Plastic model kit
Plastic models are manufactured kits which are assembled as a hobby. A plastic model, as described in this article, is:
- a scaled-down replica of an existing object
- manufactured in plastic, and sold in unassembled kit form to be built by the consumer
- intended primary for static display
This article in turn does not cover:
- kits made of other materials such as wood or paper
- radio-control models, model trains, and other types of models intended to be operated in motion
- models which are sold in assembled form
Subjects
The most popular subjects of plastic models by far are vehicles such as aircraft, ships, and motor vehicles. Also, most plastic models are of military vehicles, due to the wider variety of form and historical context compared to civilian vehicles. Other subjects include science fiction vehicles and robots, buildings, animals, and human figures.
Construction and techniques
Most plastic models are injection-molded in polystyrene, and the parts are glued together with plastic solvent. While often omitted by novice modellers, specially formulated paint is applied to assembled models. Complex markings such as aircraft insignia are typically provided with kits as slide-on decals.
Scales
As is apparent from the common synonym scale model, plastic models are reduced replicas, and almost all models are designed in a well-established scale. Each type of subject has one or more common scales, though they differ from one to the other. The general aim is to allow the finished model to be of a reasonable size, while maintaining consistency across models for collections. The following are the most common scales for popular subjects:
- Aircraft: 1/24, 1/32, 1/48, 1/72, 1/144 : 1/48 and 1/72 are the most popular
- Military vehicles: 1/35, 1/72, 1/76
- Automobiles: 1/24
- Ships: 1/350, 1/450, 1/700
History
The first plastic models were manufactured in the 1950s by the British firms FROG and Airfix. American manufacturers such as Revell AMT, and Monogram gained ascendancy in the 1960s. Since the 1970s, the Japanese firms Hasegawa and Tamiya have dominated the field and represent the highest level of technology. Brands fom Russia, Central Europe, China, and Korea have also become prominent recently.
Manufacture
While injection-molding is the predominant manufacturing process for plastic models, the high costs of equipment and making molds make it unsuitable for lower-yield production. Thus, models of minor and obscure subjects are often manufactured using alternative processes. Vacuum forming is popular for aircraft models, though assembly is more difficult than for injection-molded kits. Resin-casting yields models similar to injection-molded kits though the material is different.
Offshoots
Dioramas are entire landscaped scenes built around a model. They are most common for military vehicles such as tanks.
Scratchbuilding is the creation of a model "from scratch" rather than a manufactured kit. Scratchbuilt models usually incorporate parts from other kits, and the materials and techniques are the same (though more sophisticated) as kit building.
Issues
The demographics of plastic modeling have changed in its half-century of existence, from young boys buying them as toys to older adults building them to assemble large collections. In the United States, many modellers are former members of the military who like to recreate the actual aircraft they flew in.
Technological advances have made model-building more and more sophisticated, and the proliferation of expensive detailing add-ons have raised the bar for competition within modeling clubs. As a result, a kit built "out of the box" on a weekend can not compare with a kit built over months where a tiny add-on part such as an aircraft seat can cost more than the entire kit itself.
Though plastic modeling is a fairly innocuous hobby, it's not immune to social pressures:
- In the 1990s, various countries banned Formula 1 racecars from carrying advertising for tobacco sponsors. In response, manufacturers such as Tamiya removed tobacco logo decals from their racecar kits, even those of cars which appeared before the tobacco ban.
- The Nazi swastika, which appears on World War 2 Luftwaffe aircraft, is illegal to display in Germany, and disappeared from almost all manufacturers' box illustrations in the 1990s. Some makers still include the emblem on the decal sheet, other have "broken" it into two elements which must be reassembled by the builder, and other have omitted it altogether.