Customizing
Kitbashing involves combining or modifying parts from one or more kits to make a custom model. The term has been extended to apply to models and toys such as Transformers that are not sold as kits. Kitbashing is sometimes called customizing.
The purpose of a kitbash is to obtain something that can't be bought, to improve something that can, or simply to engage in a refreshing exercise of creativity. Kitbashing is also frequently used in the toy industry by designers to develop "proof of concept" models to showcase an idea.
Kitbashing may be as simple as repainting a small detail. It may also be quite extensive, resulting in a product that in no way resembles any of its original sources. The derived parts are frequently augmented by scratchbuilt ones, and any part from any source, whether it is a Lego brick, a plastic tank tread, or a Barbie doll head, can be part of a kitbash.
As the Transformers brand expands, the customs market is becoming increasingly profitable for non-official companies. Searching for "Custom Transformers" on eBay will produce a variety of fan-created items, some of which have sold for thousands of dollars. Reprolabels have been around for many years, starting off by selling replica G1 sticker sets. As advanced casting and mold-making technology becomes more readily available, a number of fans have turned to mass-producing their creations. These range from model kits of the Quintessons to fully transformable model kits of Wheelie and Cyclonus and "upgrade" kits to add extra parts to Classics Cliffjumper and Ultra Magnus. As these are not officially licensed Hasbro/Takara product, they are generally beyond the purview of this Wiki, so we'll just leave it at "Yes, we know they exist and yes, they're neat."
Kitbashing in official capacities
Kitbashing is actually used in official capacities.
Mock-ups
At times, Hasbro's design teams resort to kitbashing to show new possible concepts to their bosses. Of note, some planned Generation 2 redecos of the Seeker and Sideswipe molds were found as hand-painted mock-ups and put up for sale on ebay. Also, at BotCon 2007, the "Not Gonna Happen" display featured mock-ups of a planned "military vehicles" line, which were actually military vehicle toys or models kitbashed onto various Transformers parts. [1] [2]
Customizing class
Starting with BotCon 2006, Fun Publications began offering a customizing class to attendees that allowed them to paint and assemble their own exclusives.
Internal links
External links
- Kitbash Clearing House - A collection of links to many Transformers kitbash projects.
- Dave's Guide to Kitbashing - Dave Van Domelen explains the basics.
- Custom Masters - Lots of Action Master repaints to make G1 characters
- Tformers customs gallery - Tformers gallery for fan customs
- TFW2005 Radicons, TFW2005's site where Don Figueroa is known to hang out
- Free Style, a Japanese website of kitbashing Transformers
- Action Figures Customs blog
- Jin Saotome's Kitbashing Guides
