No need to paint even though it is a plastic model!　Bandai's "Star Wars" Series "1/12 Han Solo Stormtrooper Ver. Hobby Industry Inside Vol. 33

Bandai's "Star Wars" plastic model series began to be released in 2014. In the fourth year of the series, a major change is about to take place. Stormtrooper Ver." released in April and "1/12 Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Ver." released in May will come with face parts printed in color to look exactly like the actor's face.
In the case of plastic model products, the only way to express the face of a figure was to have the purchaser paint it by hand, but this common practice is about to be shattered. We asked Yohei Nagasawa of Bandai's Hobby Division about the purpose of including pre-printed face parts.

This face printing technology is not an application for finished figures!

───Mr. Nagasawa, in what way have you been involved in the "Star Wars" plastic model series?

Nagasawa: I am mainly in charge of the kit for the latest "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," which was released at the end of last year. I am in charge of planning and development of the 1/144 Millennium Falcon "The Last Jedi" version, the 1/72 Boosted X-Wing Fighter Poe exclusive model, the 1/72 X-Wing Fighter Resistance Blue Squadron model, and the completely new mold of the "Vehicle Model 012 AT-M6". I am in charge of planning and development of "Vehicle Model 012 AT-M6".

─ ─ In the development of "Star Wars" plastic models, I think that the vehicle line has reached its peak with the release of the large scale "Perfect Grade 1/72 Millennium Falcon" last year. On the other hand, with the release of the "1/6 Yoda," there was a big change in the character line.

Nagasawa: In the early days, most of the characters were easy to make into plastic models wearing masks, such as "Darth Vader" and stormtroopers. With last year's "Yoda," we realized that it is possible to create vivid models using injection molding, and this has led us to the "Han Solo" and "Luke Skywalker" models.


─ The big difference from "Yoda" is that the face is pre-painted. However, the realistic painting technique of finished figures based on live-action movies can also be seen in Bandai's finished figures such as S.H.Figuarts.

Nagasawa It is true that we also commercialize finished figures, but the "1/12 Han Solo Stormtrooper Ver." and "1/12 Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Ver." that we are releasing this time are not the result of incorporating finished figure painting techniques into the plastic model production process It is. "Triaxial Jet Finish", as we call it, took a very long time to develop the printing technology and jigs. First of all, we had to find a way to reproduce the faces of real characters such as Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in rigid plastic model molds, as well as paint them. Furthermore, we took a variety of approaches to verify whether conventional techniques such as tampo printing could be used to achieve a satisfactory finish.