ARII kit model company history

[@williamreynolds9414]

having collected plastic model kits for more than 65 years, I find your channel fascinating.

[@scottworsley3218]

Great video! I have owned and built kits from every maker you have reviewed. Cars, trucks, military, monsters, and aircraft. Got away from the hobby many years ago. Now i regret not returning.

[@marcosberenstein4558]

ARII's 1/48 Hellcat has an excellent fit, delightful to build.

[@meisenhu2958]

Growing up in Aisa, ARII's 1/32 scale car kits made up a huge part of my Childhood, they were very old molds and have a ton of issues but was super fun to build and collect, also cheap too. Some of their molds were sold to several Chinese brands by the 2000s, mosy noticeably the 1/24 Cadillac Eldorado series of kits to C. C. LEE, which were produced with reduced features and quality until the 2010s, if you are lucky you can still find good deals of these kits on several Chinese shopping sites.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Thank you for posting thus information on ARII. I also tried to find more information on them but not much is out there. I still have 2 Macross kits from ARII in the stash. I remember al lot of other cheap Japanese kits from the 60s to the 70's but no longer remember their names. It was a model makers delight in the 60s and 70;s with so many kits from so many manufacturers.

[@MLTyler]

Two things. Gappa is a hell of a lot of fun. The Arii Owners club car models are prized by slot car scratch builders.

[@brianandrews7099]

If I recall correctly, most of the Japanese makers built kits of mostly Japanese cars back in the ‘80s-90s, when didn’t appeal to me much (I was a ‘50-‘60 American car kid) so I rarely bought them. Some of those cars were not common model on the streets in the US so that likely limited sales. When I did buy one, I seem to remember their build quality being pretty good but their attention to every fine detail were not always up to that of the American brands. I think your level of discovered research fairly well matched my interest level in them, it was nice to think back about them! Nice work as always!

[@georgecoventry8441]

Another interesting smaller Japanese company is Imai. They made a large variety of different types of models, but the ones that stand out most to me are their beautifully detailed models of old...and some ancient...sailing ships, such as: Roman and Greek Galleys, the Galleass, the Chebek, the Golden Hind, the Napoleon, and various others. All of those kits show amazing wood grain detail and other fine features. You might look into doing a video on Imai at some point.

[@maxsmodels]

I have looked into them but I could not find enough information for a video.

[@kevinchapman635]

I have a Japanese well fighter on my shelf that I had to paint the roundels. With a quarter. The decals were so old ! Think I paid around 10 bucks for it !

[@__-vb3ht]

Arii has a sweet line of 1/32 "owners club" cars, including a bunch of obscure Japanese classic cars. I have heir C10 Skyline and MP5 Daihatsu Midget. Very tiny but still managable and with good detail. It's less trouble and more fun than a 1:24 kit, and i love how they fit on a hand. There are a few more in the series I'd like to get some day, but I'm picky and only want the Arii labeled boxes so I'll have to keep browsing

[@mr.gunzaku437]

Dude, you are a shining beacon for all of us modellers out there looking for some solid history on our hobby! I appreciate everything you're doing! Keep up the great work! Do Bandai next! My brothers and I have some of the Galvion series models! Awesome you mentioned it! There were quite a few Japanese model companies looking to cash in on the giant robot genre. Gundam models were the best, so these companies just made up some fake anime and made models. I loooooove the knockoffs!

[@MartintheTinman]

I have a 1/24 Bandai P-51 Mustang. It's a very hard to find kit. There aren't many 1/24 scale aircraft with R.A.A.F. markings

[@mr.gunzaku437]

@@MartintheTinman sounds like it! I've never even heard of that one!

[@MartintheTinman]

@@mr.gunzaku437 . Just happened upon it on ebay one day. Hadn't seen it previously and haven't seen it since. I'm mainly a collector now. I'm on Scalemates, a model kit data base. It's great and I highly recommend it. I collect R.A.A.F. aircraft kits . I believe that I have the largest collection of R.A.A.F. aircraft kits of anyone on Scalemates because I added ninety to the database. I have 347 but need another 235 to have all the known ones

[@MartintheTinman]

@@mr.gunzaku437 . Well wouldn't you know it. I just checked ebay and there's two listed right now.

[@jcwoodman5285]

I'm very curious on the Japanese mfg especially Tamiya, Hasagawa etc. And the group effort on the waterline 700 scale series etc...

[@grecco_buckliano]

Pretty cool, man. I collected a few ARII car kits and wondered about all the brand overlap. Now I know which way the bamboo bends. Thanks.

