Hasegawa's "Crusher Joe" Fighter 1: The Optimal Distance between Character Models and Scale Models [Hobby Industry Inside Vol. 44

At the "Wonder Festival 2019 [Winter]" held on February 10, 2019, Hasegawa announced the plastic modeling of "Minerva," the main mecha from the theatrical anime "Crusher Joe" (1983). Prior to this, the "Fighter 1" model of the main character Jou's fighter had been on store shelves since the end of January. The scale is 1/72, a familiar international scale for Hasegawa's specialty aircraft models.
In addition to scale models of cars, airplanes, and ships, Hasegawa is also actively producing plastic models of the mechanics that appear in anime productions. How does the company balance the development of scale models and character models?　We interviewed Mr. Satoshi Kokubun of the Planning and Development Department's Planning Group and Mr. Jun Hayakawa of the Planning and Development Department's Development Group.

The concept is to "buy on impulse and assemble immediately without glue

─ This Fighter 1 was released under the brand "Creator Works. First of all, what kind of brand is CreatorWorks?

Kokubu: It is a brand that commercializes characters from manga, anime, games, and other works that have not had the opportunity to be made into models, or characters that Hasegawa wanted to make into models. The first model we produced as Creator Works was Space Wolf ("Space Pirate Captain Harlock") by Mr. Leiji Matsumoto. Not only old works, but also Bentenmaru from "Moretsu Space Pirates" and Vanship from "Last Exile - Fam the Silverwing" have been made into kits by Creator Works.


─ ─ Do you have any criteria for your selection?

Kokubu: One is that the modeling must be interesting, and must look good as a model. Also, it is influenced by the passion of the person in charge, who says, "I just love this. In addition, relationships are also important. No matter how much you want to make a model, if you don't have a relationship with the person in charge, the copyright will not be granted.

───That means that your enthusiasm also had an influence on the development of the Fighter 1 kit this time, didn't it? What is the appeal of the Fighter 1?

Kokubu: I am still attracted to the unique shape and lines of the mechanical design created by Shoji Kawamori. I like the mechanics of "Crusher Joe" in general, and among them, Fighter 1 is the main character, so I like its position as well.


─ ─ This Fighter 1 is a snap kit and does not require any glue, but did you decide on this specification as well?

Kokubu: No, Hayakawa asked me if I wanted to try something new.

Hayakawa: I thought it would be easier for customers to make snap kits, so we proceeded with the design, including the mating, based on the premise that no adhesive would be required. This time, the "core frame" is a structure in which the exterior is covered by a framework, but at first we were thinking of putting the keta inside the body and assembling the entire structure. However, in the middle of the design process, we realized that carving the keta and carving the large frame would occupy the same area in the mold. We realized that it would not be a problem from a budgetary standpoint, so we decided on the concept of fitting a large core frame with a crackling exterior. I thought this would be more fun for the "Crusher Joe" fans who had not bought a plastic model in a while.

─ ─ The fans who were watching "Crusher Joe" at the time were in their 40s and 50s, right?

Hayakawa: That's right. We wanted to keep the price low, so they could buy the kit on impulse, go home, and assemble it right away, without having to buy a separate adhesive.


Kokubu: I did not give detailed instructions and left most of the work to Hayakawa, but I was surprised at the core frame structure.

Hayakawa: If the fuselage were thicker than this, it would be a little more difficult. Because it was a flat fuselage, we were able to try a core frame.