As a child in Brazil, Japanese-born Isao Hirai loved to build model airplanes. Later, after he moved to the United States, he took over an architectural model company in Hawthorne. Now he specializes in technical and spacecraft models and has made everything from the prototype for the first Waterpik to full-scale spacecraft mockups. He spoke to Jolie Gorchov about the world of scale model building.

“In Brazil I was a mechanical engineer and architect. I had always loved making airplane models and I thought, why not make architectural models? So I started to do that.

“The architectural model business in Brazil was very good. I came to the United States in 1966 and started to make architectural models here. I worked at Scale Model Co. and in 1974 I took over the company when the owner retired to Oregon.

“But things have changed over the past 20 years, and in the United States, they don’t care about the quality. With computers nowadays, they can do everything much cheaper than we do. So I started to make space-related models. It’s much more challenging than architectural models.

“We make small tabletop models and full-sized replicas. The small ones are much easier. With the larger models you need more space it makes it much more difficult. We usually go by drawings and we build them exactly to the specifications, using materials like fiberglass and aluminum.

“Many times I work on them myself that’s my love. But I don’t have too much time to be doing that. Mostly I deal with the customers.

“The hardest part is that our customers want the work yesterday. Most of the companies leave the models for last. They’re working on a project and they need a model for presentation. When they finish, there’s almost no time for the presentation.

“One time JPL called and said, ‘Isao, we need to have a Cassini spacecraft, full-sized mockup in two weeks.’ Now, that spacecraft is up to 23 feet high, and 112 feet in diameter. Just the probe was 9 feet in diameter. I accepted the job and we worked day and night on it. I had all seven of my workers on that one. The Saturday morning it was due, we were finishing up at 4 o’clock in the morning. Most people didn’t believe it, but you have to have that kind of can-do attitude.

“Retiring? I’m 65 now, I’m not planning to retire so far. When I retire I’m dead. I don’t like to be sitting. I like my business.”