PLAMAX MF-75 minimum factory: The diorama can be easily completed by taking advantage of the coloring of the molding! Voice actor Yasuyuki Tai took on the challenge of creating a diorama of the "PLAMAX MF-75 minimum factory aircraft nose collection: Akira Izumino with Alphonse!

The concept is "even busy working people can make it this far on their weekends off! The only two rules of this article are that the model must be finished in its unassembled state and that you can only spend one or two days building it! Read this series, and you will surely find the plastic model you want to build.

Taiyuki's Weekend Plastic Model Vol. 95 PLAMAX MF-75 minimum factory Neck Collection: Akira Izumino with Alphonse

This time, we would like to introduce "Akira Izumino with Alphonse" from "Mobile Police PATLABOR" from the "PLAMAX minimum factory nose collection series" which has been developed in a powerful 1/20 scale volume.

As the name "Kikenkou Collection" suggests, this series has mainly focused on the noses of the Valkyries that appeared in the "Macross" series, but this time the bust of Alphonse from "Patlabor" has been made into a kit. It is a nice configuration that can be displayed side by side with the passenger, Akira Izumino.

The package illustration is by Hideki Tenjin. The blue sky peeking through the hangar ceiling is also vivid, and Officer Izumi and Alphonse in the foreground are beautifully and refreshingly illuminated.

Since this kit requires glue, we will skip the unassembled example this time and show you an example of the kit with a little work added, as much as you can do in two days over the weekend.

The kit is assembled straight and painted with some of the colors, and the included water-transfer decals are applied. Since the decals need time to dry, this is the maximum amount of work that could be completed in a weekend.

First, here is an image from the opposite side of the box illustration. By looking at Alphonse through the scaffold, the volume of his shoulders and chest are emphasized, creating a powerful display model.

The scaffolding, including the handrails, is a perfect reproduction of the scaffolding used in the film. In fact, the back side of the scaffold is also packed with details. The steel frame supporting the scaffold is connected to the base of the bust of Alphonse. As a display, it is a nice arrangement.

The main painting is as follows.

The white part is almost left as molded color. Only the back of Alphonse's head was glued and covered the stain with Gaia Color Pure White because I stained it when I erased the mismatch.

After that, I smeared it with GSI Creos Weatherization Color Multi-Gray. The black color was painted with Gaia Color EX Black because I felt it was a little bright as it was molded.

The joint covers were left painted with Gaia Color Mecasurf Heavy. The scaffolds and pedestals were painted with a solid coat of bluish gray, which I had previously toned for another kit.

After painting, Alphonse was clear coated with semi-gloss. The pedestal was stained with silver dry brush and Tamiya Weathering Master's "soot" and "rust" and coated with matte finish.

Before setting up Akira Izumino, this time from an angle similar to the package illustration. It is interesting to look at it from either angle. The point of this angle is the mechanical part of the left shoulder.

Around the head. As mentioned above, only the back of the head was painted for the purpose of eliminating the joints, but the other white and gray parts were left unpainted. The forehead, goggles, and HUD parts were painted with clear color, as colorless clear parts are included in the kit. Decal of "ALPHONSE" is on the chest.

View from the right side. The head may look a little small in relation to the body, but I think this is a good balance for the Reaver's character. It is interesting to check the balance between the body and the head, as each manufacturer and kit has its own approach.

Left side. The two antennas extending from the collar are delicate, which is only possible with this size. Be careful when assembling and transporting them.

You can also see the five round holes at the temples (so-called "buti" holes) by getting closer, and they are also well minus-molded. The "AV-98 INGRAM" decal is also on the radar portion. The kit's size also makes it a very attractive model.

The actuators that support the head were painted with solid black metallic paint, then silver sheets were applied to the parts that expand and contract, and the mesh pipe parts were dry brushed with silver paint. The mesh pipes were dry brushed with silver. Although the joints are covered by the joint covers, just modifying the visible parts is enough to add atmosphere to the figure.

The rectangular window on the chest is made of colorless clear parts glued as it is. Only the tops of the black parts of the chest are water-transfer decals. Since there is a lot of detail here, you may paint the ▲ part black without applying decals.

The mark on the chest is a gold-plated part. It is a nice accent that is very eye-catching. The inside of the ducts on both sides are also smeared with weathering color multi-gray. I think it would be better to smear the ducts with something to make them look more realistic. The blinker part was painted with clear orange because the kit is colorless and transparent. Since the part where the indicator is to be installed is in the depression of the black part, if it is installed as it is, the color will be dark and subdued. Therefore, I put a silver sheet on the back side of the clear parts to reflect the light and make it look brighter.

