What specialized tools are needed for kitbahing, over and beyond what is already used in normal kit construction. Any? What about material like styrene and others. What are good sources for these tools and materials? Any books on the subject?
Thanks!
Simple answer
Xacto knife
razor saw
miter box
drill pinvise and bits
hobby file set
cloths pins or hobby clamps if ya wanna get fancy
masking tape
CA or glue of your choice.
Thats all, thats all I started with…I built this in large scale with these tools by kitbashing a Bachmann flatcar, two powered trucks and an AMC The General plastic kit.
For styrene, Evergreen Products has several types of sheet styrene avalible, this and the other items you mentioned, any good hobby shop worth its salt will carry it and give you the help that you are looking for. plus keep an eye on this post, by the end of the weekend you’ll get more help here than you bargained for [:D]
Hi Dave,
I recently completed my first two kitbashes. What I’ve discovered is that you only need ordinary tools as used in general construction of kits. However, what I’ve found is that if you cannot view a proposed structure from the back, because it will be placed close to a backdrop, that you can use the back walls of a building to create some interesting kitbashes. For example, I built the Keljan brewery but instead of building the main structure as a rectangle, about 12" by 9" as set forth in the plan, I used the back walls to kitba***he structure into a large L-shaped structure. I bought large sheets of styrene from a local plastics company (only about $12.00) and simply traced the back of the building, scribed it with a hobby knife, snapped the piece from the sheet and glued it in place. To ensure the corners are strong, I bought some L-shaped plastic from a hobby shop and glued a few 1-inch pieces in the corners, giving the extra strength needed.
You’d be surprised what you can come up with by just using those back walls. I use masking tape to “play” with the walls…by taping them temporarily in place, you can quickly get an idea as to what is possible.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
I’m into extreme kit bashing and all I use is a claw hammer!
anybody else?
you can scratchbuild and kitbash using clay, body filler, wood and other substances. A Dremel with a variety of tips to shape whatever you’re doing. Very few have taken advantage of this route.
For example, I built a water tower in a couple of hours: http://davidvergun.tripod.com/index3.html
using coffee stir sticks, a PVC tube, wire, and a piece of pine wood for the spout, carved to shape with a Dremel grinder
Dave Vergun
Metal straightedge for cutting & scribing against.
Scrap blocks of foam for helping support items while gluing.
Extra blades for the Exacto knife. (Sharp!)
Good lighting.
Wayne
all the above plus my favorite kit to use for kit bashing tall buildings is the Model Power Mt. Vernon Manufactering Co…this kit is very versitile to use for the kitbashed walls and tall structure parts…it’s pretty cheap too so purchasing a lot of the kits at one time won’t break your bank account…Chuck[:D]
Since we are working in 3 dimensions, a good machinist square or three can be a real boon to getting a nice straight cut.
At the very least, they are helpful in penciling in cut line on masking tape placed over where the cut will be made (in the case where you don’t have a seam or abutment to align the cut with).
Masking tape is also good as a protection/warning test where you are sanding one area but don’t want to risk removing detail in an adjacent area. Cover the protected area with the tape, start sanding/filing - the tape protects against a few mishaps, and when it gets really ragged replace it with a fresh piece (and try working on your sanding techniques [:)] )