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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, and the fuselage pieces fit together snugly. I ground out the entire cockpit area and scratchbuilt a basic replacement, using a color printout for the instrument panels. The external fuel tanks were really nasty, having the attachment "pylons" molded as part of the tanks themselves. I decided to assemble the tanks, but then cut off the bullet shaped ends with a razor saw and attatched them to appropriately sized lenghts of plastic tube. With these replacement tanks ready to set under the wings, I added two new ordnance pylons cut from sheet styrent. 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. Overall, the model seems very close to what's seen on the cartoon. Also, I should have used replacement landing gear.
