On the Road to being a Model
Designer
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all rights reserved, Model Graphix magazine Japan ---
----How many
designers were there, when you were transferred to the design department?
Five.
And since there was another guy who joined with me that year, then there
were seven.
But of those people, the sense that Kazuo
Okabe-san (who was in charge of designs for the afore-mentioned Honda F1, the
legendary 1/6 Honda Dream CB750 and others) possessed stood out. That’s why I stuck by him and went to movies
together with him, and he taught me lots of things. For example, he’d say things like “Think
about what you’d have to do to reproduce that fire hydrant over there as a
plastic model”, and had interesting ways of looking at things like that.
But, Okabe-san also had a habit of giving
up on his work, halfway through. He’d
get to the middle of something, and just stop coming to work (chagrin). Manic-depression it was. So it was rough on the people around him.
----With such
peakiness, Okabe-san was the classic genius, eh?
That’s true. But, he’d let me get so close to him, and
just as I’d thought him my mentor, and thought I wanted to follow in his shoes,
he suddenly said “Hey, I’m going to Italy!” and went off to Protar.
----You were
transferred to the design department, and were put in charge of the 1/35 MM
(Military Miniature) series at first, right?
I know you’ve loved cars and motobikes and airplanes for ages, but how
were tanks?
Tanks, um… were actually traumatic. I designed a number of MM models, but when you
do, you look at reference materials, don’t you?
The photo collections we had were collections from Europe,
and they were just filled with horrific photographs… I couldn’t stand it after a while. But I couldn’t tell that to the company. They’d take me out of designs if I did
(chagrin).
----Later, you
finally made your start in car model design with the 1/12 Porsche 934, but in
print, I’ve seen you use the expression “I slid into” car model designs with
the 934.
Yeah, yeah, that was a big project, so I
used that to my advantage to kind of slide in.
The people in charge of the body weren’t getting very far with their designs,
so it was like “If things keep going this way we’ll never be in time for our
release date”, and when someone said “Well, then who’s going to design the
engine?”, I said “I’ll do it!” (laughs).
----Ah, yeah,
that’s certainly sliding in. By the way,
the 934 was released in November ’76, and came immediately after the first F1
was held at Fuji,
right? It was at a time when car modeling
fever was blisteringly high.
Yes, that’s right. And the company had fortunately told me to go
and see the F1 at Fuji,
and since I was able to go casually right into the pits, I was pretty grateful
for that. It was my first experience
seeing F1 machines up so close.
Fuji in ’76… You know, Masahiro
Hasemi-san’s run in those qualifications made my spine tingle.
----You and
Hasemi-san were lost in conversation at the final Super GT round last
year. What a coincidence that you’d
mention that after I’d seen you and him.
Yeah, a coincidence, eh. He’s been approaching me every chance he gets
since then… And that’s one reason why I
can’t stop going to motorsport races (laughs).
----Once moving
to car models with the 934, were you in automotive models exclusively?
Yeah, I was. And that’s when my “The 6-wheel Tyrrell has
debuted, and I think it’ll be an easy sell with the popularity of F1 in Japan
now, so let’s commercialize it in 1/24” idea led to the 1/20 Grand Prix
Collection Series. That was so much fun,
because I started up the project myself, doing everything from A to Z for the
first time.
Of course, there was the “Let’s motorize it”
idea from the Sales Department, and as a compromise, 1/20 was the only thing I
could think of to fit a size AA battery into the body and an FA-130 electric
motor into the engine.
----The 1/12
Tyrrell P34, by the way, was released 2 months later (sales date: June ’77), but
with the extra time and effort it must’ve taken, the 1/12 designs must’ve
started earlier. And you were focused on
the 1/20 (sales date: April ’77) Kiya-san, so does that mean you didn’t touch
the 1/12 at all?
I had absolutely nothing to do with
it. But, blueprint wise, the basic plans
had been provided by Tyrrell. And, since
the 1/12 design group had pictures of the actual car…
----Were you
ever shown blueprints for the 1/12 that were being drawn ahead of you?
Absolutely not.
----So, it was
like a competition going on within the company?
No, no, it wasn’t quite like that. Everyone around you was already your enemy
(explosive laughter).
----Two kinds
of parts came in the box, for a motorized version and a display version, didn’t
they? Was that your idea, Kiya-san?
Yes it was.
Well, how else were we going to do it?
----But, you’d
need one more mold for the display engine, right? The company could’ve decided, on its own
accord, that “There’s no need for a display engine”…
That’s true. And actually I was told “Motorized engine
parts will be enough”, a lot. However
when told that, I’d say “Let me do it because I’ve already drawn up the
blueprints”.
----Aha ha ha
ha! (explosive laughter) So it was like, “Whoever draws up the
blueprints first wins”.
Yes, yes (chagrin). I held my ground and pushed back.
----Still,
looking back now, I really think it was the right decision. If only a display engine had been included, I
think it’s likely that the perceived value of Tamiya’s F1 models at least,
could’ve been much different.
That’s true, but after commercializing a
few more, the motorizing thing died out.
And I have to say that the Sale
side’s “It’s the demands of the motorized model age” argument was rational.
----Yeah. Indeed, I think I can understand the Sales
side having to say that back then.
Yeah.
And suddenly coming out with a new series solely for low volume users in
display specifications, would’ve been terrifying for the Sales people I think.