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Saturday, April 6, 2024

Z is for Ziggurat!

Well, I wouldn't have bored you will my travails over the last few days, you don't want to tip your 'eemies' off, but suffice to say a cancer scare has been downgraded to a 'phew', with a slightly ominous "Get it checked if it doesn't go away" caveat. Anyway, to celebrate my lighter mood this evening, here's one of the odder things in the kit catalogues of the 1960's, Imai's M2000T SF Ziggurat, is it a plane . . . yes! Is it a tank . . . yes, is it a SAM-missile T.E.L., yes! Is it goddamned-barking-mad? You betcha!

I've actually been looking for it for several years, but I thought it was in one of the UPC catalogues and when I couldn't find it there, I was stumped, but it just turned-up in a smaller AHM one!
 
It seems to be a mash-up of Imai's Scud-A ('Missile tank BB3' tracks and road-wheels), some Thunderbirds elements and their own fictional SAM 5 rocket launcher parts, so probably around 1:24th scale . . . 'ish! Relatively clip-together, and you can have one for less than 2,000-quid;
 
 
I don't normally like linking to evilBay stuff, as it doesn't tend to hang-around long, after it's sold, these days, but I think this may remain a hot-link for some time, unless there's an idiot out there keen to be parted from his money! And $4.98, would be the best part $45 today, a lot of money?
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4 comments:

  1. EYApril 7, 2024 at 8:26 AM

    ebay stuff from Japan is so overpriced! That said, I can't say I've ever seen this kit being sold on any Japanese sites.

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  2. Hugh WalterApril 7, 2024 at 4:35 PM

    I think it's partly the name EY, their 1:16th R/C Elephant/Ferdinand Jagdtiger kit can go for £4,000-plus! And even the relatively common 'deform', Manga or Thunderbirds stuff goes for silly money!

    H

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  3. Pompey DaveApril 8, 2024 at 8:38 PM

    I love the fact that the artwork includes a flagpole sticking out of the front of the "tank". You can just imagine how that would be part of the model, to detect any obstacle above a certain height and (when it gets pushed in) to trigger the reversing sequence and launch the aircraft. By including it in the box art, it is lifted from a rather obtrusive switch to an intentional part of the actual vehicle that the model represents.

    What use would it have on an actual Ziggurat? Something for the crew to hang their laundry on to dry it? A flagpole for the commander's clan banner? A radio antenna perhaps?

    Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hugh WalterApril 8, 2024 at 10:50 PM

    I guessed as much from the description Dave, but I suspect the two 'cannons' are also triggers for the missiles, and as they are shorter I'm not sure how that would work? So, short of blowing £2k on a pretty simple-looking model, I guess we'll have to wait until one of the 'Mr Sci-Fi' types posts one on YouTube!

    H

    ReplyDelete

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