THE VAULT: Japan's first model company: Marusan 1/100 scale Zero

摘要

Japan's first plastic kit company started in the mid 1950s by not only producing their own kits, they also made copies of other firm's moulds. Another thing that would not surprise older modellers was the attempt to 'look' American. At first glance this kit could be mistaken for a Revell kit with its box art presentation, fake 'brass' name plate and even to the use of the blue/red house colours on the label. It is probably hard for the younger readers to appreciate the reason for this marketing approach. It was quite simple. Back then the manufactured products from Japan were inferior to those from the west in general and the USA in particular. It was a different manufacturing world then.