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Garage kit
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A garage kit or resin kit is a predominantly Japanese type of scale model kit cast in polyurethane resin, most commonly figures portraying female anime characters. Because of the casting process they are usually produced in limited numbers and can be quite costly.
inally garage kits were amateur-produced and the term originated with dedicated hobbyists using their garages as workshops.
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Encyclopedia
A garage kit or resin kit is a predominantly Japanese type of scale model kit cast in polyurethane resin, most commonly figures portraying female anime characters. Because of the casting process they are usually produced in limited numbers and can be quite costly.
Background
Originally garage kits were amateur-produced and the term originated with dedicated hobbyists using their garages as workshops. They were frustrated with being unable to find model kits of subjects they wanted on the market and started producing kits on their own. The processes of sculpting, casting and painting produce dust and fumes which is why garages were used to work in.
Japanese garage kits
Most garage kits are female anime figures, sometimes in lurid or even pornographic poses. But they also include subjects like mecha, science fiction space ships, classic Hollywood monsters, as well as upgrade and conversion kits for existing models and airsoft guns.
Originally the kits were sold and traded between hobbyists at conventions like Wonder Festival. They have since gained popularity and now there are a number of companies producing resin kits professionally. Because of this development, some kit builders distinguish between "true" garage kits, made by amateur sculptors, and resin kits, manufactured professionally by companies.
Garage kits can be as simple as a one piece figure, or as complex as kits with well over one hundred parts. Most commonly they are cast in polyurethane resin, but may also be fabricated of such diverse substances as soft vinyl, white metal – a type of lead alloy – and fabric. Companies producing kits professionally include Federation Models, Volks, WAVE/Be-J, Kaiyodo, Kotobukiya, and B-Club, a subsidiary of Bandai producing Gundam kits.
The scale of figure kits varies, but as of 2008 1/8 seems to be predominant. Prior to 1990 the dominant scale was 1/6. This scale shrink coincided with rise in material, labor, and licensing costs. Other scales, such as 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/7 also exist, but are less common. Larger kits (1/3, 1/4, etc.) generally command higher prices due to the greater amounts of material required to produce them.
The legality of amateur garage kits can be questionable as they are not always properly licensed. The model might be of a copyrighted character or design that was produced by fans because no official model exists. And many times recast resin kits can be found of officially licensed model kits that have either gone out of production, or are too costly for the average consumer to buy.
Asian ball-jointed dolls (BJDs) have their roots in garage kits, and are still made similarly, by casting in polyurethane resin. Some garage kit designers and producers, like Volks, Cerberus Project and Gentaro Araki, now create BJDs as well.
Production
Garage kits are generally produced in very small quantities, from the tens to a few hundred copies, compared to injection-molded plastic kits that are produced in many thousands. This is due to the labor intensive nature of the manufacturing process and low market demand relative to traditional injection-molded plastic kits. The upside is that creating the initial mold is much less costly than in the injection-molding process.
Typically a room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) mold is good for about 20 castings, or "pulls". Due to aggressive nature of most compounds used for casting and the high temperature of their exothermic reaction, the mold gradually degrades and loses the sharp details expected by casters.
Garage kits are usually cast as separate parts and packed with instructions and sometimes photographs of the final product. Most professionally manufactured kits come in a box while amateur-produced kits sold at conventions come in a plastic bag. They are usually completely unpainted and do not come with decals. The builder has to paint the assembled model, preferrably with an airbrush.
American garage kits
The Genesis of Garage Kits (Part 1)
Imagine being a kid in the 50s or 60s when just about every kid got a model car or plane or space ship for his/her birthday or Christmas. These were models that had to be assembled using airplane glue. Among the kits that were very popular in the 50s and 60s, perhaps the heyday of plastic modeling, were model kits of classic monsters like Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon to name just a few. The most popular of these monster models were produced by the Aurora Company. But, by the 1970s, the molds for those models had been sold to the Monogram Company and then, eventually, the molds were retired. There were rumors that the molds for many of the monster models had been destroyed in a train wreck. True or not, by the mid-to late 1970s, those models had been discontinued and were difficult to find in hobby stores.
By the mid-1980s, adults (kids from the 1950s and '60s) resumed their interest in the old Aurora monster models. An underground market developed through which enthusiasts could acquire the original plastic model kits. While the prices in the 50s and 60s had been only a few dollars, now the kits were selling for as much as $125 for some of the rarer monster models.
In the early to mid-1980s, a few enterprising individuals learned how to make flexible molds which could produce accurate reproductions of new sculptures of movie monsters. They quickly learned that there was a small but enthusiastic market for these new model kits. They were sculpted more accurately and with more detail than the old plastic model kits. They were usually done without copyright and without permission of the studio that had created the monster in the first place. Many of these kits were produced in basements and garage-type enterprises (hence the name "garage kits")and in limited numbers. They were then sold primarily by mail order and at toy and hobby conventions.
