Learn about:
SF3D 1982-1986
MaK 1998-Present
Mercenary Forces
Strahl Forces (SDR)
Unknown/Unaffiliated
Blech Mann
Robot Battle V
I. H. Y. S. Club
All designs listed alphabetically:
Achilles B
AFS Archelon
AFS MkI
AFS MkII
AFS MkII Type E
AFS Trident
Augenstern
B-4500
Bananaboat
Bull Hound
Calliope
Camel
Camelboat
Cerberus
Centaur
Chaika
Dollhouse
Dollhouse AA
Dora
Eggeater
Elefanten
F-Boot
Falcon & Rat
Falke
Falke II
Ferkel
Fireball
Fireball SG
Firefly
Fledermaus
Fliege
Friedrich
Fuchs
Gans
Gans (Land Gans)
Gladiator
Gladiator MkII
Goblin
Grasshopper
Green Buffalo
Greif
Großerhund
Gucker
Gustav
Gustav G-4
Heinrich
Hornisse
Hornisse PK43
Hummel
Hyper AFS
Intersepter
Jerry
Käfer
Kanguruh
Kauz
Ketzer
KH-503
Königs-Kröte
Konrad
KrachenVogel
Kröte
Kröte Ausf PaK
Küster
Launcelot
Lunadiver Stingray
MaK Girl (Raptor)
Makel
Melusine
MK 41
MK 41 Space Type
MK 42
MK 44
MK 44 Space Type
MK 52 G
Moby Dick
Morgenstern
Neptune
Neuspinne
Neuspotter Anton
Neuspotter Bruno
Neuwasser
New Fireball
Nutrocker
Nutrocker II
One of Pluto
Oskar
Polar Bear
PK240
PKA Ausf HO
PKA Ausf G-6/U4
PKA Space Prototype
Proto-Powered Suit
Prowler
PzKfz 182
Raccoon
Raptor
Ravin
Reynard
SAFS MkI
SAFS MkI A-5/N
SAFS MkI A-5/R2
SAFS MkI A-9
SAFS MkI A-9/N
SAFS MkII
SAFS MkII Trident
SAFS MkIII
SAFS MkIII A-8/R-7
SAFS MkIII A-8/R-8
SAFS Prototype
Salamander
Salvage Freighter
Sand Stalker Sdh222 F
Sand Stalker Sdh232 M
Schallgewehrtraktor
Schenkel
Scout Flier
Sea Pig
Seduce
Skinhead
Snake Eye
Sph69 Hovertruck
Sph69-P Troop Carrier
Sphinx
Sternail
Sturm Käfer
Super Jerry
Super Prowler
Tornado
Undine
Unidentified
Walrus
Wespe
Y-15
Zerstover (Lunar Rover)
©2005 Kow Yokoyama
The COMPOUND GALLERY is exhibiting Yokoyama-san's artwork from May 4th to the 29th, in Portland, Oregon!
Kow Yokoyama's visit to the USA was from May 4th - 6th, 2006
Lisa and I were honored to attend the Reception on the 4th and the Signing on the 5th!
Here's Yokoyama-sensei imparting some wisdom, and telling me to save my money!
Mrs. Yokoyama was taking photos of her Blythe doll :)
The gallery, before opening.
T-shirts for sale!
The crowd starts gathering.
Many people interested in Yokoyama-san's original sketches.
This guy has a SAFS tattoo!!
And got his hand signed by Kow.
Yokoyama-san and that crazy-obsessive guy from America (me)!
Lisa and I gave the Yokoyamas some chocolate from Baltimore, and a sketchbook. This became the gallery's message book - complete with drawing on the cover!
Dr. TaK got his snowman personalized, with cow markings and "Cow" signature (more on this in a few).
Dr. TaK, pleased as can be!
The Maker's Mark.
Even the camera had unit markings :-P
Yokoyama-san and Sekiguchi-san hang out with some of the locals. They were very personable, as was Takeshi-san, who is the resident MaK expert! It was a great reception, and we want to thank Katsu for making this all possible!
The next day, we headed back into town to interview Kow, and later that night attended the book signing.
Lisa was adorable :)
From left to right: Takeshi-san (Oichan!), me, Dr TaK, Yokoyama-san, and Sekiguchi-san. Sekiguchi-san is the editor for Model Graphix and also runs Model Kasten - can you believe it?!
