The Black Tiger was the primary fighter based aboard the Yamato/Argo during the first Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers series (Quest for Iscandar). The kit can be built out-of-the box, but it would be lacking in a lot of painted detail. If the kit is painted and weathered, it will be make an excellent addition to an anime kit collection.

The kit is cleanly molded in yellow, black and blue styrene and is free from flash and ejector pin marks. A self-adhesive sign is included for the base, along with a sheet of waterslide decals for the black and yellow markings.

The only real drawback to the kit is the lack of detail in the cockpit. The pilots are molded into the cockpit tub, and only have their arms and shoulders included. The heads are molded separately. Also, the box art shows the Black Tiger as a single-person fighter, but the supplied cockpit has dual figures.

Box art
Sample parts
Kit decals

The completed kit will be about 6.5 inches long with a wingspan of about 5 inches. The scale of 1:72 listed is a “best guess” based on the size of the figures in the cockpit.

Review by: Rich “Lonewolf” Dula

Entry created: 07-19-09