ARII - EIDAI and GRIP - Scale 1/76.
ARII is an old Japanese Manufacturer with small dioramasets which were easy to build. The kits are Out of Production and are no longer available.
The same kits were temporarily re-relaesed by the manufacturers EIDAI and Grip.
Click on the pictures.
The Eidai V2 and Arii diorama kits.
November 10 2006 at 4:11 AM, Dan Kanemitsu, Bron Braille Scale - Missing-Lynx members
I've been meaning to bring this up, but I keep forgetting. I talked to a representative from Arii at last month's Plastic Model and R/C Show in Tokyo and I talked about their military kits. Arii is better known as "Micro Ace" now and they concentrate on model trains, but the representive said they plan on selling the German Secret Strongpoint as long as possible.
I recommended that they re-release the old Eidai 1/76 military vehicle kits. I realize that some of kits are overly toy like and don't even come close to being braille scale, but their PzIV and 88mm and others are pretty good for simplified wargaming models. I should do a review of all the Eidai/Arii diorama kits sometime. I finally completed my set. I mentioned how Hat is doing well with wargaming kits and having simple but good looking kits available for an affordable price would be a plus.
The person said that the molds for the diorama kits are in really really bad shape. There are no plans at this time to re-release the Arii 1/76 military kits and he doubts if they'll ever release them again.
I also inquired about the V-2 rocket kit that Eidai released. As you probably know, Arii bought out Eidai's molds when they went under, but the 1/76 V-2 rocket and vehicle set has never been re-released because the molds were too damaged. Also, the person said they never bought the molds. The Eidai V-2 mold is completely MIA.
I guess that just means here is an opportunity for a new injection plastic kit to be made without worry about the past kit from re-surfacing...
Dan Kanemitsu
Arii is a Japanese plastic model manufacturer and is known as "Micro Ace" now.
Arii was founded in 1963 and started to produce plastic models in 1967. Arii has also many metal molds made by other model manufacturers. The 1/76 scale diorama Sset is a re-issue of Eidai/Grip 20mm (1/76) scale military models with a small vacuum-formed diorama base.
Black box issues (AR-109-300) were released in 1981 and white box issues (AR-109-500) were released in the early 1990s.
Line-up of black box issue and white box issue are same. Early catalogs didn't show series number 12, but the back side of early instruction sheet showed all of the 12 diorama sets.
Osuka Katsumi
Arii series number, kit number and Eidai/Grip kit number are as follows.
01 - AR-109A 701 BMW R.75 and Kubelwagen.
02 - AR-109B 710 Kfz.70 with Schwimmwagen.
03 - AR-109C 706 Strumgeschutz IV.
04 - AR-109D 708 Wirbelwind with rader system.
05 - AR-109E 711 Kfz.69 with Kubelwagen.
06 - AR-109F 702 Sd.Kfz.251 and Sd.Kfz.234.
07 - AR-109G 703 Sd.Kfz.7.
08 - AR-109H 707 Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G.
09 - AR-109I 705 Sd.Kfz.7/1 or 7/2.
10 - AR-109J 704 88mm FLAK.
11 - AR-109K 709 Moebelwagen.
12 - AR-109L 712 Pz.Kpfw. IV with Kubelwagen.
13 - AR-109M 713 German secret strong point.
ARII - Catalogue history.
 |
| 1971 |
 |
| 1972 |
 |
| 1974 |
 |
| 1975 |
 |
| 1976 |
 |
| 1977 |
 |
| 1979 |
 |
| 1980 |
 |
| 1981 |
 |
| 1982 |
.
 |
| 1982-1 |
 |
| 1983 |
 |
| 1984 |
 |
| 1988 |
 |
| 1989 |
 |
| 1990 |
 |
| 1991 |
 |
| 1992 |
 |
| 1993 |
 |
| 1993-1 |
.
 |
| 1994 |
 |
| 1995 |
 |
| 1996 |
 |
| 1997 |
 |
| 1998 |
 |
| 1999 |
.
Line of release - black and white box.
Black box release - (1981)
Kit 01 - BMW R.75 and Kubelwagen plus base.
Kit 02 - Schwimwagen, PAK, Kettenrad plus base.
Kit 03 - Stug IV.
Kit 04 - Pz. IV Wirbelwind, Radar-station plus base.
Kit 05 - Krupp Protz, Kubelwagen, BMW plus base.
Kit 06 - SdKfz. 251 with PAK, 8-wheeler and Kubelwagen.
Kit 07 - SdKfz. 7.
Kit 08 - Pz. IV Ausf G.
Kit 09 - SdKfz. 7 with FLAK.
Kit 10 - SdKfz. 7 with 8.8cm gun.
Kit 11 - Pz. IV Moebelwagen.
Kit 12 - Pz.Kpfw. IV with Kubelwagen.
Kit 13 - German secret strong point.
