Max Watanabe On How He Founded Max Factory And His Love Of ‘Guyver’

One of the formative figures of Japan’s model kit fandom is Makoto “Max” Watanabe, who founded Max Factory. I caught up with him to find out what makes model kits great.

These days, Watanabe works in parallel with Good Smile Company, making model kits and action figures, but his route into this world is certainly a unique one.

Although his childhood was certainly quite typical, as he explains.

“I suppose I was quite a typical child; I loved to play outside with my friends and run around, and at home, whenever I was given a plastic model to build, I would focus on that for a long time. Even from around the age of 5, even though that was too early, my father would help build these model kits with me. Doing that with my father was a very memorable and enjoyable time as a child, a precious time even.

“I remember building kits of the Zero fighter and the F-4 Phantom. With the latter, my mother would regularly use a feather duster around the house, and its missiles and other small parts got completely brushed away.

“In terms of what I wanted to be when I grew up, it was a fairly common answer back then, but I wanted to be a pilot.

“As a child, I was also a huge fan of Leiji Matsumoto and Space Battleship Yamato. Since I also used to play sports, I had time away from watching anime and building model kits. However, when I became a junior high school student, the first Mobile Suit Gundam was released. Initially, I didn’t watch it, but my friends scolded me for that. From then on, I watched it and was completely captivated, and that made my passion for anime and model kits fire up again. However, back then, the Gundam plastic model craze hadn’t started, as the kits weren’t yet made, and I tried to kitbash my own by using whatever I could find, including Microman toys. Then, when the official Gundam plastic models, or Gunpla, were released, I became a huge fan of those.

“There was also a magazine called Hobby Japan, which is still with us today, and they used to have a reader’s section, where readers could exchange information. There, I found out about a plastic model circle, a club basically, and I had no idea that such a thing even existed. With that, I posted a letter to the circle, and they let me join. Within that circle, I came to know that one of the writers at Hobby Japan was also a member, and that allowed me to communicate with people at Hobby Japan directly. During that period, Hobby Japan published a famous book called How To Build Gundam, and they asked me if I was interested in making something for this book. Of course, I said “yes” and submitted a scratch build of a 1/60 scale Gouf (shown below), which wasn’t available officially, and this got a huge amount of attention from readers. That started my path to becoming a professional modeler.

“To explain a little bit about “scratch” building, around that time, a new material was introduced to the world of model kit building, which was polyester paste, or putty. The origin of this material started in the car industry, so they could mend dents and scratches. However, I saw this material and realized that with it, we could make whatever we wanted. So I would use this material on the Gouf every night.

“With the Gouf, I also used the 1/60 scale Zaku II model kit as a base, as that was already available. Each one cost something like 2,000 yen, which back then was a lot of money, maybe equivalent to more than 10,000 yen now. I also lacked the skill to make the tubing and heat whip on my own at that point, and that meant that to get the extra tubing, I had to buy two of these 1/60 scale Zaku II kits to get all the materials I needed. Naturally, I wrote about all this in my article for the Gouf in How To Build Gundam, and the fact that I bought two Zaku II kits to make the Gouf was picked up very broadly by the readers, and they all commented on how “luxurious” that must be to be able to use two massive kits like that.”

Going From Being An Amateur Model Kit Builder To A Professional

The initial 1/60 scale Gouf kit garnered Watanabe a great deal of attention and respect, and so it’s understandable that he would end up working professionally at Hobby Japan directly.

“In those days, there wasn’t any internet, so the only way people could get any information was to visit a small plastic kit model shop or go into town to bigger shops. Magazines like Hobby Japan were invaluable sources of information, and to be featured within an issue was a huge honor. I could also see letters and reactions from readers on my previous articles within the magazine. Editors would also gather this feedback and share it, good and bad, and I would read these at the Hobby Japan office. This was overall very encouraging for me as a burgeoning writer. There was also friendly competition between other writers, and you could learn a lot from them, and try to get better at building models.

“By the time I joined university, I was working as a professional writer for Hobby Japan, but because I was so busy making model kits for each issue, I barely went to any of my classes. Around this time, How To Build Gundam 2 came out. For that book, I wrote an article as a professional, as the Gouf in the previous book was from the point of view of a reader. So for this one, I built a 1/60 scale kit of the Zaku II with a mine layer, and I was quite proud of that. I also spent a lot of time working on kits for Armored Trooper VOTOMS. I would also make lots of items from scratch for various VOTOMS kits around this time, and that would lead to what I now do as a job.

“It may sound surprising, but while I love building military kits and love military things, I’m actually not knowledgeable about the reality of these things. That means my approach is mainly “this looks cool” and then I added it onto a mobile suit kit. Same with paint schemes. I would just find things that I thought looked good.

