RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession
japanesenostalgiccar.com412 points by fidotron 2 days ago
412 points by fidotron 2 days ago
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 correctly.
So many YouTubers (Aztec Dummy comes to mind) have since showed me that assembling the model is more or less nothing. Painting, lighting the model is everything.
I can't complain though. There was a joy putting together the models when I was young. The smell of the glue of course — the spatial reasoning it fostered... It was like sculpture to my young mind — forms, shapes in three-dimensions. I grew to love the lines of certain cars, planes, spacecraft…
I think too it fueled a kind of designer mindset in me. I would soon draw cars, spaceships, etc. of my own design.
What a great hobby.
I'm saddened that it kind of seems like another hobby, like R/C planes or model rocketry, that has fallen by the wayside. I mean I feel like most boys when I was growing up had a model or two hanging from their bedroom ceiling. Right?
I think the kind of plastic model kits like building muscle cars and ships has died down, but Warhammer and Gundam are both extremely popular. Battletech and Star Wars are also popular in my area.
There are a lot of Warhammer models and the parent company "Games Workshop" is doing extremely well and expanding despite it all being built in Britain. One neat thing about Warhammer is that there are a LOT of books and video games as well, so the IP is very strong. There is always new lore coming out from the various factions too, so the models have special connections with the fans. I have 3 game stores in my medium-sized city that cater to Warhammer and there is always a game going on. Warning: it is a very expensive hobby.
There is also a lot of popularity with 3D printing. I'd check out thingaverse or other popular 3d model sites to see how many downloads are coming from WW2 and muscle car models to maybe get a feel why hobby shops are struggling.
Modeling never died. It just evolved a bit. If you were ever into the WW2 kits, I'd check out Bolt-Action if you're interested in wargaming with models. It's not as big as 40k, but people do play.
What is amazing is how much the modeling tech has improved. A modern warhammer model is much bigger and better not just than in the 80s or 90s, but even 110 years go. The painting experience is also much better. As for Gundam, the improvements in detail in assembly makes Games Workshop's models look bad and expensive. An amazing attention to the building experience. Even cheap HG model made this year would look like it was from Mars compared to the first few series, and it's still very cheap.
I know it's a mistype, but thinking of Warhammer and Gundam existing in the first world war is amazingly hilarious to me.
>Dear Mother,
I've grown a reputation among the men in my regiment as being both fearless and introspective. I never hesitate to go over the top, even when Jerry is close enough that we can smell him. But also the men are impressed with the play of light and shadows that I am able to accomplish on my Eldar Warlock using only mud and dog food.
That's a good point. I painted D&D miniatures in the day, but didn't think of it as "modeling". Perhaps because you are not assembling anything (or very little). I never got into Warhammer but have seen the displays, storefronts to know it's a big deal.
When I thought to design and 3D print a model, I was not sure people actually painted their prints — it seemed mostly about just the printing. I've seen enough 3D prints go full paint-job on YouTube by now though to know it's a thing.
I still feel like the 3D-print-plus-painting modeling is kind of a niche thing. At the very least it requires young people to have access to so me pretty expensive stuff.
>At the very least it requires young people to have access to so me pretty expensive stuff.
For what it's worth, the cost to purchase an army's worth of models from GW is between $350 and $800. If you're painting any real volume of models print to paint is less expensive than buying GW models.
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 supposedly very large in Japan and growing in the West.
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 were into modeling.
[1] free to download: https://github.com/EngineersNeedArt/Space-Tug_3DModel
FWIW, this kind of thing is a lot easier to model in a CAD package (e.g. FreeCAD or Fusion) than Blender. If you ever go again!
I have played with a couple of CAD packages (free ones like FreeCAD anyway). There is quite a learning curve to those as well.
I had hoped that learning Blender would pay dividends in other types of pursuits as well since it is a fairly broad tool. And as you probably now, there are "mathematical" ways to use Blender — parametrization though is a bit lacking (without going down the plug-in rabbit-hole).
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
I bought my first Gundam model the other day (never seen them before in shops, but they can be bought online) and I was really impressed. I've built two Revell models before and some Warhammer stuff in the past. This model was cheaper than all of those (about €19), bigger, multicolour plastic, different materials, the result is fully poseable, different weapons and hands, fiddly stickers and decals, the works. And it's very cleverly designed, no glue needed.
I'd argue that if someone wants to get started with building models, Gundam is the way to go. Painting optional, no glue needed, etc. Plus, giant robots are cool.
> 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.
