Akira Toriyama’s work like Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump made him famous, but I’ve always been fascinated by his love for model kits. In my video about his mechanical designs, I covered this a bit, but the guy seemed obsessed with plastic models. Not only did he participate in Tamiya’s original figure modeling contests, but his backlog of model kits regularly appeared in behind-the-scenes photos in interviews and books.
He also had a direct hand in creating a few model kits. One was the Tong Poo Type-8, a Toriyama-styled hovercar, I covered in my video. Another, German Infantry Woman Lisa, is the subject of an interview in Model Graphix magazine circa 1985, which I’ve included below. For Lisa, Toriyama worked with Mugen Kidou no Kai (the same manufacturer he partnered with to create the Tong Poo Type-8, they’re known today as Fine Molds). If you’re familiar with Fine Molds’ World Fighter Collection models, Lisa feels very much like the predecessor to that series.
Lisa was a 1/9th scale figure, cast in plastic, portraying a woman in a German Wehrmacht uniform from World War II. The scale and subject suggest she was designed to fit alongside Esci’s 1/9 scale WW2 models, or at the very least, make it possible for modelers to borrow pieces of those kits for use with Mugen’s model. Two versions were released, and both were nearly identical save for a couple key differences: the limited edition featured Toriyama’s signature on the box and included an extra sprue with the parts for a different gun. Released in limited amounts, the signed versions command some eye-watering prices on the second-hand market today, though it’s anyone’s guess if anyone is actually buying them at those prices.
At the time Mugen was a small model kit manufacturer (or maybe even just a modeling circle? It’s not entirely clear), so the fact they had Lisa produced in plastic using metal molds rather than resin is impressive… and probably indicative of some assumption that Toriyama’s name attached would sell enough kits to justify the costs. However, keep in mind that this was 1985, and while Toriyama had achieved some major success with Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball was only a year old and the talented artist had yet to achieve the level of fame we associate with him now. To my knowledge, the kit hasn’t been reproduced (unlike Tong Poo, which was re-sold sometime in the late ’90s), but isn’t exactly rare. It’s not exactly cheap, either.
The following interview from Model Graphix dives into the creative process behind Lisa and the production process of creating metal molds. It’s an interesting bit of insight into the sheer amount of work required to make an otherwise straightforward kit. It’s also fascinating to see an interview involving Toriyama where he and his manga work isn’t the primary focus.
Toriyama’s relationship with Mugen/Fine Molds continued, as evidenced by the aforementioned World Fighters Collection he designed and the company’s logo, also drawn by him.
German Infantry Woman LISA
Model Graphix, October 1985
Translated by Maude Duke
A Mugen Kidou no Kai (Caterpillar Track Club) Original
Mugen Kidou no Kai, whose plane dioramas are a regular feature here, has obtained the help of Mr. Akira Toriyama to produce an injection molded model kit! In this feature, we visit Mr. Toriyama’s home to collect info about the process from the planning stage to realization, and finally, production.
Character/Package Design …….. Akira Toriyama
Project Leader …….. Kunihiro Suzuki
Project Assistants …….. Naoki Matsui, Tatsuo Takahashi, Yūichi Shimizu, Haruyasu Katō
Modeler …….. Sen Shimohei
Parts Design …….. Yū Tomita
Metal Mold …….. Hayashi Die and Mold Co. Ltd., Kunihiro Suzuki
Reference Material …….. Kentarō Kanemaru
© Mugen Kidou no Kai
Model Graphix: You finally did it. I’m amazed.
Kunihiro Suzuki: Even though it started out as a joke.
MG: How do you mean?
Haruyasu Katō: I was looking at Tsukuda’s Jumbo Figures1 and mentioned that the model for something like that would be pretty cheap…
Suzuki: So without hesitation, we said ‘let’s do it’, and it was settled. Then we called Toriyama and he agreed to help, and things moved quickly from there…
Akira Toriyama: I actually wanted to do a realistic male soldier.
Suzuki: Right, at the start, Toriyama wanted to make a realistic model — even if we went with a female soldier.
MG: But when you think about what’ll sell, this is probably the way to go. The African army uniform is great too, though.
Suzuki: Yeah, but for the weapon she’s holding, we thought we’d go with something that doesn’t already exist in ESCI2kits.
Toriyama: I would’ve preferred a Panzerschreck…
Suzuki: We also considered a Czechoslovak ZB-26 or a Walther G43.
MG: So in the end you settled on an anti-tank rifle? How tasteful!
Suzuki: Wa-haha, it sure was a lot of work to make the model.
Toriyama: I had very little reference material, so even illustrating it was difficult, but I got the blueprint done in the end.
Tomita: Na-hahahaha.
Suzuki: Those blueprints were really slapdash and revising them was exhausting work. No joke.
MG: That’s right, now that I look at it, is there not a Mauser HSc in the holster?
Toriyama: I really wanted her to have one.
Tomita: We even had it in the blueprint…
Suzuki: You can’t really call this a blueprint.
Toriyama: It’s more like the base for a doll.
Shimohei: Hmm, you’re right.
Toriyama: You’re admitting it?
Suzuki: Toriyama-san himself checked it over countless times. 5 or 6, I think.
Shimohei: Well, this work is difficult to accomplish without another person’s perspective. As you’re working on it, you gradually lose your perception of how much it resembles the concept art. When you’re making it by yourself, you’ll think it looks good no matter what, and think ‘yeah, this should work’.