For the mechanical part of the left shoulder, I wanted to change the texture of the material between the inner movable part and the framed part, so I painted it with different metallic paints. It is only a fantasy that the material might be different depending on the role, but I think it will give a reason to paint it in different colors.

The waist, the license plate, the "Shinohara Heavy Industries" sign above it, and the black lines are also water-transfer decals. The blinkers were clear colorless parts, so I painted them clear orange. The winch was painted silver. There is a line of alignment here when seen from the front, but it is not noticeable when the scaffold is attached, so it is one way of thinking not to worry about it.

The back of the head has a left-right alignment line, but I sanded it after gluing and covered it with pure white to hide the sanding stains.

In fact, the radar part of the left ear also had a left-right alignment line, but I was able to remove the line without staining it by filing it cleanly, so I did not follow up with Pure White. If the back of the head had been carefully filed with a new file, there would have been no need to follow up with paint.

The back also has its place. Decal of "Metropolitan Police Department"!　There is a notch in the upper center of the black duct in the lower half of the body.

Clear red parts are included for the shoulder patrol lights. There are also parts for the rotating lights inside. This is another detail that was made possible by the 1/20 scale of the model.

Decals are also attached to the shoulder armor. The belt part of the connection to the upper arm is painted with a brush.

Protective parts are attached to the upper arm's detached connection. The inside of the shoulder armor will be more than half hidden once completed, but the inside is also sculpted, so you can consider how much you want to paint.

Alphonse looking over the railing. You can try painting the clear parts with oil-based markers such as Mackey.

The scaffold part is a little unstable if not glued, but it can be removed if not glued.

There are five round molds on the pedestal as well. Here too, Tamiya Weathering Master is rubbed on.

Another main character of this kit, Akira Izumino. The parts are skillfully divided, and although gluing is required, there is no need to erase the joints, making it easy to paint the different parts. Water-transfer decals are provided for the eyes, shoulder patches, and chest rank insignia. For the other parts, I tried to paint with a brush, even though I was not familiar with this method!

The kit is completely white as is, so I wanted to paint it if possible.

The figure can stand on its own with a very close balance, but it is extremely unstable, so a stand part like this is also provided. If you glue the soles to this board, you can make the kit stand stably like a board game board. This is a nice touch.

A shot from an angle similar to the package illustration. The background is uniformly black, but it might be nice to place a photo of something similar behind it or project it on a monitor.

Alphonse's gentle expression and Akira Izumino's back view of him.

I changed the angle of view.

Akira Izumino asking for a commemorative photo with Alphonse from the scaffold across the street.

The scaffold has non-slip details on the feet. There is a detail that seems to be movable at the connecting part, but it is fixed in the kit. In the real model, the part on the right side of the fountain is probably raised up.

Looking into the back, there are details such as fluorescent lights, air ducts, and wiring. The wiring and fluorescent light parts are slightly painted. Since the back side of the scaffold is unlikely to be well cleaned, I used GSI Creos' weathering color "Grand Brown" to express the slightly dirty condition of the scaffold. How does it look?

You can't see this part unless you look into it very carefully, but it looks much more realistic if you pay close attention to it.

So, that's my review of the "PLAMAX MF-75 minimum factory aircraft nose collection: Akira Izumino with Alphonse". During the two days of work, painting Akira Izumino and attaching the decals may have taken the most time. I also used a toothpick for detailed painting. The position of the decals on the eyes was quite a problem, as the angle and the distance between the eyes made the character look different, so I had to redo the decals several times. I have spare decals for the eyes, so I don't have to worry even if I made some mistakes.

In the past, I sometimes wondered about diorama examples, "Why fix a plastic model that moves so well? However, as I built various plastic models and saw many works, I came to think that dioramas are also good. It is sometimes difficult to make a diorama or vignette (small diorama) from scratch. However, with this kit, just by assembling it and making a few modifications, you can create a finished product that is full of realism.

It is a kit that is fun to discover while assembling, and fun to look at from various angles even after completion.

See you soon!

Product Information

PLAMAX MF-75 minimum factory Nose Collection: Akira Izumino with Alphonse

First release: Now on sale / Resale: Scheduled for release in January 2025

Price: 13,200 yen (tax included)

Manufacturer: Max Factory

Tai Yuuki

Born two days before the broadcast of "Invincible Superhero Zambot 3. He has loved toys (especially robots) since his childhood and started building plastic models in elementary school. Even after becoming a voice actor, his love of robot toys and plastic models has not changed, and he debuted as a writer at Akiba Research Institute.