Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

japanesenostalgiccar.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 94 posts

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#11

Post by gerdesj »

rightbyte wrote: post #10
JKCalhoun wrote: post #4

When I grew up I would spend hours looking through all the plastic model kits at the local hobby store. I just loved building plastic models. I never mastered painting them. The most advanced I got was rattle-can style spray paints — maybe masking a bit for a camouflage or what-have-you. Only when I got older and got back into plastic model building did I make the leap to air-brushing and really finishing models corr…

> I never mastered painting them. It was really hard to paint with these old oil based paints if you are as old as me or older. I struggled with that too. The water based one sold by e.g. Games Workshop I bought years later was way easier to work with.

Enamels vs acrylics. Brush vs airbrush vs air gun (not to mention sponge, cloth and even toothbrush). Your air brush can have one or two controls - one for the amount of compressed air and one for amount of paint. For models like airplanes and tanks, a single control is enough to get a flat smooth finish.

Then you discover washes and other techniques and it goes on 8)

I still have a scar in the side of my thumb where I stuck an Xacto blade into it, 45 years ago.

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#12

Post by whartung »

rightbyte wrote: post #10
JKCalhoun wrote: post #4

When I grew up I would spend hours looking through all the plastic model kits at the local hobby store. I just loved building plastic models. I never mastered painting them. The most advanced I got was rattle-can style spray paints — maybe masking a bit for a camouflage or what-have-you. Only when I got older and got back into plastic model building did I make the leap to air-brushing and really finishing models corr…

> I never mastered painting them. It was really hard to paint with these old oil based paints if you are as old as me or older. I struggled with that too. The water based one sold by e.g. Games Workshop I bought years later was way easier to work with.

Oh boy, yea.

I tried to put together a helicopter (probably an Apache) a few years ago, and got a couple of those classic Testor paint bottles to help finish it.

I had to put it all away. The fumes from the paint, my reaction to it was nothing like I remembered. I had no issues with them as a boy. But, today, yea they were making me loopy. I’m surprised the AQMD in California still allows these.

I’d like to try again with some modern acrylic, but the only place in my orbit is a Michaels, and they really don’t cater much to plastic kits. So opportunity has bumbled my way yet.

The other trick is to keep it me and not be intimidated by the YouTube experts. Easier said than done.

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#13

Post by Joel_Mckay »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #4

When I grew up I would spend hours looking through all the plastic model kits at the local hobby store. I just loved building plastic models. I never mastered painting them. The most advanced I got was rattle-can style spray paints — maybe masking a bit for a camouflage or what-have-you. Only when I got older and got back into plastic model building did I make the leap to air-brushing and really finishing models corr…

The kits with decals only required a primer and a gloss base coat.

I often ponder if it was the main reason the 3D printing hobby gained popularity.

People that add more fun to the world are always needed in manufacturing. =3

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#14

Post by esseph »

kkylin wrote: post #9

I spent a lot of time on RC cars as a teen (Tamiya, Kyosho). I've not kept up. Recently on a trip to Japan I visited some stores, and was surprised to see that the tech doesn't seem to have changed all that much. I would have expected, for example, that it would now be possible to mount a camera etc. Can someone who's kept up with the hobby let me know if this is a reasonable reaction? Maybe there are new brands I do…

Most of the people slapping cameras on things moved to things that fly

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#15

Post by linkjuice4all »

kkylin wrote: post #9

I spent a lot of time on RC cars as a teen (Tamiya, Kyosho). I've not kept up. Recently on a trip to Japan I visited some stores, and was surprised to see that the tech doesn't seem to have changed all that much. I would have expected, for example, that it would now be possible to mount a camera etc. Can someone who's kept up with the hobby let me know if this is a reasonable reaction? Maybe there are new brands I do…

I got back into R/C stuff after about 15 years after working at Hobbytown as a teenager.

The biggest advancements I've seen are around batteries and electronics (LiPo and cheaper/better radios that don't need a crystal), more access to parts (3D printing and cheap overseas CNC'd stuff), and some minor improvement in other accessories/electronics.

POV cameras seem to be much more popular in R/C aircraft - but the drifters and crawlers really seem to be embracing it.

Many of the brands still exist but a lot of them have been bought-up and are now competing with no-name bottom of the market stuff.

Kids still seem interested but I've noticed a big resurgence in adults that can afford to buy the stuff they couldn't get when they were younger. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough - but there's not a ton of open-source support controlling R/C vehicles or "vehicle platforms" that you can hack and build yourself. I think a lot of people want a reliable chassis and parts so they can focus on customizing the body/appearance.

