Model Kit Build - Best Hit Chronicle Cup Noodle

Here was a fun surprise this morning - an Easter/Spring Equinox gift from Mrs. Wolfe. Rather than candy, she got me a hot, steaming Cup Noodle!

Except it isn’t hot, or steaming, because this is a plastic model kit:

A plastic model kit of a serving of Cup Noodle. You heard me right.

About Best Hit Chronicle

Let me reiterate - this is a real model kit, of a cup of ramen, fully licensed by Nissin Foods and designed and manufactured by Bandai. If you are wondering why in the world such a thing exists, it is part of a new series of model kits called Best Hit Chronicle. As the name sort of implies, Best Hit Chronicle aims to chronicle some of the, um, “best hits” to come out of Japan by turning them into highly detailed model kits.

The official explanation on the box is as follows:

A collaboration project with companies that have created hit products that attracted countless numbers of people and innovated the world. The products that we fell in love with all those years ago are now back as plastic model kits through the latest technology. Assemble them with your own hands to find new discoveries that might surprise you …

So far there are only three kits in the Best Hit Chronicle line. In addition to the Cup Noodle, there are also models of the Sony Playstation:

And the Sega Saturn:

If I’m being honest, I don’t think this idea is quite as goofy as it sounds. Model kits are a great way to capture lots of little detail that isn’t as easy (or cost effective) to capture in a prebuilt statue or figurine. Just take a look at the innards of the Playstation model, where you can see that they recreate the circuit boards and disc drive:

It is of a nice way of not just commemorating a landmark invention or product, but to also represent everything that makes it tick and helped make it so popular and iconic.

If I have one criticism of the idea, it is that the inclusion of the Sega Saturn makes me question the thought process regarding what models to include in the line. A cup of Cup Noodle or a Playstation are both things that a lot of people around the world truly have enjoyed and partaken in, but the Saturn? Sure, it technically sold across the world, but it wasn’t all that popular outside of its native Japan. Besides that, the Saturn’s outer shell was a different color in different markets; most westerners wouldn’t recognize a grey and blue Saturn (if they recognized the Saturn at all).

Are they determining what to make based on public polls? Is Bandai choosing themselves? Are the other companies coming to them with pitches? I honestly can’t tell. If a company like Sega was pitching to Bandai, then I’d imagine they would have chosen another console, like the Mega Drive/Genesis.

Whatever. We are here today to talk about Cup Noodle, so let’s get to it.

Part Model Kit, Part History Lesson

This kit isn’t just about building a plastic cup of noodles. It very, very much wants you to know just how amazing and marvelous and game changing the Cup Noodle was as an invention and a food product. Both the box and the instructions are filled with facts and historical details. For instance:

Also, the instructions are made to look like the product itself:

Pretty cool.

Now, let’s look at the parts and pieces. Being a Bandai model kit, you get the usual assortment of decals and runners, but just look at the shape of all the pieces:

If you wanted to know how to make a Cup Noodle from plastic parts, now you know. You have parts for the cup, parts for the noodles and toppings, and even parts for the lettering on the label.

Then we have the massive sticker sheet:

There aren’t actually that many stickers on the sheet, but most of them are extremely large. On the left we have decals for all the labeling on the package, while on the right we have decals for decorating the shrimp/prawns that go atop the noodles. Of course, we also have one massive decal for the label at the top of the cup.

Rounding it all out is this strip of leeks, which you are supposed to cut out into smaller strips:

That’s about everything you could possibly need in a Cup Noodle. Now let’s build it.

Building the Cup

As you can see in the photos above, there are no stickers for any of the red and gold trim on the cup. That’s all plastic folks. There kit has a ton of plastic rings which go together to form the cup. You start off assembling the top part:

And then the bottom part:

This is because the middle section of the cup contains a flap, which you can remove to reveal a side view of the noodles:

In order to accommodate this gimmick, the middle section is made up of a series of individual panels, and they do not stay upright unless you have the top and bottom assembled to keep them in place.

The middle section also has a lot of “detail” pieces that are inlaid into the white plastic. I’m talking about things like the Cup Noodle logo:

As well as warning symbols:

And even more logos and banners on the back:

You will also notice that all of the smaller text (and even the barcode) is engraved into the plastic. These details will ultimately be covered up with decals, but their presence here will make it much easier to align those decals when the time comes.