Essentially, garage kits are the decendants of the old plastic model kits from the 50s and 60s. They are assembly kits that are glued together using superglue or an epoxy cement. After assembling, the kits are painted (just like a model car or model airplane). These kits generally range from characters from horror, science fiction, and fantasy films and television to comic books to nudes and pin-up girls to dinosaurs to original works of art.
Resin Garage Kits
Resin garage kit production is the least sophisticated process but is also the most labor-intensive. Imagine an artist's ssulpture has been dissected into 6 parts (head, torso, arms and legs). A flexible mold made from silicone or room temperature vulcanized rubber (RTV) is made for each part. After the mold has been made, a two-part liquid plastic (resin) is poured into each mold cavity. Mixing the two liquid parts causes a chemical reaction which generates heat and within minutes causes the material to harden yielding castings or copies in the shape of the mold into which it has been poured. The hardened resin casting is then removed from the flexible mold and allowed to cool. The model is then ready to be assembled and painted. Typically, a flexible mold will yield between 25 and 100 castings depending upon the size of the part, the intensity of the heat generated, and the skill of the mold-designer and caster.
Vinyl Garage Kits
Vinyl garage kit production is a more sophisticated production process. While it is considerably less expensive and less sophisticated than injection-molding that is used for most plastic products, it is not something that can be done in a basement or garage. It involves metal molds that are filled with liquid vinyl (plastisol). When the open mold cavities are filled, the mold is spun on a heavy duty, high speed centrifuge to force the liquuid vinyl into all of the fine detail on the interior of the mold. Then the metal mold is placed into a heating solution, usually an industrial salt heated to about 400 degrees. The liquid vinyl cooks for a few seconds. The mold is then removed from the heating solution and the remaining liquid is poured out. This leaves a thin skin of vinyl on the interior of the metal mold. The mold is then place back into the heating solution for three to four minutes to cure. After curing, the mold is again removed from the heating solution, cooled with water, and placed on a rack. While the vinyl part is still warm in the mold, it is very flexible and can be pulled out of the mold with pliers. When the parts cool, they become rigid and are ready for assembly. This process is known as "slush molding" or "slush casting".
The metal molds can produce an unlimited number of castings. Unlike the flexible molds used for resin casting, metal molds are not adversely affected by heat. The metal molds also allow a producer to group several parts in one mold cavity and several mold cavities in one mold for much faster production.
The Genesis of Garage Kits (Part 2)
In the mid- to late 1980s, two model kit companies moved the monster model kit hobby toward the hobby mainstream. Horizon Models in California and Screamin' Models in New York began licensing vinyl model kits of movie monsters. Horizon focused primarily on classic horror film characters (like Bride of Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera) and comic book characters (like Captain America and Iron Man). Screamin' focused primarily on characters from popular slasher movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellraiser. Hobby stores began to carry these products in limited supply and hobbyists from the 50s and 60s were buying them. Model kits from small garage kit companies (Dimensional Design, Resin from the Grave) began finding their way to hobby stores across America.
In 1990, GEOmetric Design, Inc. began licensing and marketing resin garage kits of movie monsters. In 1991, the company began licensing and marketing vinyl garage kits of movie monsters and Star Trek characters. With kits being produced by GEOmetric, Horizon, and Screamin', as well as Halcyon Models (in England) and Billiken, Kaiyodo, Max Factory, Volks, and Tsukuda (in Japan), the popularity of these models and the great variety prompted hobby and comic store distributors to market garage kits. Soon, large hobby companies like AMT/ERTL and Revell/Monogram, (yes, the same Monogram that produced the original plastic monster kits) began marketing vinyl model kits of movie monsters, the classic Star Trek characters, and characters from one of the Batman films. Garage kit enthusiasts enjoyed an unprecedented variety of licensed models figure kits.
With greater access to computers and computer games, hobby stores saw their model kit sales slipping in the late 1990s. More young people (and adults) occupied their time with the internet and video game systems. Hobby and comic stores and their distributors began carrying fewer and fewer garage kits as more and more stores and distributors closed their doors or expanded to new and more mainstream products.
Many of the garage kit companies that thrived in the '90s have shut down or been sold to other companies. Halcyon, Horizon and Screamin' shut their doors. GEOmetric was sold to Phoenix Comics in Pennsylvania and is still producing resin kits. Phoenix did not purchase the metal molds to produce vinyl kits.
The Future of Garage Kits
For over 10 years, prognosticators have said that they garage kit hobby will fail. The reasons given have ranged from the lack of mainstream distribution to lack of licensed kits to the high price of resin kits to the loss of well-known vinyl kit producers to the popularity of pre-painted statues to the high quality and low price of action figures and dolls to the lack of new blood among garage kit enthusiasts to bootlegging. Judging by the high-quality sculpting and molding that is seen today, the enthusiasm exhibited on the garage kit chat forums and in the two most popular garage kit magazines, Kitbuilders Magazine and Amazing Figure Modeler, and at the garage kit conventions each year, this hobby is alive and well.
See also
External links
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