I used to make the ww2 models as a teenager and loved painting them with the oil paints (you need the right brand but I can’t remember the name).
I got really good at weathering them using the watered down paint cleaner/thinner that runs into the folds and produced tiny cracks in the paint and then drybrushing lighter colors over areas.
I know I got it right because a shop in England selling those Tamiya models would give me a few of the kits for one painted and showcased them. good times
> I used to make the ww2 models as a teenager and loved painting them with the oil paints (you need the right brand but I can’t remember the name).
I had a conversion chart for Revell, Humbrol, and Tamiya colors (which were the ones around when I was building models as a kid). It was good enough for me. Perhaps if you were really good or picky about the exact color it wouldn't do.
Ye I might also have been to young to use them properly. But I remember cleaning brushes was a big hassle. And the fumes ...
My theory is that we adults feel bad when we know we are going to feel bad soon. Be it cold or thinner fumes. But children don't feel cold before they are cold.
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.
If you don't have anything near you, I would look for acrylics designed for models online. Games Workshop sells them, but there are other brands (Vallejo, Reaper, etc) which are also quite good and generally cheaper. And they will, as a rule, be more pleasant to work with than the acrylics you get at Michael's/Hobby Lobby.
Generally I would recommend Vallejo or Army Painter paints over GW ones. They are cheaper, better quality coming with a much better bottle.
It’s an eternal war and I agree with your points. However, I found that for people without much experience with acrylics Citadel paints are much more consistent and forgiving, and are generally of very good quality (there are problematic colours, but then Vallejo or Army Painter are not immune either). They are also easy to source. And honestly if all you paint is a couple of models, the price difference is not that much (not all of us are painting several different armies).
I use personally a mix of Citadel, AK and Vallejo, but for newbies or light uses I still generally recommend GW, or Army Painter for the rattle cans.
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.
And there's been great improvements in usability in the last decade. You still want to use oils in models that try to look like cars, with semi transparent layers and clear coatings on top, but now you can get a coat of acrylic that will do reds or yellows well without being super transparent or covering details. Even paint from 2008 has much worse formulations than what we have now for painting by brush
>I'm saddened that it kind of seems like another hobby, like R/C planes or model rocketry, that has fallen by the wayside.
I think physical hobbies like modelling find it hard to compete with the instant gratification of online dopamine fixes. However RC planes and model rocketry are still a thing. If you know any school age kids interested in engineering or rocketry and they are in the UK, point them at:
The US, France and Japan have equivalent competitions.
There’s a lot to modeling as well.
Getting the parts off the sprue, removing mold lines, getting the gap filler in the right places and sanding and sanding the filler down until you wouldn’t ever think that the part was anything but smooth.
I think the modeling is a much fun as painting for me.
I'd love to get involved in R/C planes but in the UK it seems there's nowhere to do it, and with the law due to drones, it feels impossible to get started even just with starter kit
I remember in the 80's and 90's in the US, my dad and I launched Estes model rockets several hundred feet into the air from the field of a local middle school. R/C airplanes and helicopters were expensive but weren't very common and there weren't many legal regulations from flying them as there are now.
There's a model aircraft club near to where I live (UK). They have a runway and people use it most days. In the summer they have a two day festival where people come and camp and do model plane stuff. Presumably it's the Glastonbury of model aircraft. It's quite fun to watch them fly around for a couple of hours.
Anyway, my point is that if I didn't live just around the corner, I would never have known it existed. I'd imagine there are similar setups around the country. You do need quite a big space and a runway is presumably helpful, so it probably makes sense for them to be collectively run.
RC aircraft flying is very much alive and well in the UK:
There are also some model rocketry clubs. However model rocketry is a relatively small scene in the UK, compared to RC planes.
Thanks, seen a lot at airshows and it's great, but hoping to mix R/C aircraft with technology, and hoping I can find somewhere without too much pressure (old boys with old ways etc)
Found some local spots where the council have designated it for non-quad flying which is great!
Thank you
Have a look at the BMFA - http://https://bmfa.club. They have a directory of clubs and pointers for learning.
You will need insurance and CAA flyer/operator IDs. This can be arranged through club, or directly via the BMFA above.
Some of the clubs can be rather .... err ... clubby - older members whose hobby has become running the club the way see fit, vs. flying planes.
I built 3 1/18 scale models (2 of them being Tamiya one) in my teenage years but objectively:
- unless you go 1/45 which is less enjoyable to build, it doesn't scale well (pun intented) given the room needed to store your finished models.
