The "current taste" of a plastic model kit is…

Dear SWS fans, how are you doing?

Now it really feels like summer, but are you doing well?

Earlier than usual, the first typhoon of the year just hit Japan a few days ago, which is quite good because the climate was actually getting tropical. Anyway weather keeps being strange in these early summer days.

Well, following the latest entry of this blog, I'm going to start another soliloquy of mine about the "taste of a plastic model".

Please follow my dogmatism, my prejudice and my talk just like in the middle of a dream.

The kit has arrived. The "current taste" starts from the moment you begin to build it up.

I have arbitrarily called "current taste", the taste of a plastic model kit that you feel from the moment you start building it up.

Following the suggestions of the prior taste, this is the real taste that you can feel from the moment you get the model itself, and start building; it's the moment when you can taste the true essence of a plastic model.

By seeing the cover art, opening the box, and inserting your nippers in the runners: tasting starts from here.

Materials and colors of the kit, as well as the positioning of each part within the runners are also something to enjoy. Of course, molding, precision, craftiness will also catch your attention.

And then, when you read how to attach the decals on the instruction book, when you feel the passion that the maker put into that model, you never run out of interest.

You still call it plastic but you can clearly see the difference between the quality and the potential of this material.

"Click!", when you cut the materials of your kit, "stick" when you attach the parts you cut; these are also the "cutting" tastes of the model kit. This is what I like from my SWS kits. How about you guys?

Color and glaze of the parts also show a different feeling for every maker.

At the beginning we used to deliver SWS kits with parts of 4 different colors, as I liked.
Eventually, listening to the opinion of several modelers, we decided to stick to grey, and we are still molding parts with that color.

For you having those kits from those early days; that's a valuable thing.

As I already said in the past, when you cut your parts please use specific nippers for plastic models. Don't end up using nippers for metal parts or knives that would ruin your work.

Besides nippers that can execute delicate works, you will also need other specific tools to cut your favorite scale models.

The well-known Zoukei-mura Nippers (for plastic parts) Made in Japan

"PRO-ZETSU Nipper" Full Length: 18cm, Width: 9cm

Nippers made just to cut off plastic parts from the runners.
Put the blade on the gate of a soft part, cut gently and you'll see how beautifully and sharply you can cut off the part from the runners.

But don't even try to cut thick runners, metal parts, paper or wood with these nippers, even by mistake!!
You may waste them at once. As shown in the picture, use it to cut only plastic parts.

* If sharpness decreases, you can fix it by hitting the blade repeatedly with a whetstone.
* Nippers available at VOLKS Website Store. Click here for Volks Website store
→ [Volks Website store]

Hey, you see!
Blade edge reaches the narrowest space and beautifully cut off a tiny part with absolute accuracy.
In this picture, I cut off the unnecessary parts of 1/32 Ho 229 main wing spar.

Work Base will be your "third hand"
When shaping a delicate part, you can easily decide where and how to place a blade on it with this Work Base! Having or not this base makes different the efficiency and your satisfaction! I have used it for a long time, and strongly recommend it for you!
Currently-available work base is crafted in Gifu Prefecture which is famous for wood products. I' m completely satisfied with its beautiful finish!!

* Work Base available at VOLKS Website Store. Click here for Volks Website store
→ [Volks Website store]

Delightful sounds of nippers are echoing in the silent work room.
Cera Canna shapes the surface of part and making rhythmical sound.

Now, my dreamlike time finally starts. I can concentrate in building the kit wholly enjoying its characteristics.

I remember the days I was patiently waiting for the release of this kit.

It brings back memories... my work, family, sports and news report in that days. I even think about my hobbies (gardening and keeping carps) and my pets.

While testing the assembly, I continue cutting off the parts at a good pace.

It can be said that modelers can gain great pleasure and feel great satisfaction during this time.

This is the happiest time only the modelers can have.

In my imagination, I feel like that I developed every details of this kit by myself. It is strange, but I feel good.

How was this treasure created? It's like the development story is coming back to my mind.

I feel like flying into a world of dream and imagination.

"Oh! This part has become like this!"

"Now, this should be attach like that"

"What a beautiful parts!"

"How nice! It perfectly fits in!"

I confirm the assembly and every part while enjoying its shape and molding.

This is the most enjoyable moments in "current taste".

I heard that some people leave the kit to "mature" for several months before opening the box.
(In fact, I do that too. It's too early to work on it as soon as you get it. It's good to enjoy satisfaction piling up 2 or 3 kit boxes. )

It's like waiting for wine to mature.

A smooth work increases efficiency!
Like on the picture, putting big letters on the runners…saves time and effort! With these big letters, you can easily find out a runner you are looking for.

