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Imai's 1982 model ship kit catalogue

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  • Member since
    January 2006
Imai's 1982 model ship kit catalogue
Posted by EPinniger on Friday, July 10, 2009 1:37 PM

I've recently acquired (on eBay, at a very low price) an Imai catalogue from 1982. As well as being fascinating reading, this answers quite a few of the questions previously posted on this forum about exactly what kits they produced and in what scales! The catalogue includes a whole range of wood kits - both plank-on-bulkhead and solid hull - which I've never seen or heard of before; as well as duplicating most of their plastic range in larger scales, their wood range included a number of unique subjects such as the early Japanese steam warship "Kanrin Maru", a Dutch state yacht, and the clippers "Flying Cloud" and "Thermopylae" (the latter being an accurate model, and not a slightly-modified Cutty Sark, for a change!)

I can't help wondering if the duplication of the same subject in multiple scales and materials was one of the causes of Imai's downfall! They made at least SIX different Cutty Sarks, not counting the tiny ship-in-a-bottle - two plastic and four wood (the 1/80 kit was also issued as a special edition "King" version with cloth sails, teak deck planks and extra brass fittings). Producing the Nippon and Kaiwo Maru (Japanese sail training ships) in both 1/100 and 1/150 scales in plastic was an even more bizarre idea, given the costs of tooling the moulds. Either scale produces a large and impressive, fully detailed model so I can't imagine they recovered the tooling costs of producing a new kit in a somewhat larger/smaller scale (not sure which one was first issued).

Despite their otherwise very high standard of historical accuracy, Imai also couldn't resist doing the "pirate ship" trick, reboxing their 1/100 Spanish Galleon with skull-and-crossbone sails and flags. This model, painted a dark weathered black, looks straight out of "Pirates of the Caribbean" despite being 20 years earlier!

One other thing to note is that some of their wood kits - the Charles W. Morgan, Nippon Maru, and Sir Winston Churchill - only have the box art in the catalogue, not a photo of the finished model; possibly these ones never got beyond the design stage, as I believe Imai went out of business not long after the catalogue was produced.

At some point in the next week or so I'll scan in the pages and upload them to Photobucket or similar (My own webpage may not have the bandwidth to cope with about 40 high-resolution colour scans all posted at once). For now, here's a list of the kits shown in the catalogue: (See next thread)

  • Member since
    January 2006
Posted by EPinniger on Friday, July 10, 2009 1:38 PM

Imai kit list (1982)

Plastic kits:
Roman Warship (scale not given, but is around 1/72)
Greek Warship (ditto)
1/50 Catalan Ship
1/60 Junk
1/60 Santa Maria
1/70 Golden Hind
1/70 Mayflower
1/100 Spanish Galleon
1/100 Pirate Ship
1/60 Galeass
1/80 Xebec
1/120 USS Constitution
1/120 Cutty Sark
1/150 USS Susquehanna
1/150 Napoleon
1/100 Nippon Maru
1/100 Kaiwo Maru
1/150 Nippon Maru
1/150 Kaiwo Maru

1/350 "Operation Sail" plastic kit series:
Nippon Maru
Kaiwo Maru
Sagres II
Amerigo Vespucci
Sir Winston Churchill

USCG Eagle
Gorch Fock
Danmark
Tovarisch
Christian Radich
Juan Sebastian de Elcano

Esmerelda
Mircea
Dar Pomorza

Harbour set (tug boat, cabin cruiser, sailing yacht)

Mini plastic kits: (scales not given)
Greek Warship
Roman Warship
Santa Maria (this is the 1/250 one discussed in the Columbus ship thread)
Viking Ship
Junk

Wood kits: (The smaller clippers, Golden Hind and Constitution have solid hulls, all others are planked)
1/30 Catalan Ship
1/45 Santa Maria
1/50 Golden Hind
1/60 Golden Hind
1/40 Half Moon
1/45 Dutch state Yacht ("Golden Yacht")
1/75 HMS Bounty
1/80 USS Constitution
1/140 USS Constitution
1/80 Cutty Sark
1/80 Thermopylae
1/100 Cutty Sark
1/120 Cutty Sark
1/120 Flying Cloud
1/120 Thermopylae
1/85 Charles W Morgan
1/80 USS Susquehanna
1/50 Kanrin Maru
1/75 Sir Winston Churchill
1/80 Nippon Maru

Wood ship-in-bottle kits:
1/900 Nippon Maru
1/750 Cutty Sark
1/750 Thermopylae
1/500 Sir Winston Churchill
1/450 Santa Maria
1/450 Golden Hind

Plastic crew figure sets:
1/100 Nippon Maru "Man The Yards"
1/100 Nippon Maru "Crew At Work"
1/80 Cutty Sark "Crew At Work"
  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Tampa, Florida, USA
Posted by steves on Saturday, July 11, 2009 12:33 PM
 EPinniger wrote:

One other thing to note is that some of their wood kits - the Charles W. Morgan, Nippon Maru, and Sir Winston Churchill - only have the box art in the catalogue, not a photo of the finished model; possibly these ones never got beyond the design stage, as I believe Imai went out of business not long after the catalogue was produced.