[@hertzair1186]

Another interesting old Japanese kit company is Sanwa...they made some rare kits such as small scale (1/200 or so) of the C-124 Globemaster and C-133 Cargomaster and even the obscure Armstrong-Whittworth Argosy.

[@maxsmodels]

I was actually on an Argosy (static display) in New Zealand.

[@georgecoventry8441]

Some tips on Japanese word pronunciation (after the words are put in English letters). There are no silent letters. Every vowel is pronounced. So, Arii has two "i"s at the end because there are two "ee" sounds at the end. It's therefore pronounced "Ah-ree-ee". If it was Ari then it would be pronounced "Ah-ree", but when it's Arii, then it's pronounced "Ah-ree-ee". 3 syllables. And the battleship Hiei, for example, is not pronounced "high" (which sounds terrible!)...it's pronounced "Hee-yay-ee". Again, 3 syllables, all with about equal emphasis. Nice to see you doing a video on one of the Japanese model companies. I bought a lot of the old Otaki kits before they got rebranded to Arii.

[@maxsmodels]

Interesting. I kept calling ESCI Eski only tolearn it is Eschee. So how do I Tamiya?

[@georgecoventry8441]

@@maxsmodels - I was wondering for years about how to pronounce ESCI myself! Okay, Tamiya.... The Japanese don't put an accent in words the way we do in English. Most people here say "Tam-EE-ya" or even "Tam-MY-ya", but in Japanese speech I believe it is pronounced "tam-ee-ya". To our ears it almost sounds like they are emphasizing the first syllable.... "TAM-ee-ya"...but that's because most English speakers tend to mistakenly emphasize the middle syllable. The vowels in Japanese are pronounced as follows: for "a", it's "ah". For "e", it's the "ay" or "eh" sound as in the word "stay". For "i" it's it's the "ee" sound but also sometimes shortened a bit to the "i" sound in the word "fit". So the destroyer Akitsushima is pronounced "Ah-kit-soo-shi-mah". For "o", it's a slightly shortened "oh" sound. For "u", it's "oo" as in "soon". For "ei", it's "ay-ee" or just the "ay" sound as in "stay". For "ou", it's an "o-oo" sound. I think that about covers it. Another example: "Yamashita" is NOT pronounced Yah-mah--SHEE-tah.....it's pronounced "yah-mah-shi-tah" or even "yah-mash-tah"...they don't put the big emphasis on that 3rd syllable the way English speakers often do. Similarly, Hiroshima is pronounced "hi-ro-shi-mah", NOT "hi-ro-SHEE-mah" the way most Americans say it.

[@Wild-Dad]

My Macross/Robotech kits are ARII kits. I also have the Cessna 172 (non float) and Beech Bonanza aircraft. I made the 1/48 version of the Cessna 172 for a friend to match their aircraft.

[@InfernalPaladin]

I was hoping you'd cover Arii! I'm currently building an old model from them I found online (Arii 53001 from '95 on Scalemates). Kit quality isn't anything to write home about but it's been an interesting look at models from companies outside the usual Hasegawa/Tamiya/Revell/Airfix crowd.

[@davidnickels3325]

That is an old LS Labs kit and actually 1/75 scale, although Arii chose to rebrand it as 1/72 simce no one buys 1/75.

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

Just discovered that the little Subaru 360 I have was made by them (or LS apparently) part of the 1: 32 scale Owners Club series. Got it for $2 or $3 on HLJ with a bunch of Gundam models years ago. Very simple kit and small. Someday I may get one of the 70s Mitsubishi Galant GTOs because I loved the car in Gran Turismo 4.

[@orbitalair2103]

Yes, Pacific Rim is in fact an homage to the old monster movies of japan. DelToro is a huge, huge fan of the man who worked in the suits. The Japanese battle droids, and specifically the ones from Evangelion were the inspiration. DelToro did a great job presenting them.

[@maxsmodels]

I WAS RIGHT!!! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! Well, I suspected.

[@Seele2015au]

@@maxsmodels I concur with orbitalair that a fair bit of Pacific Rim idea came from Neon Genesis Evangelion, where the robot is linked to the pilot(s) rather than being "driven", so to speak. By the way a robot in the story is called a "Jäger", German for "hunter"; "Jägermeister" is, obviously, "Huntmaster". As the "ä" is often rendered as "ae" when the unlaut is not available, it became "Jaeger", as in the well-known instrument maker, the knitwear manufacturer, and the American tennis player Andrea Jaeger from some years ago, etc..

