Overlapping with the rebirth of 70's robots, my life, the world of people and ....... I met Akira Tange, a genius plastic model artist (Hobby Industry Inside #83).

When it comes to plastic robot models, the first thing that comes to mind is Gunpla, but do you remember the robots of the 1970s, before Gunpla was introduced?　The plastic models such as Bandai's "Getter Robo" and "Super Electromagnetic Robot Con Battler V" were all clunky and focused on power and gimmicks, but there is a unique modeler who dares to keep that atmosphere intact and continues to create works with tight and exquisite details. That is Akira Tange.
In recent years, Tange's plastic model works have been introduced in color in such publications as "Shukan Jitsuwa The Taboo" and "Showa Shonen Culture DX" (written by Ookota Nobu, published by Tatsumi Shuppan), so there are probably many people who have seen them.　This time, we were able to meet Mr. Tange himself, and we asked him directly why he is so particular about making retro plastic models.

I can build what I like in the way I like and cut down on what I don't like.

─ ─ There was a time when you were making full-scratch works under your real name, wasn't there? I think it was more than 20 years ago. ......

Tange: Yes, I was commissioned to make works for the covers of magazines such as "B-CLUB" (an information magazine published by Bandai). But plastic models have always been my hobby. I have never been commissioned to make them.

───Have you been making them since you were a child?

Tange: My family was poor, so we couldn't afford to buy toys such as superalloys. Plastic models were cheaper than toys, so I was able to buy them. I used to paint them with a paint called Pactra Tamiya. Gunpla models were released around the time I entered junior high school, so when I was in elementary school, I made the Getter 3 from "Getter Robo," and my favorite model was "Con Battler V." When I look at the plastic models from that era, I think of "Con Battler V," which was the first one I ever made. When I look at the plastic models from that era, I feel a sense of love and wonder how they were able to make such a good product with the technology of the time, and I also feel that I couldn't make it as well as I wanted to ...... back then. The plastic model of "Space Battleship Yamato" has a spring attached to the bottom of the main body, and I had trouble detaching it, for example (laughs).



─ ─ Even so, all of your works show tremendous detail.

Tange: No, there are many other people who are better at expressing the details of robots. I think it is strange that I am the focus of attention when there are more skilled modelers on the Internet. When you talk about the techniques of plastic modeling, it becomes valuable as information when you teach it to others. That information seems to be circulating well in the world of the Internet. However, I am not interested in conveying information to the world, so I am not part of that circle.

──Many of your works, such as the "Getter Robot" series, move and light up with motors and electric decorations, don't they? Why is that?

Tange: Because I like toys. On the other hand, I don't want to make dioramas. I don't want to do realistic stain painting, either. I'm not really interested in realism. I think that for people who are good at dioramas and stain painting, this real world and the plastic model world are connected. In my case, I don't need a sense of reality, and I prefer to have as little contact with this world as possible. Do you know the show "Eisenborg"?



─ ─ "The Great Dinosaur War: Eisenborg" (1977) produced by Tsuburaya Productions, right?

Tange: Yes. In "Eisenborg," the scenes featuring dinosaurs and mecha are special effects using stuffed animals and miniatures, but only the scenes featuring humans are animated. Instead of layering human cells on top of live-action images, the backgrounds and everything else instantly become animated. The scales fell from my eyes as I realized that this is the "world. In other words, I realized that I could draw what I liked in any way I liked, and that the world could be created even if I cut off and connected what I didn't like. But no one talks about "Eisenborg," and that line has ceased to exist, so I guess this way of thinking is not mainstream.

─ ─ What about "Kamen Rider" and other special effects?

Tange: I have not liked special effects heroes since I was a child. I was awakened by the appearance of flesh-and-blood people. I guess I am not good at things that remind me of the real world.