Imai 1982 kit catalogue scans now uploaded

Amazing.

My LHS back in the day (wonderful, if messy place called "Art's Hobby Shop") stocked some of the 1/350 tall ships back around 1977 and 1978, though not very many. I look on those pages and... just amazing.

Personally, I think that Aoshima is out of their minds to price them as such, but to be honest, they really weren't that inexpensive even back then.

Many thanks to EPinniger for taking the trouble to post this most interesting document.  It really makes one drool over what might have been.

I couldn't find two Imai ship kits that I know did exist; that's probably because they were out of production by 1982.  One was the awful multi-media Victory, with its ridiculous cast white-metal hull.  The less said about that one the better.  The other one that I couldn't find in the catalog is the 1/200 U.S.C.G.C. Eagle.

That one is actually a rather important kit.  It is, to my knowledge, the only Eagle kit that got the hull proportions right.  We've discussed this rather interesting topic before in the Forum.  Every other Eagle kit appears to have been based on the plans by Harold Underhill - which (as Underhill himself freely acknowledged) in fact represent the Eagle's near-sister Gorch Fock.  The Gorch Fock (sometimes referred to nowadays as the Gorch Fock I) is in fact about 24 feet shorter than the Eagle.  All the members of that class, though they looked almost identical from a distance, were significantly different in length.  Unfortunately Imai (I think) used the same hull and deck parts for its little Eagle, Sagres, Mircea, and Gorch Fock in 1/350 scale, so the 1/350 Eagle is almost an inch too short.  But I have it on good authority that the 1/200 one is right.

I agree with Vagabond Astronomer about Aoshima's prices; whether they're reasonable or not by somebody else's definition, the bottom line for me is that I simply can't afford them.  And I don't think I'm alone.  It's perhaps worth noting that quite a few of those kits appeared briefly on the "new releases" page of the Squadron mail order website, but they're all gone from that site now.  I wonder if the real culprit here is the American distributor.  I have no idea how much Aoshima kits cost in Japan - and the manufacturer probably is more interested in the Japanese market than the U.S. one. 

There is one bright spot in the picture:  some of the Aoshima sailing ships are available, at more reasonable prices, from other manufacturers.  Revell Europe has the 1/350 Gorch Fock ( http://www.revell.de/en/products/model_kits/model_kits/ships/?id=208&KOKANR=01&KOSCHL=03&KGSCHL=02&L=1&page=1&sort=0&nc=1&searchactive=&q=&SWO=&ARMAS4=&PHPSESSID=4cc7f5903cba6a62716b58e82653ab2c&KZSLPG=0301&offset=6&cmd=show&ARARTN=05457&sp=1 ).  (This kit is intended to represent the 1958-vintage Gorch Fock II - but I think it uses the same hull as the older ships.)  Academy has the 1/350 Cutty Sark and two versions of the "Roman warship" ( http://www.academy.co.kr/eng/ssCartimate/itemList.jsp?cid=12 ).  And Minicraft is selling six of the sail training ships (  http://www.minicraftmodels.com/Ships1.htm ). 

Minicraft's website doesn't seem to be working quite right today; clicking on "previous" arrows sometimes brings up odd results.  And I think some kits may be missing from the site.  I'm as sure as I can be that Minicraft has been selling the 1/350 Eagle, for instance.

I had the Imai 1/350 Danmark, a ship I really love (visited my city from time to time, was interred here during WWII). Had just started on it when I lost it.

Aoshima is asking almost $40 for it... 

John

 There was also a 1/200 scale Sagres II. Same hull as the Eagle with different deck furnishings.The wood kits seem to be re-boxing of Billings kits. imai also re-boxed in plastic Heller's 1/150 Amerigo Vespucci and 1/200 Cournne. I believe they also had Cutty Sark multi-medi kit if you didn't already mention it.

Rod

Interesting... I'd completely forgotten about the 1/200 Eagle and Sagres II! I'm fairly certain Imai also produced their sister ships Gorch Fock,and Mircea in the same scale - presumably all of these were issued after 1982.

I'm fairly certain that most (probably all) of the wood kits in the 1982 Imai catalogue are not reissues of Billing Boats kits. I'm fairly familiar with the Billings range (including some of their older, no longer produced, kits) and have a number of them myself (including the 1/75 Cutty Sark, which I'm currently working on, and is definitely NOT Imai quality!). But it's possible that they reboxed some Billings kits later on, as they did with plastic kits from a number of European manufacturers.

I'm not sure whether the multi-media Cutty Sark Millard mentions is one of the wood kits in the 1982 catalogue (1/80 or 1/100) or a different issue. I assume the Imai wood kits, like those from other manufacturers, have the hull, deck, spars and main deck structures made from wood, and smaller fittings in a mixture of metal, plastic and wood. But without any photos of the unbuilt kit parts (or even detailed close-ups of the built models) it's hard to be sure.

I don't know on the other wood ship line. But a couple of years back I owned the 1/75 Sir Winston Churchill kit from both Imai and Billings and they were the same kit. I sold the Imai kit because I could get more money because of the name on the box.

Rod

The "Cutty Sark muti-media kit" sounds a little like this current offering from Woody Joes:

http://www.hlj.com/product/WOD35801

Not sure if it's an ex-Imai product though.