The discovery of a third version of Akira Toriyama’s Lisa garage kit spurs a bit of discussion on the nature of small hobby shops during the garage kit boom years of the ’80s and ’90s.
Category: Garage Kits
Akira Toriyama’s 4 Million Yen Model Kit
In 1985, Akira Toriyama partnered with a fledgling model kit company to produce an injection molded plastic kit based on an original design.
From Garage Kits to Action Figures: The First 15 Years of Wonder Festival
The first fifteen years of Wonder Festival was marked with changing tastes in garage kit subjects and shift towards finished models and toys.
Gunpla Boom Ephemera: Kunio Okawara’s Gouf Lady
With the gunpla boom riding high and Bandai rolling out its new Mobile Suit Variations series, original Gundam mechanical designer Kunio Okawara tried his hand at sculpting an original garage kit.
Kenichi Sonoda, Lumroid, and Hobby Shop Musasiya
Before he started working for Gainax and ARTMIC, a young Kenichi Sonoda illustrated a series of popular advertisements for a hobby shop in Osaka.
Max-imum Ma.K Technique: The Chromatic Painting Style of Max Watanabe
kvltworx returns with another painting tutorial, this time diving into the unique lacquer hand brush techniques of master modeler Max Watanabe.
Resin Royalty: Kotobukiya’s Original Kit Catalog of 1991
A quick look through a 30-year-old catalog from garage kit manufacturer Kotobukiya.
Bandai’s Brain Bank Media: B-Club
At the tail end of the gunpla boom, Bandai’s enthusiast publishing and garage kit division, B-Club, unleashed a monthly magazine and dozens of garage kits on a modeling community that was growing out of normal plastic model kits.
Fewture’s Full-Size Zeiram Prop Kits
Keita Amemiya’s Zeiram series inspired plenty of garage kits, but none were quite as fascinating as a series of life-sized relicas based on props actually used in the films.
The KVLTWORX Artist Oil Weathering Tutorial
Welcome to the second part of our KVLTWORX painting tutorial. The first part covered using lacquer paints and in this installment, we’ll be using oil and enamel paints for weathering.