[@KHModelWorks]

Thank you for making this, I was trying to find more info about ARII and I could not find much at all.

[@maxsmodels]

it is hard.

[@ShadowACE1998]

I have been watching and enjoying your content for a while and I just subscribed to your channel. Now I am going to have to look through your videos to see if you've done a video on Bandai. If you haven't yet I look forward to one in the future.

[@maxsmodels]

It is on the list

[@Ranalcus]

Super high Speed Galvion (Chō Kōsoku Galvion, 1982) was about Secret Organization Circus that was fighting with criminals using transforming cars. The series had bad ratings and had to be ended after only 22 eps. P.S. Battletech took designs from Macross, Dougram and Crusher Joe. P.S. Transformers also took one design from Macross

[@maxsmodels]

thanks, at least now I have some idea of what it was. Makes sense now

[@MartintheTinman]

I didn't know about the other kits. Only knew that they sold the former Otaki aircraft kits

[@mutantsmoke]

Wow, so that means the 1998 MACROSS VF-1D i just finished may be very expensive. Beatiful piece, indeed.

[@bennyattar8862]

What do you know about Occidental? Didn't they rebox some Arii kits? Were some of the Airfix 1/48 scale models reboxed Arii?

[@crystaldragon1242]

You forgot to mention they're the only company that makes affordable RC tank kitsch today

[@kl0wnkiller912]

I have that Orgus flyer kit in a box somewhere...

[@aprofile2857]

I've had some garbage history with Arii. I've only gotten the RC Panther in 1/48, as well as their Microace/Arii HO Gauge steam locos.

[@sommer98]

Do Mania Hobby next

[@maxsmodels]

on the list

[@scifiguy26]

I want those Gamera monster kits🐢😁

[@maxsmodels]

Best deal I have seen. www.ebay.com/itm/BARUGON-1-450-Pull-Back-Motor-MODEL-KIT-NITTO-Gamera/123999870831?hash=item1cdef7df6f:g:UGEAAOSwB05d6IRu

[@scifiguy26]

@@maxsmodels thanks👍🏾

[@maxbrandt6]

I have a few of their 1/144 scale aircraft kits, they're okay but the decals after 35 years....not so good.

[@grecco_buckliano]

Blue Tank / Nitto is another oddball label. Although I think Nitto got big in RC10 for a while.

[@maxsmodels]

I cannot find enough on Nitto

[@grecco_buckliano]

@@maxsmodels Thanks for looking. Searching by scale using one of my ebay tricks I found about 47 results for Nitto models : www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Nitto+1%2F24&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=Nitto Searching just for "Nitto" reveals about 28,000 bicycle parts. So I selected one of the oddball models listed and crossed it to Scalemates like you do, expecting to see that Nitto re-boxed someone else's work. But no, this one example I chose looks like Nittos own tool, AND from 1967! www.scalemates.com/kits/nitto-delta-3--1273166 In fact, everything else I saw looks like New Tool, to me. I became aware of Nitto & Blue Tank in my pursuit of classic road racing cars, the Pentax March 74s and a Porsche 936-78, which I now have. Neither are currently listed as far as I can tell. A search for 1/35 Nitto reveals a fair military catalog. I know from doing my own research regarding Fujimi and their contaminated chrome plating, (aluminum vapor coatings) that Japan can just be back-quiet and isolationist when you try to talk to them of do research, so, I have run into a few dead ends myself, and did not have the wherewithal to punch through due to lack of patience and will on my part. Anyways, thanks for what you have done so far.

[@Yaris510]

'Space Convoy', indeed! Plagiarism, anyone?

[@MLTyler]

And another thing. A Yeager is just a knockoff Gundam :)

[@tiberius1701]

How about doing a piece on Palmer Models...manufacturer of possibly the worst scale model car kits.

[@maxsmodels]

I have little info on them other than they were a plastics business that got into models then got out. Still digging.

[@maxsmodels]

Here ya go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHOse5Zrpsypitk

[@MartintheTinman]

Max, are you a registered Scalemate? I'm Wilky

[@maxsmodels]

yes M K

[@gsr4535]

Several but not all, Arii/Otaki 1/48th scale WW2 kits are good, certainly good for the 1970s. Today, one can use a little extra effort - scratch building and after market parts to bring them closer to today's standards..

[@gsr4535]

@@powertothebauer296 No my friend, I am not a rivet counter but I do like accuracy. I like old kits - Otaki/Arii, Revell, Monogram. I like to take them, add a little extra detailing bring them up close to today's standards.