Don't miss the Ta 152 H-0! As usual with SWS kits, while working on it, you can feel as if you were building a real aircraft! What's the difference between this H-0 and H-1 that you have? It's interesting to find out the differences. Your mind is flying into the sky with this aircraft!!

It's fun to write letters on large pieces of paper and put them on runners, so that you can easily find out a runner you are looking for. Without these letters, runners go here and there, fall under the table, or if the worst happens, some parts disappear.

In addition to that, you can get the whole picture of parts-constitution and building processes.

As said before, don't jump to start building the kit. Don't glue the parts without checking the assembly. More haste, less speed.

First, cut off only the necessary parts following the instructions, and put them in small dishes or boxes. Then repeatedly build them up without gluing while confirming the shapes of each part.

By doing this, you can understand the structure of the aircraft and imagine the finished form of the kit.

When you fully understand this, move on to the gluing process in a careful way.

Every plastic modeler knows this preparation process, but I heard that some people disregard it.

Once again, it's very important to check the assembly before gluing. Sorry for repeating the same words again!

Then, choose suitable glue for each part too. Recently, there are surprisingly many kinds of glue available, and you can choose them for your purpose.

And you obviously need to pay attention to the parts that resemble each other, left and right, back and forth, up and down, building order, attachment direction and so on.

"Who cares about the instruction manual"…
Think so, proceed with your own assembly and you'll be stepping into a hole without even noticing.

"Oh god, what happened to my thing!!"…
Well, I don't really know.

Once the glue has effect and you can't detach the parts anymore, you have no words to express that feeling. Also, like the sadness you feel when the parts meltdown and you can't have the plastic shape like before.

Gluing should be put at the very last stage of the assembly, prudently, once you have clearly understood the temporary build. That's the principle to follow.

However, what can you do once you've made a mistake by gluing the parts!?
Well, in that case, since what is done is done the best choice is to keep calm and buy the new parts or, more drastically, just buy a new model.

Anyway, the point of the "current taste" is not to get impatient, not to lose temper, not to get tangled, and then not to get angry or clumsy. "The more haste, the less speed", just like this Japanese proverb says, go on slowly and precisely. This is the secret to enjoy the best part of building a model.

With our SWS kits, you can fully enjoy the "current taste" also because you can understand in details the structure of the real machine.

What?! Did you already glue by mistake?!

What a shame... There is nothing to do now. Let's go and buy a new kit.

Let's buy a kit, "Senpai"
(cf: Senpai means "my senior" or "elder" in Japanese society)

The day when SWS 1/32 Ta 152 H-0 will be in your hands is drawing near!!

Finally the H-0 you've been waiting for will be released!!

If you have plenty of time for yourself, pleasant days by being sat on a chair for working the kit are coming.

Keep your poker face as usual, hold your breath, and slowly, open the box.

There are all the parts of Ta 152 inside! I'm waiting for the days it will be flying by your hands.

Start looking each runner, again and again, one by one.

Oh, what if you took a look at the instruction manual before that? What a beautiful line!!

No matter how old you get, that innocent smile you have on your face without thinking.

As it was my dream for a long time, we put our utmost effort in the instruction manuals of SWS kits.

Well it's not as if the instruction manual solves all the confusion you may find in a kit.

What? You already knew even though I don't tell you? Well, fair enough.

No matter how many times you look at it, sometimes the instruction manual doesn't let you understand how to glue this part in that place. Once you carelessly glue the parts, the anger and the unrest will be so deep that you won't be able to go on.

Indications on where to glue the parts given just by an arrow, high ends, are also troublesome. The attachment positions, as well as the inclination are so important but there's no mention about it!!

When I'm in trouble like those times, I instinctively look at the empty sky and start barking as my beloved dog: "Bow, bow, bow!"

"Bow"… What? You do the same?! Who know why!?

Now, by being in the position of the SWS plastic models kit's manufacturer I would never want you to feel that sadness.

That's why the SWS instruction manual requires the work of three people! One for the layout and the illustrations, a second one for the "testing" the assembly by following the instruction, and a third one for finalizing everything on computer.

Obviously these three people proceed steadily together, passing the information to each other and doing their job like the kitchen team of a restaurant, from the draft to the final version. Please see the instruction manual as another highlight of the SWS kits.

The 1/32 Ta 152 H-0 instruction manual is a combination of assembly explanations, color guide and canopy masking painting references. Before you start working on the kit, take your time to read carefully any section and crucial points, and it will be like pre-tasting the kit. It's funny!

Three to four people are necessary to create the instruction manual of an SWS kit.
In fact, we start with the illustrations to be chosen for the manual, then, we put the information in the PCs, and eventually we edit the instruction manual. They have a hard time with me, the Old Man, as I always complain about this or that. But that's what makes the instruction manual easier to read, meeting the favors of many fans.

Yay! "I'm looking forward to sit down and start this build from tomorrow!!"

