Plastic modeling of mecha from "Patlabor" and Ishiguro's version of "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes"!　Who is HMA Corporation? Hobby Industry Inside - No. 73

Do you remember the fighter planes that appeared in the animated movie "Mobile Police Patlabor 2 the Movie"?　The U.S. military plane that blew up the Yokohama Bay Bridge and the Self-Defense Forces plane that was tossed around in the phantom attack on the capital ...... are both fictional fighter planes, but they have been made into plastic models at a whopping 1/144 scale. The company that planned and developed them was HMA Co. Even among model fans, few have heard of the company. However, the company is also developing a plastic model of a battleship that appeared in Ishiguro's version of "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The company also plans and sells other items that expand the enjoyment of existing plastic models. Why in the world did the company decide to make a plastic model of the maniacal fighter from "PATLABOR 2"?　What kind of staff, what was their intention, and how did they develop it? We interviewed Wataru Watanabe of HMA Corporation, who is in charge of planning, and Dai Watanabe, CEO of HMA Corporation.

The idea of making plastic models revealed the details of the aircraft that appeared in "PATLABOR 2

─ Looking at HMA's website, it seems that there are more mascot products and smartphone cases than plastic models?

Watanabe: Our main business is to produce general merchandise and figures at the request of manufacturers as OEM. We place orders with factories in China and manage production. In some cases, we suggest to the manufacturer, "In this case, you can use the molds we have at our factory.

Watanabe For those who know us as an OEM, you may be surprised to know that we have never approached plastic models before. ...... I have always loved both plastic models and airplanes. I knew the representative of HMA before I became an employee, and we discussed the possibility of releasing the "JAS39 Gripen" fighter plane as a finished model in 1/144 scale. However, at the same time, Etoids released a product in the same scale. The ABS resin is difficult to paint and process, so it was not well received as a plastic model. After that, I took some time off from work due to illness, but the president of our company asked me, "Why don't you come up with a project? I was then asked by a representative of our company, "Why don't you come up with a project? I was the first to offer, "I would like to re-release that Gripen as a plastic model molded from styrene resin.


─ ─ Styrene resin is the same material as other plastic models, isn't it?

Watanabe: That's right. After starting over with the Gripen kit, we next wanted to make a 1/144 kit of the Self-Defense Forces' "F-15 Kai Eagle Plus" that appears in "Mobile Police Patlabor 2 the Movie". I contacted Jenco, which manages the copyrights, and appealed enthusiastically, saying, "Our company also produces Gripen kits, and we will definitely make them good. I knew a designer named Fumito Koizumi, and I asked him to model the Eagle Plus in 3DCG. We submitted the data to Jenco, and Mr. Shoji Kawamori, who designed the Eagle Plus, agreed to take a look at it.
Since Mr. Koizumi and I met with Mr. Kawamori together, we were able to proceed while mutually verifying whether the modeling could be done according to the lines that Mr. Kawamori had drawn, and whether I could pull it out of the mold as a product. It turned out that the shape of the wings and other parts were quite different between Kawamori-san's drawing and the actual model.


─ ─ "Patlabor 2" is a hand-drawn animation, so the shape differs from animator to animator, doesn't it?

Watanabe Yes, I asked Mr. Kawamori, "Which one is the real one?" I asked Mr. Kawamori, "Which one is the real one? The answer was, "Both are the real thing. So, in the kit, we included two types of canard wings and two types of horizontal tail wings, so that you can choose between the setting drawing version and the version in the movie. Also, as we had more meetings with Eagle Plus, they said, "The F-16 Kai Night Falcon would also be nice for a plastic model." I was able to say that it would be a good plastic model. It is indeed an indispensable aircraft for the movie "Patlabor 2. So we asked Jenco for permission, and Mr. Koizumi and I discussed the shape of the Night Falcon.
I wondered if the missile that destroys the Yokohama Bay Bridge at the beginning of the movie would be a Harpoon class, but in the movie, it is aimed at the bridge with a tip video camera, so it must be a Maverick class. ...... When I consulted with Mr. Kawamori, he replied, "It is probably a Maverick class. However, that is too small for the fuselage, so please put one more missile at the back." He suggested that in this Night Falcon kit, missiles are molded at the back of the missile launch port. The communication with Mr. Kawamori was so extensive that it could be summarized in a single booklet.