries would remain the same and the broadside DP batteries would be raised up to clear the flight deck. There would be also an additional pair of DP turrets forward and oodles of 25mm triple flak guns.