I have the 1/75 Winston Churchill kit, so we know that one was produced.  I also have an Imai catalog that has no date, but must be somewhat later than yours. It shows the built-up Winston Churchill, but does not mention the Morgan or Nippon Maru.  Additionally, it shows three wood cross section kits, a 1/80 HMS Victory and 1/60 Cutty Sark and Vasa.  Yet one more Cutty Sark kit in another scale!  Other than those, it shows the same kits as in your catalog.  

 

 

Steve Sobieralski, Tampa Bay Ship Model Society

  • Member since
    January 2006
Posted by EPinniger on Saturday, July 11, 2009 12:47 PM

Interesting! Thanks for the info. I didn't realise Imai produced cross-section wood kits.

I forgot to mention in my original post that the catalogue also includes plastic figure sets in 1/100 for the Nippon Maru and 1/80 for the Cutty Sark (I've now added these to the list). There's no mention of the strange HMS Victory kit with cast metal hull halves which has been mentioned in the past on this forum; I don't know if this was produced before or after this catalogue was printed. 

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Monday, July 20, 2009 2:22 AM

I saw that metal-hulled Imai Victory with my own very eyes once.  My memory is not to be relied upon completely, but I'm fairly certain it was in an excellent (and, of course, long-gone) hobby shop called Ted's Engine House, in Pensauken, New Jersey (across the river from Philadelphia).  Putting that together with other, equally questionable memories, I think that must have been on one of the summer vacation trips I made to the east coast when I was in my first few years of grad school.  If I'm right, that would have been sometime around 1978 or 1980. 

I'm a huge fan of Imai, but I have to say in all honesty that this thing was one of the most ridiculous hobby products I've ever encountered.  The cast, white-metal hull halves, about 18" long, were extremely crude; the decks were made of photo-etched brass, and the spars were simple wood turnings.  And it cost (I think) about $200.  I could see no rational reason why anybody in his right mind would prefer it to the then-widely-available Airfix or Revell plastic kits - which cost about a tenth as much at the time.  I imagine it was a colossal flop in terms of sales - which would explain why it was gone from the catalog by 1982.

By chance are there any Forum members from the Philadelphia area who remember Ted's Engine House?

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • From: Jacksonville, Florida
Posted by Vagabond_Astronomer on Monday, July 20, 2009 9:23 AM

I had a number of those Imai models over the years, notably the 1/350 tall ships and Cutty Sark. I also had a Monogram kit tooled by Imai, and for some reason think it was another USS Susquehanna, but in 1/120. Never built it, didn't have it that long.

Just over a decade ago I had the large plastic Catalan ship. I was unaware that they made a 1/30 model of it. Keep in mind that this is essentially a model of a model; the Catalan ship is the legendary Mataro nao, one of the oldest surviving model ships and the only one  that is contemporary to Columbus. At 1/30, it would be perhaps 2/3 the size of the original! For my area of interest, that would be a fantastic find.

However, the collectors market being what it is today, I'd probably have to sale sell my car to buy it... 

(edit - right spelling, wrong word - RL) 

"I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night..."
  • Member since
    January 2006
Posted by EPinniger on Monday, July 20, 2009 3:20 PM

I'm not sure how many of the Imai wood kits (including the 1/30 Mataro ship) ever made it to hobby shops in the USA, and I don't think any were sold in Britain or Europe, except possibly by specialist importers. I do remember a FSM member mentioning the 1/80 Cutty Sark wood kit in a previous thread.

Just a quick note - I've almost finished getting the catalogue uploaded, I've scanned in all the pages and have almost finished creating the Photobucket album to put them in. It should be done in a day or two.

  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Tampa, Florida, USA
Posted by steves on Monday, July 20, 2009 10:06 PM

Some of the Imai wood ship kits appear to still be in production by a Japanese company called Woody Joes:

http://www.woodyjoe.com/catalog/hansen.html#13

Hobby Link Japan carrys the line.

 

Steve Sobieralski, Tampa Bay Ship Model Society

  • Member since
    July 2009
  • From: Jacksonville, Florida
Posted by Vagabond_Astronomer on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 9:07 AM

Thanks, Steve.

And there is the much coveted Mataro nao... and a little pricey at just over $300. Interestingly, the main page of the HLJ site has the new Aoshima (nee Imai) Cutty Sark advertised, and says that Aoshima bought the assets to Imai after their bankruptcy in 2002. This confirms something I suspected; that the company continued in some fashion, though their production was sporatic, for some time. You see, I bought my Santa Maria (two, actually) in 1997, new. These came by way of Sentai to my friend's hobby shop, but then went almost instantly out of stock, so I thought they were NOS. Also, Imai made a few sci fi models that would occasionally pop up as well, namely from "Thunderbirds" and "Space:1999". 

What does all this mean? I've no bloody idea... 

(PS - I traded the Santa Marias back to him in 1999, but then changed my mind and got one of them back. Wish I had kept both). 

"I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night..."
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