F-Toys Full Action Series

Vol. 1 "select" version with markings for the Tainan Air Group

Shokugan (食玩) are products that consist of a snack and a toy which are ostensibly intended for children. The origin of this marketing technique probably started with W.K. Kellogg who began including cereal premiums with his Toasted Corn Flakes in 1909.

From the Willard Library Digital Collections

Cracker Jack followed suit in 1910, and started including a prize in each box of snacks in 1912 (a tradition that ended in 2016). Companies that still include toys with their candy include Ferrero (producers of Kinder Eggs, which until recently were banned in the U.S.), Glico, Furuta, and F-Toys confect.

F-Toys confect (エフトイズ・コンフェクト) is based in Osaka, and best known by modelers and gamers for producing prepainted 1/144 military models. I'm not sure if they actually make any candy, since their products emphasize the toy more than the candy (which is usually just a small piece of gum), but they seem to consider themselves a confectionery business at least in name.

A couple of years ago, they started their Full Action Series (フルアクションシリーズ), a line of prepainted 1/72 scale aircraft. There are currently five "volumes" in the series.

Vol. 1 A6M2 Reisen model 21

Vol. 2 D4Y Suisei model 12

Vol. 3 Focke-Wulf Fw 190A

Vol. 4 Ki-43-II Hayabusa

Vol. 5 Spitfire Mk. IX

The models can be ordered online through shops like HLJ and Hobby Search, or purchased at a Japanese supermarket (if you have one in the neighborhood).

At the local Mitsuwa Marketplace

I currently have a D4Y Suisei and a Fw 190A. Each box contains a covered plastic tray filled with various sprues, parts, and a set of decals, as well as instructions and a token piece of candy.

I picked up the D4Y Suisei because it is an interesting looking airplane that you don't see very often. Markings are for 7 different aircraft.

I got the Focke-Wulf because it was on sale. I believe it is a Fw 190A-7 based on the gun cover and the position of the bomb rack, but I could be wrong. Markings are for 8 different aircraft.

There are a lot of parts, so they are not just simplified quick build models. The decals seem to be a bit on the thick side, but are well printed. It would have been nice if details on the types of paints they used were indicated so it would be easier to find the colors needed to do any touch up painting.

I currently don't have any plans to build these models for various reasons, but part of it is because built up airplanes take up a lot of space to store and display. Still, they are nice models, and I may pick up some more of them in the future.

MENG Katsuodori Ram-Jet Fighter

I picked up a package from Hobbyeasy of Hong Kong at the post office this morning. I was rather impressed by their use of packing straps to secure the box.


In the box were the Meng Katsuodori kits (among other things) that I ordered last month.


Each box contains two individually bagged aircraft, a bagged sprue for the clear canopies, instructions, and a sheet of decals.




The main sprue has 31 pieces, including a takeoff dolly/ground trolley, and parts for attaching the Katsuodori to a mother plane. The only thing missing is a pilot, but that's not too surprising in a modern aircraft kit.

Below are some comparisons between parts from the Meng Katsuodori and the Unicraft Katsuodori.







The fuselage of both kits are quite comparable in size and shape, but the wings, stabilizers, and booster rockets of the Unicraft kit are much larger than those of the Meng kit.

Looks like my plans for the weekend have been set.

萱場 かつおどり

かつおどり by pixiv artist cana＠非地デジ化

The Kayaba Katsuodori was a Japanese concept plane of WWII. It is usually described as a ramjet interceptor armed with two 30mm cannon. Fantastic Plastic translates katsuodori as "energy", but I personally think the name refers to Sula leucogaster. The Katsuodori was supposed to take off powered by four solid fuel booster rockets, accelerating until it achieved the necessary speed for the ramjet to function. Due to various technical issues the plane never got off the drawing board, and the project was shelved in 1943. More information about the Katsuodori can be found at Hikoki: 1946 (under "Other Aircraft").

There are two models of this airplane that I am aware of, both in resin. One is from ANiGRAND Craftswork in 1/144 scale, and the other is from Unicraft Models in 1/72 scale.


The Unicraft box art is very attractive, but I was totally disappointed by this kit. There are supposed to be 15 resin parts and a vacuform canopy, but I only received 13 parts (I'm missing a pair of wheels).


