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I picked this kit up when I went to Japan in '02 for just under $5. A lack of detail made this kit look muck like a toy, however, due to the age of the model and the price, that's to be expected. The kit was obviously marketed towards the kids who watched the anime Space Battleship Yamato, as the major assemblies were molded in color, and huge striping decals are provided.
Assembly was simple, but huge gaps and poor alignment between the forward fuselage and rear fuselage block really cost this kit points. I ground out the entire cockpit area and scratchbuilt a basic replacement, using a color printout for the instrument panels. The only other area that I did some modifications to was the wing gun ports. For each wing, I drilled out the three molded-in guns and slid into the holes short lengths of plastic tube. After trimming the tubes and sanding the area smooth, I inserted narrower hollow brass tubes to replicate the actual gun barrels. Not a major change, but it looks much better than the original details.The pilot is a repositioned Fujimi NATO pilot from the 1/72 set. His helmet is a combination of the carved-down original and some modeling putty cut to shape for the visor and ear-pieces. Additional fuselage details were added with the help of a Verlinden scribing template. I added maintenance decals from some leftover decal sheets, which helps reduce the toy-like appearance of the kit. The only issue I have with the accuracy of the model is the way the rear of the canopy merges with the fuselage. Also, I should have used replacement landing gear.
