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04.05.10

The Kidbash store is up and running again. Check back soon as we begin to add new items. 

Wednesday
Aug182010

At the end of the day, it all comes down to creative thinking

D/L here with another sporadic-blog post.   Things are starting to normalize behind the scenes at Kidbash, and in my own life, so hopefully regular posts will become a part of your week again in the near future!   Sharp-eyed Kidbash-fans may have noticed that I tweeted a few times about starting “Project Command Center.”   This is a HUGE, but relatively not-labor intensive side-project I’m working on.

I think it’s a safe bet that the majority of readers either knows a little bit about Sci-Fi epic Star Wars, or they may be familiar with robot-runner-ups the Gobots, many of you may even know a bit about both.  Well the Command Center is the beast that bridges the two:

atat8commandcenter

The AT-AT Imperial Walker (most notable from “The Empire Strikes Back”) came first, and in the early 80’s Tonka (back then not part of Hasbro, good at trucks, and soullessly lazy at everything else) blatantly ripped off the basic design of the AT-AT for their “Command Center” base for the heroic Guardian Gobots.

I’m betting it was 1-part “Hey this looks cool, let’s borrow from here” and 1-part “Kids LOVE the AT-AT, and not many got one, even if they don’t like Go-Bots, they might buy a Commander Center as a cheap alternative.”  The scale of the thing is actually almost better suited to 80’s Kenner Star Wars figures than it is actual Gobots, for that matter.

Well, recently Hasbro (Who in the kind of corporate licensing synergy that just gets me all giddy now owns Tonka, the Go-Bots, and hence the design to the Command Center, also has the Star Wars action figure license from Lucas) recently released a OMG-It’s-2-feet-tall lights-and-sounds crazy as all hell $100 AT-AT (Which follows last years similar scale-and-price Falcon….can we get a new FortMax already??).  I took one look at this thing, and KNEW I had to get one and make it a Command Center (I DROOOLED over the Falcon, but could not justify it, couldn’t figure out what Cobra –the one 1:18 line of characters I collect- would do with it ;)).  I’m a playset-nut, so I HAD to do this, I had no choice…

The toy is whomping good fun, and satisfies all the dreams I had as a kid of what an AT-AT toy would be like (The early Kenner one ain’t up to snuff on that front, even as a kid, I spied one in person once, and was a little underwhelmed…).  I’ll quickly re-present the phone shots from the twitter feed which will give you a sense of scale:

Monogram Spay-C

Dry-fit Monogram-Model Spay-C in the cockpit…she’s about 3” tall.

Super Couper

Hubcap, playing the part of Super Couper, chilling in the crew-compartment.

Turbo

Marvel Cross Overs Iron Man-Car, destined to become Turbo, sitting comfortably in the launch bay that was designed to launch speeder-bikes.

Yeah…this thing is amazing!

Now, it would be very tempting to leave well enough alone, the two vehicles’ designs are close enough that I could just man the AT-AT with Gobots and call it a day…but where would be the fun in that?

Which brings us to the kitbashing principle of the day.   To my eye, the elements that make the Command Center the Command Center and NOT the AT-AT are the red-dome cockpit up front, and the bright-red stripes and raised-window-things along its flanks.

So I took some measurements and headed out into the world to find some parts that would work.  Because the AT-AT is huge, I had to think VERY creatively, that Cockpit cover would have to be especially massive.   I was hoping to find a giant-clear-red-shampoo bottle in the right shape or something of the sort, but no luck for a few days.

Today on my lunch break, I went where I knew I would end up:  The Container Store.  This is another one of those, making-killer-robots-from-girly stuff moments.   Home Depot and Sears Hardware are great for little mechanical greebles, but if you want beautiful and elegant plastic forms, The Container Store (or it’s like) is the place to go!

I had to browse a few aisles to find what I needed, but naturally I did:

Windows

First up (currently just scotch-taped on to test it out), the Container Store’s greatest gift to kitbashers: their clear-plastic “gift box” range.  Recently the purple variety has become popular among Transformer fans as quick-and-dirty Energon Cubes.   You can even mix-and-match the clear and the purple to create those “filling the cubes” dioramas.  Going from .39 to 3.29 or something for the big ones, these are a very economical resource for anything you might need that’s clear, colored and square’ish.   They’re doing a great job as Commander Center-hatches already, in my opinion.

The coup-de-gras though, was finding my cockpit.   Not available in red, I’ll have to tint it, but it’s jest about as perfect as I could have hoped for:

Cockpit

Big ol’ measuring scoop.  Right shape, perfect size, once I whack off the handle and do some detail and paint work, this is going to really complete the “transformation” from AT-AT into Command Center.

So next time you’re out shopping with your lady (or if you are a lady, next time you drag your man along for a house-wares run) don’t forget to keep your eyes open for the shapes, colors, and sizes you need for whatever project you’re working on.   You may even be inspired to start a new project!

new command center

Speaking of Star Wars….I HAVE to write a post about how the early X-Wing ‘bashers birthed our hobby…

Got any massive-scale plans of your own?    Tell us about it in the comments below!

Tuesday
Jul202010

Resource Report: The Jawbone's connected to the head bone...

Slowly slowly ramping back up, new house is still in disarray, but at least I can spend some time at the computer each night now.