The parts are cast in a hard orangish resin with very rough and irregular surfaces. All the parts have air bubbles in them, and every piece is covered with flash, particularly the ill-defined cockpit opening which is practically sealed by the stuff.


I don't think I've ever encountered a resin kit as awful as this one. Unicraft bills their kits as "for experienced modelers", but I think they have "experienced modeler" confused with "miracle worker". It will probably take so much effort to make this kit into a decent looking model that I was wondering if it wouldn't be easier to learn how to use a CAD program to create a 3D model and just have it printed out at Shapeways... except now I find out that tomorrow (Dec. 14), Meng Models will be releasing a 1/72 injection plastic kit containing two Katsuodori for half the price of the Unicraft kit!

絶望した！ Unicraft に絶望した！

Lockheed D-21 Air Launched Drone

This is a model of the unmanned D-21 drone that comes with the ex-Monogram SR-71A Blackbird (Revell 85-5810). It is built pretty much OOB, except I modified the drone cart by installing two pieces of wire in place of the plastic stubs for attaching the drone, so I wouldn't have to glue the drone in place.





I'll need to take a look at my extra decals to see if I can find serial numbers to mark the drone "520" or "521" to represent drones that undertook the final operational missions of the D-21.

The operational drones were actually launched from B-52's, and had a solid-fuel booster attached to the underside, but I don't think anyone makes a model of the booster in any scale.


I'm also not sure if the red trim was on the operational craft either, so I left my drone all black.

Tokubetsu Kougekiki

Indoctrination, propaganda, and fanaticism paved the way for gyokusai (玉砕) - a term derived from an old Chinese aphorism that went along the lines of it being better to die as a shattered jewel, than to live as an intact tile. Kamikaze Images is a good resource for more information on this topic, particularly from the Japanese viewpoint.

As the war situation became more desperate for Japan, this type of thinking lead to the development of a number of special attack (tokko) weapons to carry out suicide missions. The majority of them were not used, and of the ones that were, most were militarily ineffective. The Special Attack Weapons (特別攻撃機) set produced by Boford Japan, was released back in the middle of 2007, and replicates some of these tokko weapons in 1/72 scale.


Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi (Toko1)


Comments: Plastic parts. The wings look undersized, and are about a scale foot too short.

Nakajima Kikka (Toko2)


Comments: I'm still kicking myself for not getting the MPM Kikka while it was still in productions, so I don't have anything to compare the size of this version with. The body is made of plastic, with an overscale copper aerial. It may be a bit too long. The wings also look undersized, and it has ugly giant hinges protruding from the wing surfaces. The model comes with a detachable bomb, and working landing gear in the wings, but not for the nose. There are no bays for the wheels to retract into, so they protrude from the underside of the aircraft.

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Toko3)


Comments: Plastic body. Comes with model of engine. Thick, ugly overscaled sights. Scales out very nicely.

Kaiten Type 1 (Toko4)


Comments: Comes in two pieces. The forward section is diecast metal, while the rear portion is plastic. The model was put together so that the rotation of the rear section is a bit off. It is overscale by about a foot, and noticably longer than the Fine Molds Kaiten.


Kaiten Type 4 (Toko5)


Comments: Comes in two pieces. The forward section is diecast metal, while the rear portion is plastic. Possibly a couple of scale feet too short. I could not find a reference for the length.

Kaiten Type 10 and Type 92 Torpedo (Toko6)


Comments: The forward section is diecast metal, while the rear portion is plastic. The front of the torpedo is improperly attached so it appears bent. The torpedo does scale out nicely at about 23.5 scale feet, but I could not find a reference for the length of the Type 10.

Shinyo Type 1/Maru Ni (Toko7)


Comments: Plastic body. Comes with model of propeller. Scales out to about 15 feet long, but I could not verify if this is the correct length.

Shinyo Type 5 (Toko8)


Comments: Plastic body. Comes with model of Nambu 13mm pistol. Length scales out well, but may be a tick too wide.

There is also a secret figure which is a 54mm miniature of a fukuryu (伏龍) diver with pole mine, but the set I purchased did not come with it.

Ultimately, it's better to live as an intact jewel. 
At least one of these pilots was just 17.