Maker record
LS
LS (エルエス) was a Japanese plastic model maker whose range included aircraft, cars and toy guns. Its aircraft kits drew on the company’s earlier work in powered flying and ship models, and it also produced character kits. In the 1970s, LS added 1:1 scale plastic gun models; it later made air guns. Many LS molds passed to Arii after the company’s reported 1992 bankruptcy.
- Founded
- 1970
- Countries
- Japan
- Locations
- Shizuoka, Japan
- Founders
- Jiro Aoshima
The story of LS
LS grew out of the Kimura Glider Research Institute, which had made powered aircraft and ship models from 1946. A specialist Japanese model-maker directory dates LS’s establishment to 1962 and identifies aircraft as a particular strength, alongside car kits. The institute’s plastic model work began before that transition: the directory identifies a 1:75 Comet released in 1961 as its first plastic kit. It also notes that LS adopted recessed panel lines early among Japanese makers.
The company later broadened its range beyond scale subjects. It produced plastic model guns at 1:1 scale during the 1970s and subsequently entered air-gun production. LS also made character kits, including models from Genesis Climber MOSPEADA. The same directory reports that the company went bankrupt in 1992 and that many of its molds passed to Arii. A specialist air-gun review likewise describes LS as a former plastic model maker, notes its 1970s plastic gun kits and later air guns, and says its molds were taken over by Arii after its bankruptcy.