- it is quite an expensive hobby
As an adult living in couple, you need either to have your "hobby cave" or a comprehensive partner. Scale models are nice for nerds who like them, but it makes your living room look like a toy store.
In San Jose, the place was D&J Hobby.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/12/04/san-jose-hobby-store-...
I'm kinda in the same boat. Built quite a few kits back in the day but never painted them (at least to a quality I would admit to). I picked up a ww1 British tank some time ago and hope to finally get it right. When I was in the store, however, I'd say the majority of customers in the model kit section were teenagers.
Maybe there's just more hobbies available these days so fewer folks end up building the models.
Similar experience; building model planes was one of my favorite activities for several preadolescent years.
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
In the 80s I had the Tamiya Grasshopper [1], which was the greatest remote control car ever (opinion).
I remember attaching three battery packs (instead of the standard one)—to make it drive at roughly 8 billion miles per hour, in the process ripping the tyres to shreds and pretty much ruining the car—because it couldn’t turn without flipping several thousand times.
Still, for those initial few seconds, it was glorious.
RIP Grasshopper and RIP Shunsaku Tamiya
[1] https://cdn.thingiverse.com/assets/8b/e7/0c/d6/a0/IMG_6201.j...
I had a Hornet [0]. Always wanted a Hotshot. Allow lovely watching the promo video in Beatties [2].
[0] https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/58336/index.html
[1] https://tamiyabase.com/articles/46-technical/176-distinguish...
I had a car from the same era, the Boomerang, similar in style but 4WD:
https://randomcompetitions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/...
Absolutely loved that car, used it for hours and hours every week. The best 'toy' I ever had (other than my Amiga A500!).
I have to admit—even though I loved the Grasshopper—I did lust after the Boomerang!
I had that same thing. It was a nice entry level. Still have the 'hot shot' on my wish list on amazon :) After my third set of tires and second set of struts I kinda stopped messing with it as I didnt have the money for that. I had already saved like crazy just to have the thing.
Tamiya was the top end stuff. I would go to Hobby Town at eastpark (the downtown original store had more stuff though) and drool over them. So I would get the other ones there were in my price range and go 'some day' well now I have other hobbies. Still have my eye on that f14.
The Grasshopper was good. An underpowered version of the hornet with a 380 instead of 540 motor. The longer run time on the old 7.2 battery was a benefit. Watching YouTube of the current cars, they are actually overpowered and in a way unusable. Many videos degenerate into how high can I jump this thing before it breaks.
I sell modern Chinese ones
I have to often explain to customers after a certain price point (for me ~$200+ AUD) you have to turn the speed trim pot down for it to be enjoyable at all
Similar to what Gran Turismo 7 players have realised with EV “Vision” Cars - car enjoyment greatly diminishes with speed after a certain point - instead of plateauing
No-name Chinese build quality is actually a lot higher than I’d’ve anticipated though - brushed thick aluminium and even steel chassis are pretty common now
Which one would you recommend for a novice?
Unironically for a beginner the Tamiya Grasshopper is still fantastic value
Otherwise if you just want something Ready to Race just whatever is cheapest and most available in your area
Don’t be suckered into a $200-600+ RC car until you’ve beaten up something cheap - same advice I imagine drone enthusiasts give
> In the 80s I had the Tamiya Grasshopper [1], which was the greatest remote control car ever (opinion).
Did you never graduate to the rc10?
> Famously, while creating the model kit for the 1976 Porsche 934 Turbo RSR, Tamiya-san sent his designers to Porsche’s Zuffenhausen factory several times to get the measurements and details just right. However, despite repeated trips there were still doubts about the kit’s accuracy. So Tamiya bought a Porsche 911 and completely disassembled it to get every detail correct.
I don’t know anything about Japanese tax law but if an American did this I’d assume they were just trying to get a sweet tax deduction on a new Porsche. “Oh sure, that was 100% a business expense”.
It makes me feel bad when I see an obituary like this. I had no idea he existed, but reading I can't question he had an impact on the world. Other corners of the internet people would shit on the hobby just because they don't share it -- me, personally, being on the autistic spectrum came with a side of fine motor issues, so I could never do the painting and prodding that the more complex kits required... it's an art form, a craft that takes skill.
It's a shame it's not as popular -- it worries me a bit that we're so... online. I was more into Legos, but I wandered into the kids section for the first time in ages the other day at the local big box retailer and it feels like the kits are simpler now, and they're often branded to tie in with movies rather than being a generic thing like space, or pirates, or... space pirates.
Anyway RIP dude -- true hacker, had a passion and pursued it.