When it finally came time to assemble the cup, I had a bit of trouble getting the middle panels to line up with the top section - and when I finally figured it out, I found that there were gaps in the pieces:

I ended up bringing out the super glue and using it to keep all the pieces flush and locked into place (except for the flap. I left that alone, so it can move as intended).

Here is how it looked once the glue dried:

Building the Noodles

The “noodle cluster”, as it is called, is made up of eight pieces. There are four that make up the “core”, one on top, one on bottom, and two more that wrap around the sides to fill it out:

It is hard to get a good mold of something like a block of noodles without it looking like children’s play food, and I don’t think Bandai quite figured it out. It looks fine from the side, but from the top it still has that “play food” vibe.

The only thing I could think of to make it better was to hit it with a matte clear coat:

Once the cluster is built, you simply drop it into the cup. The first time I did this, it caused the cup to split apart. The second time - after I used super glue on the cup - everything stayed in place.

Detailing

There aren’t that many decals to place around the cup, but they add critical detailing to the model:

You’ve got nutrition facts, a barcode, and even the expiration date on the bottom of the cup:

Then you have these small, cryptic-looking decals here:

These are used to fill in gaps within the logos on the cup. For example, here is this red banner before adding the decals:

And here it is afterward:

If you had the right color, you could paint these gaps in instead, but the stickers work well enough (so long as you apply careful pressure).

Toppings

The kit has all of the toppings found in the “standard” flavor of Japanese Cup Noodle. In the west, each variety of Cup Noodle (and their competitors) typically comes as one “flavor”. Chicken flavor has chicken bits, Beef flavor has beef bits, and Shrimp flavor has tiny shrimp. In Japan, the standard-flavor Cup Noodle has beef (or “mystery meat” as they call it), shrimp, and freeze dried bits of egg. All of these, plus leeks, are included in this model kit.

The meat and eggs are just tiny lumps. They very much look like children’s play food:

I applied a light paint wash to them, which helped immensely:

The shrimp are another matter entirely. They are the only toppings to come with decals, and they are a huge pain to apply. They simply do not adhere on their own without some help. I ended up using super glue to get them to stick. In fact, I think I used more super glue on this one model kit than on my last dozen models combined.

So, was it worth it for a couple of silly decals? I think so. Here is a photo containing showing what the shrimp look like with and without the stickers:

As you can see, the decals add some much needed texture and color, and they simulate the semi-transparent flesh of real prawns¹.

Here is how it all looks with the leeks tossed in for good measure:

It almost - almost looks like real food. Once again, it’s that noodle cluster that breaks the illusion.

The Lid

Lastly, we come to the lid. It is, technically speaking, a giant decal, but it looks and feels like an actual Cup Noodle lid. It even has foil underneath:

I have to assume that the lid will become unusable if you play around with it a lot, but it seems sturdy (and sticky) enough for you to lift it up (and seal it closed) every so often.

The model comes with one final decal - a piece of sealing tape which (I’m assuming) Japanese Cup Noodles come with to keep the lid closed while cooking:

It’s cute, but it’s only useful if that’s how you want to “pose” your model. Otherwise, it gets in the way, and you’re better off putting it in storage.

Conclusion

This model kit is a curious thing. It reminds me of a lot of what Lego’s been doing for the last few years, making sets out of other iconic, real life things (such as the Saturn V rocket, various racing cars, and the Nintendo Entertainment System). But I have some problems with these Lego sets. Due to the way Lego bricks work, some of these sets have to be rather large in order to have any hope of replicating the target object. In addition to simply taking up a lot of space, large sets mean more pieces, and more pieces mean higher prices. I would love to have a Lego version of a Saturn V rocket or an NES, but:

1. I don’t know where I’d put them
2. Nowadays, I don’t feel like paying $200 for a single Lego set

Neither of these concerns exist with Bandai’s model kits. They tend to be much smaller than Lego sets, and they’re (usually) reasonably priced. They also have much more freedom to mold parts so that they more closely resemble their real life counterparts. This means that, if engineered thoroughly, and built carefully, a plastic model can mimic the detail of a real world object with an astounding degree of accuracy.

Which is exactly what we see here. I now have a very detailed model of a Cup Noodle that I can easily fit on my desk, which yours truly Mrs. Wolfe paid less than thirty bucks for.

This is not to say that Plastic model kits are by definition better than Lego, but I think there are certain advantages to them when it comes to these real life facsimiles. I look forward to seeing what else Bandai comes up with for this Best Hit Chronicle line.