Monogram 1/120 Constitution= Imai

Jake,

I would be interested. How much are you asking?

Bill Morrison

Looks to me like a nice kit - and, by the way, a most impressive job of photography.

Apparently Imai was trying to represent the ship as she appeared at the time the kit was designed (the mid- or late seventies, I think).  It has the raised bulwarks, the three windows in the transom, and various other features of that period.

Apparently the big hatch in the middle of the spardeck is covered up with gratings - which appear to be very nicely molded.  The hatch on the ship herself is often covered like that nowadays.  Whether it was during her active career or not I don't know; it's certainly possible.

The photos show a number of other features that remind me of what ingenious people the Imai designers were.  I'm not a big fan of "dummy guns" (i.e., disemodied muzzles sticking out of gunports, with now breeches or carriages), but Imai's "dummies" certainly look more believable than Airfix's (or, for that matter, the fittings in the typical HECEPOB kit, which sells for hundreds of dollars).  [LATER EDIT:  I'm now looking at that picture on my home computer monitor, rather than the one at the office.  I think I misinterpreted what I was looking at earlier.  It looks like the gun barrels may be full-length versions, sitting on simplified, integrally-cast "carriages."  That looks like a great idea.  But with no gundeck - what are they supposed to sit on?]  The "wood grain" detailing looks like it may be just a bit overboard, but lighting can be deceptive about things like that.  The "copper sheathing" looks excellent.  And the plastic "shrouds and ratlines" look...well, better than most manufacturers' attempts at representing such things.  At least the shrouds appear to be heavier than the ratlines, and the ratlines "sag" between the shrouds.

I think this kit could be turned into a superb model.  

Also if you look you will see severals gangway carvings that represent the entry port on the spar deck an Eagle tangled with an anchor.  Very well done.  I ended up with TWO of the kits last month and I'm looking to sell one, any body want/need one?  You get it for the same price I paid.   I send pics.

 Jake

That is indeed quite a find - and at an incredible price.  I don't remember, but I suspect the price of the kit when it was new was considerably higher than that.

Dr. Graham's history of Monogram doesn't say much about the company's brief time as a U.S. distributor of Imai ship kits.  He does mention that the Imai molds were actually shipped to the U.S. - and that they were made of such soft steel that they got damaged and had to be repaired before they were sent back to Japan.  (I wonder if that's a hint about why Imai went out of business.)

Any sailing ship kit from Imai is worth building.  I've wondered, though, about one feature of this kit in particular.  I've never seen the inside of the box, but in photos it looks as though the big hatch in the middle of the spar deck is molded as a solid, smooth piece of styrene (like the old 1956 Revell kit).  True?  I hope not - though "opening" the hatch and building a section of the gundeck to be seen through it wouldn't be insurmountably difficult.