Yamato battleship (Minic ships, second issue)
Exhibit |
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Yamato battleship (Minic ships, second issue) |
location: |
Arch Two , Area 18 1976 |
A 1:1200 second-issue model of IJNS Yamato, part of the Minic Ships range produced by Hornby between 1976 and 1980.
Triang Catalogue Number: M744
This Minic Ships model is of the Japanese battleship IJNS Yamato, lead ship of a class of two, which with her sister ship IJNS Musashi were the largest battleships ever built at 65,000 tons. the Yamato was a significant symbol of national pride, symbolising the power of Imperial Japan. Both ships were destroyed in WW2.
The Hong Kong model produced by Hornby under the Minic Ships name has a red plastic bottom fitted with two plastic rollers. It is also marked 'HONG KONG'. It was released as part of the 'Fighting Ships' line up along with the:
The model has a red underside, grey body, tan deck and grey superstructure.
IJN Yamato's commissioned period was 1941-1945 (sunk in action).
Culture and media
The Yamato still occupies a significant place in the Japanese psyche. The Yamato Museum in Japan has a one-tenth scale model of the battleship, and in the cult 1974 Japanese science-fiction anime series "Space Battleship Yamato", the lost wreck of the Yamato is retro-fitted with a warp drive to convert it into a spaceship used to defend the Earth.