I think it is a shame when kids get Lego kits and only ever follow the instructions to build the intended model. They should be encouraged to use their imagination and build their own inventions.
Tip: You can often buy random loads of Lego for cheap from Ebay or similar. Put it in a string bag and wash it in the dish washer on low heat. Good as new.
Totally agree that model building is an art form, one that doesn't get enough credit
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!"
I was always sort of curious how they determine which prototypes to go after-- it seems like some classes are much more widely produced than others. It seems like in WWII aircraft, Japanese and Soviet designs are underrepresented compared to US/UK/DE ones. Ship models seem aligned towards ones that sunk famously over ones that survived and were retired after long service.
With railway models, there's a selection bias because people tend to model a coherent scene. If you've decided to model Quebec in 1952, you probably can't find a way to fit in a British Rail class 66. But most other model hobbies don't have that restraint going on.
Related:
Tamiya chairman Shunsaku Tamiya dies at 90 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44655946 - July 2025
Never cared much for building models (mostly Plasticart) after my day school year in the GDR, but there was a small railway modelling shop that also sold plastic model kits, especially after the fall of the Iron Curtain. That shop has a large hand in igniting my love for all things design and illustration. Beautiful box tops! Albeit back in the day I was partially to Dragon Models (DML).
RIP Mr. Tamiya
In my early teen years while I was into RC cars, someone gave me a Tamiya TA02 kit [0] that they gave up on/lost interest in. This kit loved to eat spur gears because of a design flaw in the gearbox that wasn't rigid enough to contain the gear loads, and it wasn't very fast compared to the Losi XX I also had.. However, the TA02 was more about scale reproductions than race performance. Tamiya also made the Clodbuster[1] which had legendary status in my time, with 4 wheel steering and 2 motors, specifically the one with the trailing arm/chassis modification kit which extensively revised the stock kit. Anyone who had one at the local track received a lot of attention. I still have the TA02 in my garage, but with an E46 M3 body instead of the IMSA Nissan 300Z it came with.
[0]https://tamiyabase.com/tamiya-models/58144 [1]https://tamiyabase.com/tamiya-models/58065
It even leaked into other hobbies, airsoft and drones are full of tamiya connectors.
Unfortunately Tamiya connectors are known to melt when paired with modern RC electronics (Brushless motors and LiPo batteries). Most hobbyists use Deans or XT connectors.
Ah I have fond memories of my Hornet and then later a 959.
There was always that thing that kids would do where you'd get the OK from your friend and then pick up their car to about 5cm and drop it to test the suspension. Then you'd all nod sagely as if something important had been decerned.
Silly but happy memories. RIP Mr Tamiya.
He and his work will be missed.
I remember the awesome picture instructions of Tamiya models. They were and are better than IKEA instructions.
I fondly remember working on a Tamiya model on my grandfather's garage workbench (around the San Jose / Los Gatos border) with the garage door up while snipping, gluing, and sanding each bit according to the meticulous instructions.
Super nostalgic, I remember building mini 4wd with my dad. It was such a magical experience, I wish young people could experience it too. I remember breaking down the ac motor just out curiosity, thinking it was cool and magical but at the same time build an intuition for how it works
I built my first Tamiya car just a year ago, with my son and his friend. The thing that most impressed me is that the shop provided the tools, the space and a racetrack that you can immediately try out your newly bought car on. And all of them, no matter how crazy, cost only around $10.
I had a load of these. This and painting Warhammer 40,000 miniatures kept my kept my fine motor skills in tune.
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 don't know about? Mind you, I really liked building RC cars from kits as it was hours of fun and learning some basic mechanical engineering, and it seems this is still part of the experience. But that alone probably won't appeal to this generation of kids.
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.
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.
I didn’t realize three adults could fit in a Porsche 911…
would also like to mention the incredible instructional work of Kozo Hiraoka for the construction of live steam locomotives. His work is art.
I've fond memories of (badly) assembling a few Tamiya models as a young lad, and (badly) painting them with dad's old enamel and spray paints. Their stuff is still the benchmark for IRL scale kits.
Much respect.
Shunsaku Tamiya built a global culture around precision
I had to take a few runs at that domain name before I could parse it!
A big part of my childhood died
>Rotor Nutcase says:
>July 24, 2025 at 5:39 pm
>My first Tamiya model…nothing to do with cars or aircraft. Apollo Lunar Lander with base and astronauts. Super impressive back in early 1970s. Need to find one again
My grandmother got me one of these before the first moon landing. I carefully put it together and she proudly displayed it for all her visitors.
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