Setting Up Max Factory

At this point, it follows that with all this experience in building scratch-built model kits, this could become its own business, and this is how Max Factory came about.

“Before Max Factory became a company, I had my own community, or kind of circle, in a very small and shabby apartment. My friends and I would gather every day and night, and I would work on plastic models. Showing my technique and skills, and my apprentices tried to help me build, or just watch TV and eat snacks. It was a cosy little community space. In those days, companies and IP holders were very generous and not that strict. That meant they would give me the rights to make garage kits, even as an independent person. Sometimes these IP holders would tell me that they were spending hours sorting out the rights for me for only 100 or 150 thousand yen, when really most companies would pay millions of yen. However, as times changed and the laws were updated, they eventually said one day that they could no longer give me these kinds of individual licenses and that if I wanted to continue what I was doing, I should make a proper company. With that, I spoke to my friends, raised some money, and Max Factory was set up. This was in 1987, I think.

“I think one of the things that people didn’t realize was difficult, but actually was, was being able to translate 2D images and illustrations into actual 3D objects. This is something I had a sense and skill for, especially in how you would try to make it look cool. So it’s not like watching a Godzilla movie and trying to make Godzilla model kits, as the original source is in 3D. Anime and manga were going from 2D to 3D. Acquiring the essence of those 2D images and bringing those to a 3D model kit, and making it look cool or stylish, required a certain insight. That meant I would work with my friends so they could help with the heavy lifting of building certain parts, but they didn’t have the same sense as me on translating designs from 2D to 3D.”

Bringing Guyver And The Sirbine To Life

Some of the most famous Max Factory model kits from this era were the vinyl kits for the Guyver manga and anime, as well as the vinyl kit for the Sirbine, which had been featured in both the Aura Battler Dunbine OVA and Aura Fhantasm artbook.

“Back then, I poured everything I had into every single kit, so I don’t have any regrets, and all the kits I made were to a good standard. However, looking back from the viewpoint of today, the kits that really stand out from back then would be my kits for Guyver and the Sirbine.

“When I started working with garage kits, the only material available was resin. As you know, the resin kits of those days had issues with quality and accuracy. Each kit was so different, with bubbles inside them and a general lack of consistency. That meant I wasn’t a big fan of resin garage kits from that era. I would even question whether it was acceptable to sell these things, as they had such varying quality. Around this time, I came to know a company called Billiken Shokai, and they introduced me to figures made from vinyl, mainly creatures. They were very high quality and cheap, even though they were quite big. I realized making the same things with resin would be expensive and the quality control would be really difficult, and that made me think the future would be vinyl. So I spoke with people at Billiken Shokai, and they introduced me to the appropriate vendors and other partners.

“With the ending data sequences in the Guyver OVAs, all of that was done by me. I spoke with Yoshiki Takaya, the original author of the Guyver manga, and wrote all the specifications for each character. I also thought it would look cooler in English, so I did it that way. Those figures shown were not vinyl, though; they were all resin and were made from scratch. I then used these “master” resin kits to make the vinyl “sofubi” versions later on. I still have all of these old Guyver master kits that I made back then. The background story for the data files is that this was meant to be the in-world database used by Chronos to catalog all the various creatures.

“When we make a statue, which won’t move at all, we can pursue perfect proportions. We can 100% focus on how it looks. However, when it comes to action figures, they need to be able to move. That means there are, of course, cases where we need to compromise the proportions in order to facilitate that movement. That said, we don’t like to compromise too much. So there’s a range where we can accept the range of motion versus the proportions.

“With Guyver, Takaya’s art is quite neutral and consistent from panel to panel. It’s not overly exaggerated. So when I come along, I want to build that artwork completely as it is in 3D. However, with artwork by Yutaka Izubuchi, it’s quite different. His art is obviously beautiful, but it can be more exaggerated and harder to consistently reproduce in 3D. Things like the right and left, like, may not be consistent and accurate, but are done in such a way to accentuate the design itself. That means transferring those designs into 3D is much more challenging. In the case of the Sirbine, that meant I used both the anime version of the design from the Dunbine OVA and also the artwork from the Aura Fhantasm artbook as reference for the model.

“With my model of Sirbine, I also wanted it to carry a shield, and so I called up Izubuchi and asked him kindly to design a shield for me. As I’m the one who came up with the idea for the Sirbine to have a shield, and I asked Izubuchi to design one for me, that means that shield design technically belongs to Max Factory.”

Tackling The Bellvine And Joining Forces With Good Smile Company

One of the other famous designs from Aura Fhantasm was the Bellvine, the updated version of the Billbine from the original Dunbine anime. This had quite a long gestation period, but was a hugely successful release in 2025.

