Living The 1/6-World: Kitbashing 101
What exactly IS a "kitbash"? And while my much earlier posting was a a look at The Anatomy of a Kitbash, today I will present to you folks, straight-up simplified steps to achieving a kitbash 1/6th figure! First, we start with existing figures and accessories / clothes, as all kitbashes inevitably starts with!
CHOOSE ME! CHOOSE ME!
Essentially a "kitbash" is the usage of existing items, mashed together, to create another look, without the requirement to perform painting in any form (which by then, dare you call it a "custom", IMO). Shown here is a 21st Century "Villain" figure-in-box, and a blister-carded jacket & pants suit from Dragon Models. Choose your kitbash base, folks! In this instance, I grabbed whatever was situated around my work-desk, for a quick-demo :p
BE UNAFRAID TO GET NEKKID AND SWAP CLOTHES
We need a figure, of course, and the chosen clothes to swap with his existing ones. If given a chance, we could swap his shoes too, but taking the boots off this figure might prove more daunting than I expected it to be, so the boots stay :p
And while the TUS body ("The Ultimate Soldier") body looks positively crude compared to the multiple-articulated makes these days, there are a few things I liked about it; (1) The variety given in it's bulk-body form, (2) weirdly, I like the thickened-"neck", and (3) The "character" headsculpt. But that's just me :)
HUH? YOU MEAN THAT'S IT?
Yeh, essentially, that's a "kitbash"! Not exactly "rocket-science", is it? The only downside of it all, is the search … nay, HUNT for loose items to use for kitbashes, which some retailers of 1/6th-scale still might offer both in-store, or online.
Kitbashing also utilizes the notion of "adaptability", whereby existing items might conceivably pass off as other items (the quality of which unfortunately is in the eye of the beholder lol). For example, the pilot's kaki-cargo-pants might well serve as a casual pants, while the boots might serve as a utilitarian urban pair of boots.
And instead of the blue pilot's jacket, I decided to go for SHAMO's cam jacket - because (A) it looks "cooler", and (B) The figure's hands cannot be removed, so harder fit for the blue jacket hahahaha
ACCESSORIZE ME
As much as a lady's handbag or shoes might totally switch the look for the time of the day and events (don't deny this, embrace it as your female partner has in her life), so too are accessories for your kitbashes that maketh the character. Give him gun, and he might be a "robber". Add a detective's badge and he might be an undercover agent. Give him a teddy bear in the other hand, and he may well be a father searching desperately for his daughter, isn't it?
But yes, it is all in the yes of the beholder, or in this case, the "kitbasher" that is YOU! Have a swell Toy-Day, folks!
CHOOSE ME! CHOOSE ME!
Essentially a "kitbash" is the usage of existing items, mashed together, to create another look, without the requirement to perform painting in any form (which by then, dare you call it a "custom", IMO). Shown here is a 21st Century "Villain" figure-in-box, and a blister-carded jacket & pants suit from Dragon Models. Choose your kitbash base, folks! In this instance, I grabbed whatever was situated around my work-desk, for a quick-demo :p
BE UNAFRAID TO GET NEKKID AND SWAP CLOTHES
We need a figure, of course, and the chosen clothes to swap with his existing ones. If given a chance, we could swap his shoes too, but taking the boots off this figure might prove more daunting than I expected it to be, so the boots stay :p
And while the TUS body ("The Ultimate Soldier") body looks positively crude compared to the multiple-articulated makes these days, there are a few things I liked about it; (1) The variety given in it's bulk-body form, (2) weirdly, I like the thickened-"neck", and (3) The "character" headsculpt. But that's just me :)
HUH? YOU MEAN THAT'S IT?
Yeh, essentially, that's a "kitbash"! Not exactly "rocket-science", is it? The only downside of it all, is the search … nay, HUNT for loose items to use for kitbashes, which some retailers of 1/6th-scale still might offer both in-store, or online.
Kitbashing also utilizes the notion of "adaptability", whereby existing items might conceivably pass off as other items (the quality of which unfortunately is in the eye of the beholder lol). For example, the pilot's kaki-cargo-pants might well serve as a casual pants, while the boots might serve as a utilitarian urban pair of boots.
And instead of the blue pilot's jacket, I decided to go for SHAMO's cam jacket - because (A) it looks "cooler", and (B) The figure's hands cannot be removed, so harder fit for the blue jacket hahahaha
ACCESSORIZE ME
As much as a lady's handbag or shoes might totally switch the look for the time of the day and events (don't deny this, embrace it as your female partner has in her life), so too are accessories for your kitbashes that maketh the character. Give him gun, and he might be a "robber". Add a detective's badge and he might be an undercover agent. Give him a teddy bear in the other hand, and he may well be a father searching desperately for his daughter, isn't it?
But yes, it is all in the yes of the beholder, or in this case, the "kitbasher" that is YOU! Have a swell Toy-Day, folks!
