Imai "Pirate Ship" - anyone else seen this before?

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

I spotted this kit on eBay recently, which I’ve never seen or heard of before: Imai Pirate Ship

Anyone know the origin of this kit? Is it a unique tooling or a modified reissue of another kit (the latter seems more likely, though unusual for Imai)? Unfortunately the box art isn’t large enough in the auction photo to tell for certain what the ship is, though it definitely has a “16th/early 17th century galleon” look to it.

Producing a “Pirate Ship” kit like this, painted black (apparently) with ragged sails decorated with giant skulls-and-crossbones, seems more than a bit out of character for Imai, who are (or rather were!) one of the most “serious” and accurate producers of plastic sailing ship kits.

2

It looks like a reboxing of their “Spanish galleon,” or maybe their Golden Hind. I never bought either of them (I was a near-starving museum employee during Imai’s heyday), so I’m not as familiar with those kits as I’d like to be.

Looks like even the terrific, ingenious artisans at Imai weren’t immune to the pressures of the almighty dollar (or pound, or mark, or yen, as the case may be).

3

It is a rebox of there 1/100 scale Spanish Galleon 4 mast.I’ve build it twice its a very nice kit well detailed,and like most Imai kits the fit is excellant.

Rod