Plastic
Plastic Gundam model kits are manufactured in Japan or China by Bandai, which has an exclusive license in manufacturing and marketing them around the world. The models are typical of Plastic models; sprues of injection-molded Polystyrene (PS) parts which must be cut out before assembly. The majority of post-1990 models have snap-fit parts, with models prior to that requiring an adhesive such as plastic cement. Plastic Gundam models kits are typically supplied with stickers and sometimes waterslide decals to apply extra colors and markings as seen in popular media such as TV shows, movies, manga or video games. Smaller or lower-grade kits often require paint to give the model a finished appearance, due to color discrepancies.
The kits range in different scales with the most popular scales being: 1:550, 1:220, 1:144, 1:100 and 1:60, and more recently the 1:48 Mega Size Model and 1:35 (UC HardGraph) lines. Generally in real world terms, kits range from 4~5 inches for small-scale models, 6 to 8 inches for mid-scale models, and 12 inches for big-scale models, although these sizes vary from model to model. With a few exceptions, all currently produced kits bear grade ratings that give a good idea about their final quality. The following lists the most well-known and common categories with humanoid designs (very roughly) in their order of quality, from lowest to highest.
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Famous quotes containing the word plastic:
“The site of the true bottomless financial pit is the toy store. It’s amazing how much a few pieces of plastic and paper will sell for if the purchasers are parents or grandparent, especially when the manufacturers claim their product improves a child’s intellectual or physical development.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“On leaf of palm, on sedge-wrought roll;
On plastic clay and leathern scroll,
Man wrote his thoughts; the ages passed,
And lo! the Press was found at last!”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“The plastic virtues: purity, unity, and truth, keep nature in subjection.”
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)