After what seems like a long delay, the Takara/Kaiyodo World Wings Museum 3rd Squadron set of Zeroes appears to be ready for a March 2006 release. The previously released squadrons were 1:200 scale sets of jet fighters, F-15 Eagles and F-4 Phantom IIs, but these upcoming plastic prop fighters are in 1:144 scale. The marketing of these Zeroes seems to differ somewhat from how the jets were distributed, in that the 10-piece Display Case Boxes would generally contain all of the planes in that set, plus, a secret, rare, limited-edition Chase Piece, and maybe a duplicate model or two. However, with the Zeroes, you've got a set with at least 14 models that still ships in a display case box that can ONLY accommodate ten Unit Boxes. Therefore, it should be impossible to compile a complete set through the purchase of a single display case box.
Some of the planes appear to have gimmicks associated with them. Just as the Takara Famous Airplanes of the World sets have battery-powered motors (to spin propellers) and LED units (to light up rocket exhaust), these planes may also share these characteristics. One of the posts on the official Takara web site shows a plane on a display stand with its propeller spinning. Also, the battle-damaged plane looks like it has a glowing nimbus.
I suspect that the planes with display stands can ONLY be displayed on those stands, as they likely do not have landing gear that can be deployed. Whereas, planes with landing gear can be displayed on or off the stands. I'm not sure if the seaplanes are permanently mounted to their seascapes, but I would speculate that this is not the case, since that would make shipping the models inside their unit boxes more difficult.
More photos at http://www.takarahobby.com/kaihatsu/060 ... /0002.html
