Scale kits with "molded colors" as their main selling point have finally arrived!　The "Model Kit 999" Series Proposes "The Original Fun of Plastic Modeling"? Hobby Industry Inside Vol. 47

Many people probably think of Gunpla plastic models that use the colors of the molded plastic parts as they are. Recently, however, an increasing number of scale models, including car models, ships, and motorcycles, are being assembled in their original molded colors to create the "final finished form.
The "Model Kit 999" series, to be released by Waltersons Japan in early June 2019, will feature 1/72-scale tanks and airplanes molded in specially toned "Ultra Molded Color(R)" plastic, allowing completion without painting. It is expected to be the definitive scale model that can be completed without painting. We interviewed Mr. Naoto Sakakibara, President of Waltersons Japan, and Mr. Vincent Tan of Waltersons Industries, the developer of the "Model Kit 999" series, to learn more about the aims of the series, which is priced at a reasonable 999 yen (excluding tax).

The ease of assembly without coloring is lacking in today's industry.

─ What kind of company is Waltersons Industries, which currently markets remote-controlled tanks and other products?

Vincent: Waltersons is a Hong Kong company, initially a heavy industrial company. We were developing port cranes and so on, and we had nothing to do with the hobby. However, I myself have loved plastic models since I was about 8 years old, and I was building Japanese plastic models made by Tamiya, Hasegawa, Fujimi, Doyusha, Fine Molds, and others. After entering university, I sold my own kits on eBay, which was my first kick-start to turning the hobby into a business.
But at that time, I had to get my products through China, and the quality was poor, but that didn't mean I could import them from Japan, so from that time on, I was thinking about the feasibility of creating my own company to produce my products. I started my own company and began selling a series of radio-controlled tanks called "VS TANK" and a series of finished products called "Force of Valor. When the owners of these two companies put their brands up for sale due to aging, we acquired them without hesitation. I got acquainted with Mr. Sakakibara during the acquisition, and that is how I came to see the possibility of entering the Japanese market.


─ ─ What was your position at that time?

Sakakibara: I was working for a Japanese hobby manufacturer, and I was the liaison with Waltersons as the OEM factory.

Vincent: Mr. Sakakibara and I hit it off because we shared the same enthusiasm for product development and the same orientation: "If we make this product, people in this demographic will be pleased with it. Currently, we are developing three lines of products: plastic models, radio-controlled tanks, and finished die-cast products, all of which, except for printed materials, are manufactured at our own factory, which enables us to conduct thorough quality control.

─ ─ What kind of audience do you sell the "Model Kit 999" series to?

Sakakibara: The assembly process requires gluing, which is the same as conventional plastic models, but the holes for fitting the parts are designed so that they do not fit if the left and right sides are reversed, to prevent mistakes in assembly. In pursuit of quality as a scale model, the thickness of the parts inevitably becomes thinner, and as a result, the parts are more likely to break. When Vincent suggested to me, "We have a mold like this at our factory," ......, it occurred to me that this would be ideal as a plastic model for beginners. In other words, the customer base is getting older and the price of plastic models is going up, but if we keep the price low, even beginners might buy them. So, I came up with the idea of matching the color of the plastic to that of actual tanks and airplanes so that people can get a sense of accomplishment just by applying the decals without painting.
I think that even those who have great painting techniques today enjoyed casually assembling plastic models without painting when they were children. Vincent and I agreed that what is most lacking in the modeling industry today is "the freedom to take a model out of the box and assemble it normally without coloring it. Therefore, we decided that in Japan, we should make the biggest selling point of the "Model Kit 999" series, whose name matches its price, a concept that should transcend the "rules of assembly" of scale models.


─ Will you sell them at the same price in other countries as well?

Sakakibara: In other countries, we do not use the price as the name of the series. We are confident of the quality, so we set the price at the export manufacturing cost, which allows us to set the price at $12 in the US and £8.99 in the UK. Then, why do we sell our products for 999 yen in Japan? Supermarkets and apparel retailers use a sales strategy of lowering the price by one digit, such as 999 yen instead of 1,000 yen, to appeal to consumers. Vincent's calculations showed that it would be possible to recover the cost even at 999 yen, and the company decided to begin accepting orders in the Japanese market at the suggested retail price of 999 yen.