“When Aura Fhantasm was originally released, I also tried to make the Bellvine, but I was in a bit of a slump, so I wasn’t happy with how my model turned out and couldn’t finish the master version. Many years later, I thought about going back to that model, especially as fans were waiting for it, and I checked with the IP owner, and they said, “Okay”. So that’s how the new PLAMAX Bellvine came about.

“To explain the relationship between Good Smile Company and Max Factory, we set up a holding company for both, so we exist alongside each other basically. Obviously, Max Factory existed first, and then Good Smile Company was set up originally as a talent management company, with the first client of that talent management company being me. The setup is probably somewhat unique.

“To explain a bit of history, around 1997 or 1998, in Matsudo, Chiba, there was a company called Banpresto, and they wanted to set up an underground mall for otaku called Conton Town, or Chaos Town. The plan was to make multiple areas for different retailers, and they asked me if I was interested in having something there. However, I wasn’t really interested, as Max Factory is a manufacturer, and we had no retail aspect to our business. No direct shops. Anyway, the producer in charge of this whole Conton Town is Aki Takanori, and my first impression of him was very bad. So in order for me to say “no” I came up with a very difficult request. Specifically, I ask him to set up a spray paint booth equipped with professional gear for model kit builders, and allow me to give classes to these builders. The ventilation for this would be very difficult, especially underground, and would be very expensive to set up properly. The idea was that this request would force Aki to say “no”. Interestingly, Aki’s first impression of me was also very bad, and he got upset, but he also didn’t want to say no to me, as that meant he “lost”. The amazing thing is that Aki came through and had everything set up the way I’d requested. The result of that meant I had to go there and teach classes, and by doing this, over time, I came to understand Aki’s personality, and likewise, he got to know me better, and we became good friends. With us going bowling together every day.

“The reason for my initial dislike of Aki was that I thought he was quite arrogant. Such as, “Who does this guy think he is telling me to go all the way to Chiba?” Whereas Aki only saw me as some small guy who just made models, how can he be so arrogant? However, once we got to know each other, all of that went away basically, and we became friends.

“More recently, when Good Smile Company acquired Wave Corporation, I’d already had a longstanding relationship with them. Specifically, when I founded Max Factory, I had a great deal of support from Wave Corporation, so that’s how I ended up as the president for Wave Corporation as well. We’re all connected by fate. It’s worth clarifying that for the PLAMAX Bellvine and the Wave version of the Sirbine, both have the same sculptor.”

Favorite Model Kits And Toys, And The Future

Finishing up, we talked a bit about what Watanabe’s favorite model kits and toys were, and what plans there were for Max Factory’s future.

“As for my favorite action figure over the years that I’ve worked on, that would have to be the recent 1/6 scale Guyver. Both Takaya and I used to talk about doing something like this years ago, but it was just a pipedream. This was because the 1/6 scale was the same as G.I. Joe back in the 80s.

“When it comes to model kits that I haven’t worked on but have enjoyed building, the MODEROID kits for Panzer World Galient are amazing. Specifically, the kits for Skurts and Zuwel. I am working on these now, and I feel like Max Factory should have done this, but Good Smile Company and T-Rex have done an amazing job.

“As for why these specific kits are so great, it’s because the designs are great but not easy to recreate in 3D. That means there needs to be some careful interpretation done in order for them to work from 2D into 3D. It’s these details that I have found really interesting and impressive as a model kit builder. Things that maybe Max Factory would not have considered. It also makes me strongly want to have Max Factory make versions of the designs from Crest of Iron.

“When it comes to MAX Gokin toys, they are quite resource-intensive to make, and similar chogokin-type toys made by other companies are super high quality now. I am obviously a huge fan of these. Talking about figures using diecast, the upcoming 1/6 scale Guyver III will definitely have that.

“As for chogokin that I really liked recently that I didn’t work on, that would have to be the DX Chogokin VF-1 by Bandai Spirits. I own all of these DX Chogokin releases of the VF-1. I also love Metal Build toys and The Gattai releases from Good Smile Company.

“As a hobby company, Max Factory has a relatively long history, and that means I want to keep our long-term fans happy by continuing to provide products from series like VOTOMS or Macross. Furthermore, things like cute figures are also very popular, and I want to continue providing those, too. Aside from that, we really want to focus on developing original content, and that’s something we are investing resources into right now. Even without anime or games to back them up, just one picture could kickstart new figures or model kits, and we’ve seen this already happen successfully. So this part of the business we want to foster as one of our core pillars of the business.”

If you are interested in the other interviews I’ve done with creators like this, then you can browse through links to those here.

Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently writing regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for both Game*Spark and Automaton.