Anyway while perusing the local independent educational toy shops (There are 3!  I am so in Yuppie suburbia now...) I came across a building toy that I hadn't previously known about.  As you may remember, I'm REALLY into using building toys in my kitbashes, especially when I get all scratch-build'y.  So needless to saw, I was excited to find something new: 

JB01

It's called "Jaw Bones" and at first glance it probably looks like any other multi-colored multi-shape building toy.   It does build glorious random monstrosities as well as most of its competitors:

JB02

But the Unique thing with this system is that just about every single connection point is a RATCHET joint!

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Just look at those glorious teeth!

jb05

Once properly seated they take a LOT of force to move too, definitely enough strength there to bear real weight on real joints in a kitbash project.

There are simply post-and-hole connections to add more flexibility, and even THESE are designed to ratchet (Though with much less oomph compared to the toothy ones):

jb06

You can see the tiny little teeth on the yellow-spokes above.  There's also this dodecahedron piece (I'm guessing. I didn't count the sides...) as well as a "wheel" connector that are fun for building, but not useful for 'bashes, as they don't feature ratcheting connections:

jb08

But my FAVORITE part in this system is that elbow-joint pictured above:

jb09

It's relatively small and compact, pre-built, and has the best ratcheting mechanism of the whole set.  Its center-hub also ratchets with the spokes pictured earlier:

jb11

The set I purchased contained 100 pieces and cost me $20 at the local over-priced boutique, which compared with Revoltech joints or slicing-and-dicing existing figures, gives you a lot of ratchet bang for your buck!

The only downside to the product is size.  The parts are a little on the chunky side, so you're not going to be scratch-building a "scout"- or "deluxe"-scale figure with these, but once you get into the larger scale projects these will work nicely.   And as I mentioned, they're TOUGH ratchets, so weight bearing at those larger scales won't be an issue!

You got any day-glow preschool toys that you want to turn into scale-instruments-of-destruction?  Let us know about it in the comments below! 

 

Thursday
Jul152010

Five faces of a garage kit goodness!

Still dealing with new house issues (The new workshop got flooded by a faulty A/C...whoops), but here's another short one to keep your feed active:

while back I started working on my Wonderfest MetalHawk kit.   He's going to be an on-going project, and any time I make some progress, I'm going to share it with you here on the blog.  Lots to be learned there for sure!

However, the Wonderfest kit is a high-end Japanese resin kit that is officially licensed and hardly qualifies as a "garage kit."  So in the interest of showing off the many different styles of "kits" that can be "bashed" I plan to work on a few different projects.    MetalHawk is the high-ground, fancy, expensive, and a lot of work.   

Today in the mail I got project # 2.   Basic, no-frills, but also GORGEOUS, and a true labor of love by the creator.  This is a REAL garage-kit, likely even cast in an actual garage.   And I couldn't be more excited:

DSCF1133

That ain't no easter-egg, it's a Quinetesson!  Created by the artist who calls himself Odeean, this thing is old school G1 cartoon madness, and I've wanted a figure like this since 1987.  I've tried my hand at scratch-building a few myself over the years, but never landed anywhere good.

DSCF1134

The sculpt on this kit is WONDERFUL though, and is exactly what I always dreamed of creating.   Not as slick as what Takara might pump out, but for a hand-sculpted work of art, this is pretty darn near perfect.   Here's a shot of a semi-finished kit by the creator:

quint_animated_300px

It's just gorgeous, ain't it?    The thing is big too, it can look Voyagers in the eye with ease.

But even more exciting for me is a little troop-building joy:

DSCF1135

G1 Gnaw has mostly eluded my collection, I've gotten ONE in the last 10 years of adult-collecting, and never had one as a kid.  But I LOVE troop-building, and I've always wanted Sharkticon hordes.   I bought 2 from Odeean, which ain't a horde, but it's a darn sight closer than I was.   I also think his sculpt is SPOT-ON closer to the cartoon model and at a better scale anyway, so I'm very very pleased to own these guys!

Still doesn't explain what kins of sharks Floro Deary was looking at in the aquarium, but that is a mystery that may never be solved.....

Monday
Jul122010

Botcon Custom Show 2, the PowerMaster Primes

Still getting settled into the new house, but I FINALLY have my computer set up again, so here's another quick ad hoc blog post tide ya'll over until I can get back on the horse!

PMOP1

One of the interesting things that happened in the custom show was that we got 3 very good, very different, Power Master Optimus Prime (Or Super God Ginrai, if you're a JTF snob like me) customs.

pmop3

Each was sort of unique, one being Kidbash-supporter Tgping's 'Classics' styled armor set for the Mega-Scale Prime, one being a G1-Articulation-and-Build-Up type project, and one being a mostly-scratch-built anime-style figure based on the much-maligned 2-Pack Classics Prime.

PMOP2

I simply cannot pick a favorite, they are each FABULOUSLY cool in their own way, and so distinct from one another.   It really shows that there is always MUCH more than one approach to any custom, character, project, or build.  An open-mind and a willingness to take risks is your only limitation!

 

Saturday
Jun262010

Quick BotCon Report.

Internet connection is less than ideal here, but I wanted to post SOMETHING.

Here's a few shots from the Custom show, more to come on this :)

 

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