Customs vs Kit-bashes

[spamn]

I for one am a kit-basher , I cant sculpt or sew. But the figures I make I consider custom because I made them for me.

I would consider a kitbash a form of custom.

Not all customs are kitbashes, but all kitbashes are customs kind of thing.

Yeah the point that's getting lost is that kitbashes are definitely a type of custom figure. There are definitely customs that aren't kitbashes, but kitbashes are customs. Not sure if I made that clear in any of my posts.

[garagesale]

Most of the time when folks in here describe their custom as a kitbash, they're trying to be a little bit humble, as they know they didn't craft any (or very few) of the parts.

I could see people on some other boards going, "That's not a custom, it's a kitbash!" just to hurt someone's feelings. We can do better than that, tho. And we usually do!

Yay, Mego!

JamesD

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

Yeah, it doesn't seem like much of a distinction with customs and kit-bashes, but if you consider the source of the thread (the 1/6 community), some of those folks are nuts and don't believe something is custom unless you wove the material from cotton you grew and harvested.
What about just tweaking an existing figure? I wanted to add a zipper to the front of my FC Falcon figure or some military gear to my 9" Captain America. I don't consider this a CUSTOM! but it is, at least, customized (?)
Besides, working in the 1/6 scale, you can buy ANYTHING. In mego scale you can buy ALOT! In 9" scale you can buy next to NOTHING. Cast offs from other scales mostly.

[Sandman9580]

I think of them as all being customs, and it's simply the case that some customs are more "customized" than others. If I purchase a bunch of parts and throw them together, I think of that figure as a "custom" - but if anyone wants to call it a kit-bash, that's fine with me; it is a kit-bash. I just think of it as the first-step on a continuum. Like you could call it a Level 1 custom, and something that's almost entirely hand-made and perfect-looking would be a Level 10 custom.

We already have the ability to assess our own skills (as well as the skills of others), and be modest about them when we need to be. There's no problem with calling them different things, I just don't think there's much of a "need" to further shoehorn them into rigid definitional categories. There are customs, and then there are customs.

[cmhorse]

Imo they are both customs, just different levels of skill. In the model horse hobby, in which I do paticipate, they have simple customs and drastic customs. I have done kit bashing and I have done more involved customs where I have rerooted hair and made the clothing(I couldn't it sculpt if my life depended on it). It takes imagination to be able to take ready made items, put them together to make a new figure.

K

[ctc]

>some of those folks are nuts and don't believe something is custom unless you wove the material from cotton you grew and harvested

I've seen folks like that for a bunch of different branches of the nerdly arts. I think it's bad 'cos if you get too wrapped around the axle about that kind of distinction, you start putting limits on things and can miss out on a lot of potential. I can't count how many times someone did a simple repaint on an existing head and ended up with something that looked completely different. No fuss, little muss, completely effective. And for me the end result is all-important, not so much how you get there.

Don C.

[Boywonder0]

I can't count how many times someone did a simple repaint on an existing head and ended up with something that looked completely different. No fuss, little muss, completely effective. And for me the end result is all-important, not so much how you get there.
Don C.

Absolutely true! Plus I would like to add, and I know I may get bashed because of it, that kit bashed figures look more "real" and ""natural than fully custom figures. Most fully custom figures are made using "cloth boots" and resin casted heads that you can tell far far away that were not factory made... Either casting flaws or finishing or painting will scream "Hand Made" and not factory made...

[ctc]

>Either casting flaws or finishing or painting will scream "Hand Made" and not factory made

That depends too. Some folks can make figures that you'd think were real people if they didn't tell you. Some folks make stuff that looks.... well.... And a lot of folks prefer one style over another.

Don C.

[apes3978]

Agreed, they are customs... Any time you alter an existing figure you are modifying (or "customizing") it...

It's like someone who customizes cars or motorcycles... More than likely they didn't build the vehicle but when they give it a deluxe paint job or add chrome, etc. they are customizing it...

I for one am a kit-basher , I cant sculpt or sew. But the figures I make I consider custom because I made them for me.

[The Bat]

It's like someone who customizes cars or motorcycles... More than likely they didn't build the vehicle but when they give it a deluxe paint job or add chrome, etc. they are customizing it...

And that...is a PERFECT analogy! Right on Brother.

[Bizarro Amy]

Absolutely true! Plus I would like to add, and I know I may get bashed because of it, that kit bashed figures look more "real" and ""natural than fully custom figures. Most fully custom figures are made using "cloth boots" and resin casted heads that you can tell far far away that were not factory made... Either casting flaws or finishing or painting will scream "Hand Made" and not factory made...

Not necessarily. If you finish the resin well(fill in holes, sand until smooth) and use a good topcoat to get rid of the shine(like Testor's dulcote), a well-painted resin head looks just as professional as using an existing vinyl head.
Same thing with cloth boots and accessories. As long as there's a clean, tight sewing job, it could easliy pass off as factory made. The reason cloth boots are obvious on customs is because we know that vintage Megos had plastic ones.