RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession

Shunsuke Tamiya spearheaded the shift to puramo (a portmanteau of “plastic” and “model”) and in the process changed the industry. He invited his brother Masao to create the “twin stars” logo and hired illustrators to create the “white box” look that made Tamiya stand out in sharp contrast to the box art of other model makers. Famously, while creating the model kit for the 1976 Porsche 934 Turbo RSR, Tamiya-san sent his designers to Porsche’s Zuffenhausen factory several times to get the measurements and details just right.