These models are from an Anime series originally called “Sentō Yōsei Yukikaze” which appeared in Japan as a direct-to-video production. It was produced by Gonzo and Bandai Visual (now, there’s a familiar name!). The videos won awards in Japan for best animation in 2003 and 2006. An English version of the video is available.

The premise of the story is that Earth will be invaded in the mid 21st Century by an alien force called JAM, through an interdimensional portal which comes out near Antarctica. The UN puts together a secret force which pushes the invasion back through the portal. The UN force then follows JAM through the portal to its home world, which is called Fairy. The battle continues on Fairy using several aircraft with some real upgrades from what we see in the early 21st Century. More information can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukikaze_(anime).

The Parts

Airfix has upgraded their original Apollo Saturn V kit (1991) to a Saturn V Skylab Launch vehicle with the additional of a new sprue. This new sprue provides the parts needed to represent the Saturn V in its Skylab launch configuration. The lab, itself, is not provided in the kit beyond the basic cylinder which make up the lab components that could be seen by the viewer during the rollout and launch of the Skylab mission.

This release also provides the CSM launch shield and escape tower, as well as a LEM. These are the old, original parts and even though there are some “scale” issues with the CSM it allows one to build a decent Apollo Saturn V from the parts contained in the Skylab kit.

On July 21, 1969 the Apollo II astronauts landed on the moon fulfilling President Kennedy’s pledge to land a man on the moon before the decade was complete. Project Apollo was a massive federal program that sparked new technologies, new ideas, new rocket designs and engines that led to this event. Five more flights to the moon resulted in landings that furthered our understanding of that satellite and confirmed new theories on its origins. Apollo captured the imagination of that generation and ones that came after of what could happen when a nation set goals and achieved them.

My son was really excited when he saw that a model of the Stratos 4 was being put out by Airfix. He is an avid Anime fan and wanted us to build this model together. Before the kit even arrived, he had already brought out his DVDs of the Stratos 4 series. The Stratos 4 series was done by Studio Fantasia and Bandai Visual and directed by Takeshi Mori. The story is about the comet defense system that was formed when, 50 years earlier, scientists discovered that a group of comets was on a collision course with the Earth. The defense system comprises a two-tiered plan – the primary a space-based comet blaster group and the secondary a ground-based meteor sweeper group. The idea is for the space-based Comet Blaster ships to blow up the comets and the ground-based meteor sweeper group cleans up any chunks that remain too big from the initial explosion.

Most of the series follows the female pilots of the ground-based units that are on Shimoji Island in 2024.

The Parts

You will recognize the molding as it goes back, to my knowledge, to at least 1999. On several of the pieces in the box, one can find the original copyright inscription of “Revell 1999”. It has also been released under the Monogram label as well, as is the case with this review item. This is not a problem, since the kit was a good kit in 1999 and is still a good kit in 2011. That having been said, there are some signs of age on the finished parts. On several pieces a tan-colored stain appears, and upon inspection with a fingertip, this substance appears to be oil. The location of the stains indicates that it might be a mold-release agent that simply was not cleaned up properly before packaging. It is advisable, therefore, to wash all of the pieces thoroughly prior to assembly. A sign of an aging or ill-fitting mold is flash, and there is some flash that will need to be cleaned up.