Oh, hold on!

There's another thing to do before starting this! Dear colleague!!

First you should check if there's any room in your storage to hide the box of this kit and bring it there without being seen. Don't forget that the war strategy starts from here.

If you mistake now, it might be hard later.

For instance with this kit: even if your excuses are well accepted this time, be careful that you don't know the negative effects they could have on the acquisition of new kits and the expansion of your collection! Be careful, be careful!!

We at Zoukei-mura are very concerned about this, so we really wish you to move on with your strategy.

Don't act without thinking of the enemy's strength and weak points, you might regret it.

The usual excuses or explanations like "I got it from someone", "I won it by lottery" etc., could not work anymore as we're getting older, so we need to be more careful than usual.

So first, don't let anyone see this kit. That's a point.

Then, as well-kept secret, prepare your humor and courage to protect it.

You also need to add some concealment and atmosphere to the place where you'll be building your kit, as if the H-0 has always been there.

To the last, the strategy will be accomplished only when you can really put this kit into the whole stock of models as a part of the collection.

Maybe sometimes a kick is a good move to make the tactics work.

"What? I do it all the times, so I'll do it this time too!"

Oooh, good job senpai!!

You're a true old man modeler. I do not live so extraordinary long. Well done!!

This is my secret place. I have so many kits that I'm afraid of counting. I couldn't understand if one or two kits have been added. And I'm starting to forget where this or that kit was; this is actually a problem.
Look at the place where I'll be hiding my new H-0!

So, the long road to enjoy the SWS 1/32 Ta 152 H-0 begins.

Let's start with appreciating the box art.

Needless to say, the box art is one of the main points of a scale model.

It might such a powerful illustration, just like an oil painted picture, that you need to hold your breath; then, even though the contents will be different from the cover your heart will be bursting.

Enjoying the package art is also part of the beauty of the "current taste".
Just like the kit, it's like seeing the story of the real machine in front of you.

So, let's open the box!

These are all the parts of the SWS 1/32 Ta 152 H-0

The day you have it in your hands has finally come.

There has been a special presale on May 23rd (Saturday) at the 7th floor of VOLKS Hobby Paradise, where we held our SWS Regular Meeting, in Tokyo Akihabara.

This was your chance to make the SWS Ta 152 H-0 part of your collection faster than anyone else on earth.

* For details about the SWS Regular Meeting:
"Information about the "SWS Regular Meeting" from the Zoukei-mura SWS Development Team"

The newest SWS kit, "Ta 152 H-0" will be finally released.
Compared to the already available Ta 152 H-1, a new additional die-cast makes it the ultimate scale model in 1/32 scale. Make it part of your collection, absolutely.
Look at the molding around the canopy, the additional details around the cowling, and the suspension system of the Jumo 213 engine in the picture.

See the particular moldings and lines from upper surface of the nose which delicate swellings have been reproduced with a newly design die-cast, to the canopy. The thickness of the bullet proof glass of the cockpit has also been newly reproduced with this H-0. Now, show the world what you got!

The beautiful main wings of the H-0, which strongly enthusiast you.
Look carefully at the precise shape of the Ta 152, according to the documents of the original machine. The reproduction of all the details from the upper surface of the nose to the canopy is the highlight of the H-0.

This is the shape of the Ta 152 series!
We have beautifully reproduced the characteristics of the high-altitude fighter. The mold of the wings is also new, just for the H-0. The landing gears and storage bay are also newly molded in a "H-0ish" way.

So how was the "current taste" of a plastic model?
Next time on this blog, we'll think about the "rear taste" altogether.

Hey! I will tell you about the "SWS Regular Meeting" that we held in Tokyo on May 23rd, including the information regarding our new kit. Look forward to it!!

Furthermore, I like 1/48 double engine-jets too.
That's decided now!

We decided to announce to the attendance of the SWS Regular Meeting, as an exclusive information for that day, a mock-up model which the Development Team prepared with incredible dedication. Reproducing it as SWS gives great results!!

Please see this breath-taking prototype with your own eyes!!

I myself had goose bumps all over my body when I saw that mock-up.

Actually there have been so many kits released in the past that could describe this airplane, but so far no one has shaken my soul as this kit does.

I'm confident that your soul will also be shaken and I'm looking forward to seeing this happening.

Well, you just have to wait for some updates on the next entry of The Old Man Blog!!!

By the way, this precious prototype will be also disclosed at Zoukei-mura booth at this year's IPMS in Ohio, US, from July 22nd to 25th.

IPMS USA National Convention in Columbus, Ohio 2015
(VOLKS USA Facebook)

For you who'll be joining IPMS Ohio, you'll hear the announcement with your ears.

Look forward to it! You won't regret it!

See you in a few days!

Hideyuki Shigeta
President, Zoukei-Mura

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