Takara originally released a 3-ship collection of 1:700 scale cross-sectional IJN Yamato-Class Battleships last year, with a re-issue earlier this year. Now, a new set of revised ships will be released in December as a companion set to the Takara Ships of the World Otokotachi no Yamato (Men's Yamato) Edition. These are licensed products to the Japanese live action movie of the same name (http://www.yamato-movie.jp/).
The lineup of variants from the original run of cross-sectional battleships was: 1) Late Yamato; 2) Musashi; and 3) Early Yamato (a rare, limited-edition model, notable for its lighter-colored deck planking). The lineup for this latest batch of revised cross-sectional models appears to be: 1) Early Yamato; 2) Late Yamato; and presumably 3) Musashi being the rare, limited-edition ship. Basically, the revised editions are more detailed, with more deck guns included. Follow this link for comparison photos between the new and old versions: http://www.takarahobby.com/kaihatsu/051 ... index.html.
Each ship is composed of 7 sections, the types of which can easily be identified by the cover art on the unit boxes. However, the sealed unit boxes "blind" the collector as to their contents until they are actually opened. Thus, the sections CANNOT be properly identified as to which variant they go to unless the box has first been opened. Therefore, if you were to randomly select from the front and back rows of the 14-piece display case box, there is a chance that you will not be able to compile a proper variant as you may have mismatched sections. Since there are three (3) different battleships in this collection and the case box only contains 14-pieces, there is no way to compile a complete 3-ship set through the purchase of a single case box.
Although these are pre-painted and pre-assembled models, they are probably unfinished and will likely require minor assembly of detail parts that will have to be cut loose from a runner. In addition to the novelty of these ships being in cross-sections, there are also some cutaway features.
Section 1: Bow (Early Yamato?)
Section 2: Main Gun 1 (Early Yamato?)
Section 3: Main Gun 2 (Early Yamato?)
Section 4: Bridge (Early Yamato?)
Section 5: Engine (Early Yamato?)
Section 6: Main Gun 3 (Early Yamato?)
Section 7: Stern (Early Yamato?)
Section 1: Bow (Late Yamato?)
Section 2: Main Gun 1 (Late Yamato?)
Section 3: Main Gun 2 (Late Yamato?)
Section 4: Bridge (Late Yamato?)
Section 5: Engine (Late Yamato?)
Section 6: Main Gun 3 (Late Yamato?)
Section 7: Stern (Late Yamato?)
