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This kit is apparently the militarized version of the sail training ship 'Kaiwo Maru.' During the war, she lost her crossed yards, but kept her masts and was used as a motorized transport.

If you've ever built (or even looked inside the box), do you know if the kit includes the crossed spars? The outside says it has vacuum-formed sails, but if it's truly the militarized version, why would it need sails if it doesn't have the yards?

Scalemates has this kit as part of the IMAI series of sailing ships, but with new parts. The IMAI kits were OK, but rather simplistic. The Aoshima kit has PE so I'm hoping it's better. I saw the original ship in Puget Sounds many years ago, and I'm inspired to build her.

Thanks in advance for any insight into this kit.