1/1000 Bandai Arcadia (Captain Harlock)

On the early days of HLJ's webstore, I remember taking quite a liking to the sci-fi/anime battleships from Gundam and other series. Leiji Matsumoto's Arcadia was one of the kits that caught my eye, its distinct pirate style skull and crossbones jutting out from the front of the ship is iconic. I ended up renting a VHS tape of "Arcade of my Youth" because I saw the kits, though I never did get a hold of one and they eventually went out of print. Hasegawa did a new series of Arcadia ships when the Harlock films were released, but something about the old kit wouldn't really let me go - not to mention the newer kits were also kind of expensive and had a limited run. Plus, I really dig the retro box art and the challenge of building an older kit in addition to the nostalgia.

Bandai's 1/1600 scale Arcadia

Mandarake's shopping center in Nakano Broadway had one of the original Arcadia kits on display in its retro model showcase room - a very cool place with strange ambient music - but at the time I completely forgot to pick it up. In the midst of shopping for friends and family this Christmas I met the kit again in a Mandarake here in Nagoya and decided it would be the perfect present for myself. Of course, there are two versions of the kit from back then, and I picked up the larger 1/1000 model because....well, why not? Bigger is better, and at 2,500yen the price wasn't so bad either.

The box is in excellent condition and I was greeted by an equally pristine looking cardboard cut out of the classic Captain Harlock covering the parts inside. Would be great for a display. The vintage kit of the Galaxy Express train also came with a cool cutout to display the model kit...why didn't the Emeraldas? (I should do posts on these later...)

Here's the manual, also in a very nice condition.

Ah, but then there was the cardboard insert housing the two halves of the ship - and covered in some kind of mold! I was a little scared about this, even if I plan on building the kit and not leaving it on the shelf or anything. I'll probably dispose of it later.
There aren't many parts to go along with the kit other than the runner above. Of course, they came complete and looked great.

I'll be putting this one together and hopefully painting it in the future.