Apollo Splashdown!

 Our Man in Japan strikes again with another wonderful find on the far side of the world, Captain Harlet sent me a mystery parcel to the Wotan Archives which revealed a fantastic Imai model/toy. Still sealed inside a plastic 'bubble' pack in a cardboard window box, the kit is described in english as an Apollo 1 Space Boat. Partly constructed already, the modeller is expected to fit together the loose brass batter terminals and thread the wires for the small electric motor through the central pilots globe to the battery pack. Fiddly in the extreme and designed for the smaller far eastern hand, it was with some difficulty that I managed to wire up the tiny motor with my clumsy fingers!

 Once assembled, the gorgeous torpedo shaped craft is about 8 inches long and features a weighted pilot section inside the globe. The action of the motor spins the entire fuselage around the pilot who remains upright as it moves through the water. At least thats the theory as I havent been brave enough to pop it in the bath yet!

 The plastic body is heavy and of analmost vinyl-like plastic, making it more of a part assembled toy that a model. I wish my japanese was up to scratch as it would be intersting to see if the toy is of the same series as the Apollo Space tractor kit I featured on the blog some months ago. The box art also features a red variation of the sub too.

But most of all i'd like to sincerely thank Terry once more for this fabulous surprise!