White Box release - (1990)
Kit 01 - Kubelwagen, BMW, tents, accessoires and base
Kit 02 - Schwimwagen, PAK, Kettenrad and base.
Kit 03 - Stug IV
Kit 04 - Pz. IV Moebelwagen, Radar-station and base.
Kit 05 - Krupp Protz, Kubelwagen, BMW and base.
Kit 06 - Sd.Kfz.251 and Sd.Kfz.234.
Kit 07 - Sd.Kfz. 7.
Kit 08 - Pz. IV Ausf G.
Kit 09 - SdKfz. 7 with FLAK.
Kit 10 - SdKfz. 7 with 8.8cm gun.
Kit 11 - Panzer IV Moebelwagen.
Kit 12 - Panzer IV with Kubelwagen.
Kit 13 - German secret strong point.
Finished model by Katsumi Otsuka.
ARII - S.D.F. MACROSS.
In 1983 Arii added four diorama sets to their model kit series of TV animation "S.D.F. Macross" (aka "Robotech"). Each kit contained some 1/76 scale military models and diorama accessories with a 1/100 scale robot model.
AR-311 Valkyrie, urban battle - Sd.Kfz.251, Sd.Kfz.234 and Kfz.69 with Valkyrie.
AR-312 Defender, desert battle - Sd.Kfz.7, Kubelwagen and BMW R.75 with destroyed Defender
AR-313 Gerwalk, destruction - Strumgeschutz IV, Schwimmwagen and PAK with Gerwalk Valkyrie
AR-314 Spartan, naval battle - 88mm FLAK, 37mm FLAK, BMW R.75 and Kubelwagen with destroyed Spartan
AR-311 Valkyrie, urban battle - Sd.Kfz.251, Sd.Kfz.234 and Kfz.69 with Battroid alkyrie
AR-312 Defender, desert battle - Sd.Kfz.7, Kubelwagen and BMW R.75 with destroyed Defender
AR-313 Gerwalk, destruction - Strumgeschutz IV, Schwimmwagen and PAK with Gerwalk Valkyrie
AR-314 Spartan, naval battle - 88mm FLAK, 37mm FLAK, BMW R.75 and Kubelwagen with destroyed Spartan
EIDAI
Kit 01 - Kubelwagen, BMW, tents, accessoires.
Kit 02 - SdKfz. 251 with PAK, 8-wheeler and Kubelwagen.
Kit 03 - SdKfz. 7.
Kit 04 - SdKfz.7 with 8.8cm FLAK.
Kit 05 - SdKfz. 7 with 20mm FLAK.
Kit 06 - StuG IV
Kit 07 - Pz. IV Ausf. G
Kit 08 - Panzer IV "Wirbelwind".
Kit 09 - Panzer IV "Mobelwagen".
Kit 10 - Krupp Protz, kubelwagen with PAK and BMW.
Kit 11 - Krupp Protz, Kubelwagen, BMW.
Kit 01 - Combination set.
Kit 12 - German secret strong point.
GRIP - (Eidai/Grip)
Kit 01 - Kubelwagen, BMW, tents, accessoires
Kit 02 - SdKfz. 251 with PAK, 8-wheeler and Kubelwagen
Kit 03 - SdKfz. 7 Tractor
Kit 04 - SdKfz.7 tractor with 8.8 cm FLAK
Kit 05 - SdKfz. 7 with FLAK.
Kit 06 -
Kit 07 - Panzer IV Ausf. G.
Kit 08 - Panzer IV "Wirbelwind".
Kit 09 - Panzer IV "Mobelwagen".
Kit 10 - Krupp Protz, kubelwagen with PAK and BMW.
Kit 11 -
Kit 12 - German secret strong point.
Model built by Mark Deliduka.
Kit 13 - U.S. military secret strong point.
Eidai/Grip U.S. military secret strong point.
In late 1970s Eidai released the kit named "U.S. military secret strong point". It contained the same military base parts and accessories as German one with imported Roco HO scale US weapons and figures. This kit was rare even at that time and was never re-released by Arii.
Katsumi Osaka
The V2 diorama - released by Grip and Eidai.
Grip
Eidai.
For Frederik Boucher's review of the V2 diorama as released by Eidai and Grip, visit:
"Armorama" Website
For available Model Kits from A-4/V-2 Rocket (in different scales) on V2Rocket.com, visit:
"V2Rocket.com" Website
ARII, EIDAI and GRIP kits are basic and easy to build with the "Snap together" system.
By painting them, you may get nice results.
Email to HenkofHolland:
Note:
This website is an extension of my modeling hobby and serves to inform only.
It is NOT possible to order merchandise directly from me.
I do not own a (web-)shop. You will find some reliable vendors in the "links" page.
E-mail to HenkofHolland
Note: To become a valid e-mail address, replace in email address (at) with @
Valid HTML 4.0 Transitional
