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I have been fascinated by this modern flying boat since first seeing one in the 1968 Observers Book Of Aircraft which my dad bought me with a school gift token. I do not know when the Hasegawa model of this flying boat first appeared but it does appear in a 1975 Hasegawa catalogue that I have. Also the kit contains a choice of parts to build either the PS-1 ( Patrol Seaplane ) flying boat or the SS-2 ( Search Seaplane ) amphibian and both of these represent the prototypes so I would date the kit as early 1970s. I managed to find a second-hand 1970s original issue in a faded box at a IPMS Nationals show in the 1990s. And as lady luck was smiling on me that day I then found somebody selling second-hand copies of the Japanese aviation publication KOKU-FAN featuring superb colour photographs of these flying boats in operational service. I now had no excuse not to start this model which I built in 1998. The first prototype PS-1 numbered 5801 flew in 1967. There were two prototypes 01 and 02 and then two pre-series aircraft 03 and 04. These flying boats had an amazing STOL performance with blown flying surfaces and were able to operate in quite high wave conditions. They were probably the most water-capable flying boats ever built. The first full-series aircraft 5805 or 05 flew in 1972. A total of 23 PS-1 maritime patrol and anti-submarine flying boats were built between 1967 and 1979. These were numbered 5801 to 5823 or 01 to 23. They served with the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force until 1989 when they were replaced by Lockheed P-3 Orions. Out of the 23 built 6 were lost in accidents with a total loss of 35 aircrew which is a reflection of the difficult conditions that maritime patrol flying boats have to operate in. An amphibious version the SS-2 was built for the search and rescue role. This aircraft has a strengthened retractable undercarriage which enables it to operate from runways and to just land on water when required. Ten US-1 and US-1A (SS 2A) aircraft were built. I decided I was going to build an operational PS-1 and for that I would need to make a number of changes and additions to the kit. 1970s era Hasegawa instructions. Not that many parts considering the size of the model which I think is great in these over complicated times......but what you get is beautifully moulded and shaped correctly. If you built this model straight from the box it would be quite a quick build. This is how the PS-1 was presented in the 1975 Hasegawa catalogue. It represents prototype number 02 and is missing quite a lot of things that the operational aircraft had, most obviously the lack of bow spray pressure suppression slots. Also note the narrow square-shaped cockpit side window of the prototype aircraft. This is a PS-1 nicely built as Hasegawa intended straight from the box which I saw at Scale Model World. But there is such a lot missing for an operational aircraft. This is a drawing I prepared during construction........looks like I had a lot of work to do.................... .