Bandai 1/60 Electromotive Style Injection Machine

Manufacturing Day 2026 — 2 October 2026

To mark Manufacturing Day 2026, a fitting subject was chosen: Bandai’s 1/60 Electromotive Style Injection Machine.

Rather than a Gundam or conventional mecha, this unusual hobby kit represents the industrial machinery used to manufacture plastic model kits.

From Black Plastic to Painted Machine

The kit consists of a single runner, with all parts moulded in black plastic. A silver “Ecopla” sticker is included on the box.

Initially, having the entire runner in one colour seemed likely to make the painting process more difficult. Without colour-separated plastic to provide guidance, the parts had to be studied individually and the colour allocation determined by observation.

This encouraged a more deliberate approach to the surfaces and finishing.

All parts first received an airbrushed base coat of Mr. Color No. 13 Neutral Grey.

Paint Allocation

Parts 5 and 6 were base coated with Mr. Color No. 109 Character Yellow. The supplied stickers were repurposed as masking material to protect the areas intended to remain yellow before Mr. Color No. 323 Light Blue was airbrushed over the exposed sections. As the parts were thin, the Light Blue was applied as a uniform coat rather than heavily weathered.

The masking stickers were inadvertently switched between the two parts. Consequently, the yellow perimeter around the side-door window is thicker toward the lower section rather than the upper section. The result was left as it was.

Parts 14 and 15 also received Mr. Color No. 109 Character Yellow.

Part 19 was base coated with Mr. Hobby Gundam Color UG10 MS Char’s Pink. The pink area was masked before Mr. Color No. 107 Character White was applied to the exposed section.

Part 20 received a different treatment. Selected wall surfaces were first airbrushed with Mr. Hobby Gundam Color UG10 MS Char’s Pink, while others remained Mr. Color No. 13 Neutral Grey. Masking had initially been planned, but was abandoned in favour of weathering the entire part with Mr. Color No. 107 Character White. The White was airbrushed over the whole part, leaving pinkish and greyish tones visible around the outer rim of the weathered sections.

The remaining Neutral Grey areas were lightened with a mixture of Mr. Color No. 13 Neutral Grey and No. 107 Character White, adding tonal variation to the overall finish.

Panel Lining and Finishing

After airbrushing, Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color Black was applied to the moulded details. Excess was removed with cotton buds dampened with Tamiya X-20.

For the final assembly, the supplied stickers were deliberately left unused. This omits details such as the alphanumeric prefix, chamfered rectangular markings, and simulated vent lines.

The resulting minimalist finish keeps the focus on the machine’s forms, painted surfaces and restrained detailing.

A Machine Behind the Models

There is something appropriately circular about building a model of an injection-moulding machine.

Injection-moulding machine → plastic → model kit → modeler.

The machinery behind the hobby has itself become a model on the workbench.

For Manufacturing Day 2026, Bandai’s 1/60 Electromotive Style Injection Machine offers a different kind of model-building experience: one that turns attention towards the industrial process behind the hobby itself.