The plastic model of the "Powered Armor," the reinforced suit from "Dorvac, the Special Forces Cop," gives us a glimpse of the prosperous era of robot animation in 1983! 80's B-Grade Anime Plastic Model Natural History Vol.6

I'm sorry to bring up something like this just as the person in charge warned me, "Mr. Hirota, if you take up plastic models that are too minor, the number of accesses won't increase. ...... This time, I would like to introduce the powered armor "PAC-48 Guardian" (Gunze Sangyo Co., Ltd.), a support mecha (a mecha that gets hit like Jim or Ball in Gundam) for the allied side in "Dorubak: The Special Forces Cop" (1983)!

In 1983, a tremendous number of robot anime were produced, perhaps due to the hit "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" the previous year. The "Dollback" toys were produced by Takatoku, the company that had taken the lead in the transformable toy world with the release of the "Macross" Valkyrie. Therefore, three robots that transform into a jeep, a tank, and a helicopter, respectively, appear as the main characters. If so, is the content a military-style robot animation like "Macross"?　Or is it a 70's style robot anime in which robots use special moves to defeat evil?　The worldview and characters are somewhat in the 70's style. ......


The image above is a flyer enclosed in the "PAC-48 Guardian," which shows the blue "Oberon Gazette" (transforming helicopter) in the upper left, the yellow "Mugen Calibur" (transforming jeep) in the middle, and the square "Bonaparte Tarkas" (transforming tank) in the lower right. These three robots are called "Variable Machines," and they are the main characters in the newly developed series. The other robots around them are powered armor, which was widely deployed by the Earth Federation Forces from the beginning. Since the powered armor cannot stand up to the invading Idellian forces, the Variable Machines are used independently, and in the latter half of the story, they are mass-produced or converted into enhanced versions such as the Full Armor Gundam. (You may be thinking, "This is quite a maniacal development, isn't it?") (You may be thinking, "This is a pretty geeky development, isn't it?" ......)

The two machines on the lower right are from the enemy side. The two machines on the lower right are the enemy side, but the scale of both sides is not standardized: some are 1/72, some are 1/100, and so on. However, only the powered armor is in 1/24 scale, which is a preferential treatment.

The enemy Idelian army does not send in mecha like the monsters that only appear in one episode, but rather mass-produced mobile weapons to attack in force. If you depict such a weapons development competition and tactical tactics between the enemy and the army, it would be a very militaristic anime, wouldn't it?　However, there are no maniacal descriptions or conversations about weapons, and the bullets that the main character shoots are almost always one-hundred-round hits. The advantage of variable machines compared to powered armor is also hardly explained. It is as if "if you shoot it, you will hit it, that's why it is strong" or "it is strong, that's why it is the leading robot. The battle scenes are speedy and stylishly drawn, but the picture design is out of step with the supposedly militaristic mecha setting. ...... Really, it's a strange work.
The more the variable machines are active, the less and less the presence of powered armor, but you can't let your guard down because they appear in droves just when you've forgotten about them. There is such a passion for powered armor that a short animation starring only powered armor was later made.

A number of 1/24 scale Powered Armor plastic models were released one after another, and even the "Backfire," a vehicle exclusively for Powered Armor, was made into a kit. The booklet "Dorvac Mecha Modification Information No. 8" included in the Guardian kit is available at ......

The front page shows examples of variations of the Guardian modified with other kits, and the back page suggests that by replacing the limbs using the "unit and joint method," you can "try modifying each mecha into an original mecha using this method before taking on the difficult challenge of a major modification.

In other words, it recommends purchasing multiple kits of powered armor and customizing them by replacing limbs (although it is a bit disturbing that it suggests replacing limbs with enemy mecha as well, which are supposed to be in different scales).
Yes, all of the "Dorvac" plastic models were pioneering in that the limbs could be "retrofitted" with poly caps (poly bushings in the instruction manual). The reason is that this was a time when poly caps were not always used in low-priced kits priced at ¥300-500.

Let's take a look at the 1/24 scale "PAC-48 Guardian" kit.

The kit costs 400 yen, but there are three runners in two colors. Decals are also included. And the poly caps are orange!　Why on earth?　I have other kits of Caliber and Tarkus, but both are orange. Is this a strategy to emphasize the poly caps?

▲ The kit includes T-shape shaft parts to allow the hip joints and ankles to twist to the left and right, rather than simple axial movement. The thin antenna parts are also neatly removed, showing that this is a very ambitious kit!

▲ The magazine part located behind the cannon on the right arm. There are thin ribs carved on it, which are often seen on military models, but the futuristic arrangement of the ribs is very cool!

▲ Look at the wrist parts. This is not a conventional robot wrist that imitates a human hand, but rather a manipulator designed to resemble a human hand. This wrist is not designed to make a clenched fist, which would be difficult. ...... Unlike a human wrist, I guess it is enough to control weapons. That's a cool way to interpret it!

At first I thought (after choosing it myself), "Dollarback?　Powered armor?　That's a rip-off of S.F.3.D. ......" (the "S.F.3.D. Original" plastic model was released by Nitto Kagaku between the end of 1983 and 1984, which was the same period as the "Dorvac" series), Looking at the runners, one can sense some kind of policy. This may be a new discovery in many ways: ......?
Well, I'm finally going to put it together, my first powered armor experience in my life!

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