Toriyama: The cast ended up being pretty small.
Suzuki: We ended up changing to a beryllium mold so the scale had to shrink a bit. About 10 millimeters, maybe? But the shrunken-down one ended up being a sensible size for a 1/9th scale model.
Shimohei: I followed my instinct for the size. Like a human computer.
Naoki Matsui: With the specs of a Papicom [PC-6001].
MG: Now then, could you explain the process of producing a metal mold?
Suzuki: Well, if you look at the pictures here… First, we hired a professional to make an impression of Shimohei-kun’s instinctually-sized doll base in beryllium copper. And here is the finished beryllium. The total cost so far is a whopping 1 million yen.
MG: A million yen!?
Matsui: Such an unbelievable amount.
Suzuki: A cavity has to be made in the metal mold base to inject the beryllium into. The margin of error for this is plus or minus 1/100mm.
MG: Wow, you need an incredible amount of precision.
Suzuki: Yes, it’s all done by hand, filing it down bit by bit. If the cavity is even a tiny bit too small, then it’s a defective product.
Shimohei: That’s quite the task.
Suzuki: After you inject the beryllium, you carve out the runner. Then you let your intuition take over for the finishing process. If you’re sloppy you’ll end up with burrs.
Shimohei: Pure animal instinct.
Suzuki: Like the instinct you were talking about before. Next, you need to make holes for ejector pins so you can remove the finished product from the mold after casting. Then, viola, you have a finished metal mold weighing a whopping 200kg.
MG: Must be the first of its kind for an indie model.
Suzuki: Next, Dr. Matsui researches what kind of resin to use. At his university’s research lab, he uses some kind of expensive infrared technology to compare different companies’ products. In the end, he settled on ABS resin. Right!? Matsui-kun?
Matsui: Na-hahaha.
MG: ABC? [sic] Will that stick together well?
Katō: Don’t worry, you can use any old adhesive meant for models. It also works well with styrofoam glue, paint sticks to it nicely, and you can use liquid poly or superglue to get an even stronger bond.
Suzuki: There were some problems removing this prototype from the mold, but I’m glad there were few sink marks.
Toriyama: It came out great.
Suzuki: Well, after all, we had you do everything after the head, Toriyama-san. Next, we made her equipment. We sculpted her canteen and haversack out of a chunk of copper while studying photo references of the real thing. First, we milled it with a rotary cutter, then it was time for my special technique! — doing the detail work by hand with a chisel, and adding the finishing touches with a metal file and grindstone.
MG: So you literally did it all from scratch.
Suzuki: If that weren’t enough, there was practically no room for error when it came to dimensional accuracy. Which brings us to this, the finished master model for spark erosion. First, we put this in the EDM machine. Then we flip this switch and begin the machining process. This weird thing that looks like King Ghidorah’s neck is a nozzle that sprays oil to remove the sludge (debris) created during the erosion process. Toriyama-san would check on it from time to time while it was in progress.
MG: That sounds difficult.
Suzuki: It could be worse. For the canteen, you don’t need to make a male mold. You sculpt it using a chisel and file beginning 1mm away from the thickest point. And the convex mold for the anti-tank rifle, which has lots of thin bits and looks like a rib cage, needs to be carved out bit by bit with an engraving machine. What a hassle…
Shimohei: Polishing it is even more of a pain.
Suzuki: When the metal comes out of the EDM machine, it’s a gritty texture, so you have to polish it with a grindstone. Shimohei-kun helped out this time. You carve the gate (segment between the runner and the model parts) for the thin parts with a small chisel.
MG: Well, congrats on a job well done. By the way, the illustration on the package is a spitting image of the finished product.
Toriyama: That’s because I drew it while using the finished one as a reference.
Suzuki: Hey, Shimohei, your face is a mess. Anyway, as you can see, the product is finally finished, but it cost as much as 4 million yen to develop.
MG: Between the costs and labor required for development, making injection kits is a really intensive process. The caterpillar tack for the Panther tank we made here was really difficult too, but when you take the size and amount of parts into consideration, it’s hardly comparable.
Suzuki: Y-yes. So the desire to recoup some of the costs is only human…
Toriyama: Wa-haha, it’ll be big trouble if it doesn’t sell. Well, it’s not like it’s my wallet that’s taking the hit.
MG: Well, still, if it doesn’t sell, it’ll certainly be a problem.
Suzuki: My pockets will be totally empty.
MG: If it’s any consolation, both the girl and the rifle are astonishingly well-made, so I hope it sells. Anyhow, it’s currently on sale at the shops listed below. Whether you’ve read this article deliberately or through some unfortunate accident, you should take responsibility — or show some pity — by hurling 3,500 yen at one of these storefronts. (If it doesn’t sell… My deepest condolences.)
Notes
- Tsukuda Hobby produced an extensive line of large 1/6 scale figure kits based on characters from anime like Megazone 23, Urusei Yatsura, and Aura Battler Dunbine… alongside Western sci-fi subjects like the T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator and Staypuft from Ghostbusters.
- An Italian model manufacturer that released several 1/9 scale kits based on German infantry and vehicles from World War II. The implication here is that there wasn’t a point to making a weapon already included in an ESCI kit because modelers could just use those parts if they wanted.