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#16

Post by TomNomNom »

linkjuice4all wrote: post #15
kkylin wrote: post #9

I spent a lot of time on RC cars as a teen (Tamiya, Kyosho). I've not kept up. Recently on a trip to Japan I visited some stores, and was surprised to see that the tech doesn't seem to have changed all that much. I would have expected, for example, that it would now be possible to mount a camera etc. Can someone who's kept up with the hobby let me know if this is a reasonable reaction? Maybe there are new brands I do…

I got back into R/C stuff after about 15 years after working at Hobbytown as a teenager. The biggest advancements I've seen are around batteries and electronics (LiPo and cheaper/better radios that don't need a crystal), more access to parts (3D printing and cheap overseas CNC'd stuff), and some minor improvement in other accessories/electronics. POV cameras seem to be much more popular in R/C aircraft - but the drif…

There's a bunch of open source work in the robot combat space, but it doesn't have to be used for robot combat specifically. The Malenki Nano is a great example: a tiny, open source receiver with three speed controllers on a single board. It has two PWM channels for servos too so you could do a ton of interesting projects with it.

https://github.com/MarkR42/malenki-nano

https://shop.bristolbotbuilders.com/product/malenki/

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#17

Post by Joel_Mckay »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #7
mbrd wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely not the hobby of choice for young boys any more, but it feels like it is having a golden age of kit quality aiming at an older audience with disposal income. Manufacturers like Tamiya, and also Eduard or Meng (those are my favs anyway) are producing extremely high quality kits. There is always consternation amongst modelers about where the next generation will come from, but the Gundam/Gunpla scene is…

That's true — there are certainly a lot of variety now, especially with 3D printing and garage kits. The "long tail" has definitely been kind to the esoteric modeler. Adult-me recently took to designing a kit for a NASA "Space Tug" that never existed (only proposed "artist's renderings" from the 1970;s) [1]. It is so esoteric that no one made a kit for it — I had to learn to use Blender, ha ha. I just wish more kids…

It is funny, as the metal 3D printer I've been working on is designed to handle printing/repairing large girder structures. Making things work in vacuum is an interesting design challenge, but also opens a lot of design possibilities for arbitrary structures that can't launch on cargo rockets.

People are often too judgmental these days, and youth must make their own decisions about the world they want to live in.

If you know the history of how JPL started, than you can probably guess it is the "odd" ones that tend to change science for the better. =3

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#18

Post by billforsternz »

I find it strangely pleasing how a bunch of boutique(ish) companies from the UK, France, USA, Japan (others maybe?) all make plastic model kits of a variety of classic aeroplanes, WW2 planes in particular, in a series of scales.

When I was a kid I was quite interested and I could have reeled off the manufacturer names easily (um... Airfix, Revell, Heller, Frog, Tamiya, I want to say Haya-something-or-other, others). I will still look at the displays in hobby stores on occasion and many of them survive, so they've been doing this for 50+ years at this point.

I have no particular point, I just find it cool. I wonder if there are rock-star like artisan mold makers known to everyone in the industry. "Ah, this 1-50 scale Messerschmidt BF-109 vertical stabiliser is unmistakably the work of Pierre McFloogle ... chef's kiss!"

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#19

Post by JKCalhoun »

billforsternz wrote: post #18

I find it strangely pleasing how a bunch of boutique(ish) companies from the UK, France, USA, Japan (others maybe?) all make plastic model kits of a variety of classic aeroplanes, WW2 planes in particular, in a series of scales. When I was a kid I was quite interested and I could have reeled off the manufacturer names easily (um... Airfix, Revell, Heller, Frog, Tamiya, I want to say Haya-something-or-other, others).…

> Haya-something-or-other

Hasegawa?

Re: RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

#20

Post by wredcoll »

whartung wrote: post #12
rightbyte wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never mastered painting them. It was really hard to paint with these old oil based paints if you are as old as me or older. I struggled with that too. The water based one sold by e.g. Games Workshop I bought years later was way easier to work with.

Oh boy, yea. I tried to put together a helicopter (probably an Apache) a few years ago, and got a couple of those classic Testor paint bottles to help finish it. I had to put it all away. The fumes from the paint, my reaction to it was nothing like I remembered. I had no issues with them as a boy. But, today, yea they were making me loopy. I’m surprised the AQMD in California still allows these. I’d like to try again…

The michaels and hobby lobby near me both have a fair amount of acrylic paint for what it's worth, but have you looked for any gaming stores? Lots of them carry warhammer and thus carry model acrylic paints.
Post reply on HN