Yokoyama-san draws on my SAFS.
He also made a Cow SAFS for Bryan! Here's the joke behind this - You pronounce Kow's name "Koh", not "Cow"... but we're silly Americans, and some of us have been saying "Cow" for years and years, and it'e become a sort of inside joke. It was also referenced in Bryan's parody of a MaK get together, which can be seen HERE. It's good stuff.
A few more MaK board members made the trek - Faust came from Seattle, and was up for almost 30 hours. Ryan flew from Minneapolis, and got a gorgeous Falke drawing!
Lisa had our Coco Kitty immortalized in a SAFS - it's amazing!
Here's another gem - the Wacom pen that Yokoyama-san has customized. This pen has produced a lot of amazing art!! I got to hold it!
And our final photo - the brush in the hand of the master! Wooo!
SF3D 1982 - 1986
In the 1980s, those outside of Japan could only learn about SF3D from either the role-playing game "SF3D" or the source, Hobby Japan Magazine , where it all began...
In 1982, a graphic designer named Kow Yokoyama began designing what would soon become a world populated by armored fighting suits, battling it out in a pseudo-replay of WWII. Yokoyama-san was a popular illustrator for magazines and an accomplished military modeler, and designed his retro-futuristic mecha as a response to the waning first wave of the popular Gundam series. The back story of SF3D takes place on a future Earth in the process of being recolonized after having been rendered uninhabitable. It is the late 2800s, and two main factions are at war. The Mercenary Forces can be seen as the "Allied forces" and are generally considered to be a little more rag-tag than the Strahl Demokratisch Republic, who are the more omnipresent "Axis forces".
Yokoyama-san's drawings and kit-bashed models first appeared in the May, 1982 issue of Hobby Japan in a one-off article entitled " Wonderful Junk Kit ". The first design featured was the "Armored Fighting Suit," constructed by Yokyama-san using a Takara Microman (known outside of Japan as "Micronauts"), ping pong balls for armor plating, putty, and other materials. Response was so positive that the magazine's editor, Hiroshi Ichimura, decided to showcase the designs in a series of articles without approval from the chief editor. This was to be a fateful decision. Ichimura-san coined the phrase "SF3D Original" for this new endeavor. Yokoyama-san approved of the idea, and both men set to work, without taking the concept too seriously.
Yokoyama-san would make the model and explain its background story to Ichimura-san, who would then write the text. Material was borrowed from WWII media - terms such as "Strahl" and "Bomvol und Zionel" were taken from the film U-Boat , and the rest was simply made up by Ichimura-san. Yokoyama-san, as always, was primarily concerned with the models and designs. When Yokoyama-san created the Super A.F.S power suit, the men decided to offer a resin kit to readers. They were met with over two thousand requests.
Nitto, a model kit company, caught wind of the phenomenon, and were given permission to make injection plastic kits of the SF3D hardware. The model company always deferred to Yokoyama-san and Ichimura-san throughout the kit development process, and gave them creative control over packaging and kit design. Soon thereafter, the package design was reworked by Kunitaka Imai, fresh from a trip to Germany, who would lend his Bauhaus-influenced hand to the iconic model kit packaging. The packaging was unlike anything else on the shelves. The layout was minimal and evoked the 1940s with its parchment-like paper and typography.
Nitto would release the AFS design in 1984 as the world's first truly multi-media sci-fi kit. All SF3D kits were shipped with springs, hoses, wires, photo-etched parts, and more. The AFS sold for 700 yen, and the injection mold plastic was extremely well engineered. In conjunction with the release, Hobby Japan published a groundbreaking article detailing the design process and production molds. It was an enormous success, even boosting the sales of related products, such as the Microman figures. High on the wave of SF3D mania, the AFS was followed by many other kits over the next few years.
In 1986, Hobby Japan fired Ichimura-san for running the unapproved series, and the line abruptly ended. Nitto was nearly put out of business, and the models all but faded from the public view. Ichimura-san went on to found Model Graphix magazine, and Yokoyama-san continued his career as a designer. If you remember the Playstation video game "Kileak", you remember his design work. SF3D, however, quickly became the stuff of legend.