My Advise for the Novice!

Well hello there, I thought I'd share My Helpful Hints, Tips and Advise here for the novice. Actually these are not your usual hints and such. What it is, is how I think about how I create My kit-bashes and some other stuff. I'm no master sculptor nor customizer, saying that, I'm quite happy with just bashing figures, it's cool to have My own characters. I like the male figures but I equally enjoy the female figures if not more, in fact because they are female and that they are funner to work around with then the males because you can give them more clothing and accessories and even change their hair styles. All of this is from My experience. Others may have different views, ways and whatever else of how they kit-bash but this is Me. I will post the questions then answer them to keep it simple.

PLEASE NOTE: Now, here goes, this is the way I think, I'm not an expert at bashing nor am I an expert at doing these helpful pages either so please keep that in mind when you read the on goings throughout.

Q. #1. What is the most important basic thing to know about Kit-Bashing?

To have a passion for action figures and to create new ones. If one spends much money on one single figure or even two with the head sculpt, body, many clothing items and accessories (as fun as the hobby is, it can be quite expensive) and you decide you cannot do it for reasons like it is more complicated then you originally thought or just doesn't interest you as much as you had hoped or some other reason then you will be stuck with what you bought and will have no use for it and will have to sell it. This is something you do not want. You want to make sure you want to do it and understand the hobby.

Q. #2. What is the purpose of kit-bashing? I mean it looks like it could be fun but just seems to hard to get into to enjoy it? Is this true?

Just ask yourself this: What is the purpose of anything? Kit-bashing can open a new world for one person. If you like creating things such as characters making them up as you go and changing their looks thus having your own personal line of action figures then this is truly a great purpose for kit-bashing!

Q. #3. I collect 1/6 figures from Sideshow and the like but now I'm thinking of getting into the 1/6 kit-bashing as well, it seems far difficult to get everything together, how will I know where to find parts?

Compared to some hobbies, this hobby is relatively unknown, it is indeed growing but none the less very slow and very small. That being said, there is really only a handful of stores online that provides loose bodies, heads, clothing etc. Some of the places to get you started that is good is Nouveau, OJI, Monkey Depot, BlackOps, Store-Rooms and of course many places on eBay. Be on the look out as these places also have eBay stores with different items than their web store counterparts.

OK, I saw some stores with a lot of items but I can't take it all in right now, it's like there so much in so little time! What do I do?

Well, in My experience, this is a hobby that cannot be rushed, it is important to have ideas of what you want and how you want it. If you just buy things with no idea of what those items will go to then it just won't work out. It is quite important to envision and plan out your ideas, your project will work out much better that way.

Q. #4. Which sex should I chose from, Male or Female or which one is easier to work with?

With the sex selection you can do either of your choosing or both for your reasons. There is plenty to choose from out there on the Cyber-Market. Both can be equally fun to make and they can also be equally as easy or difficult, it all depends on what you want.

Q. #5. I like this hobby but not sure what kind of bashes to make? What kind of ideas is there?

It all depends on what you like. Do you like action heroes? Cool looking dudes & babes? Did you see somebody off of the street that for some reason you liked their looks? Do you have a favorite actor or actress or entertainment personality or sportsmen/athlete? There's plenty of guns and weapons in 1:6 scale and unofficial head sculpts that are inspired made by some companies as well as countless types of clothing. That there is just a handful of ideas to get one started.

Q. #6. What is your way of doing your bashes? Seems there is something behind the way you do it? Most are complicated characters right?

Indeed there is, I'm a fan of many actors and like many types of women. My bashes mostly consist of characters with guns among other weapons cuz I like people armed for action but occasionally there is some that is all on their own. If you are going to make character bashes it is important to make them a personality with a nice story so therefore your character will be your own, like no other and one of a kind (OOAK). I envision them, think who they resemble, give them names that I mix up then referenced to their resemblance but if it is obvious it's somebody well known I intend them just to be a new character all together. There is sometimes instances taht I just a make a new character from scratch and just think of a proper name  for them and give them a story of a subject I like. Sometimes the way they look can give you some decent ideas of what they could be or even should be. You can also visit message boards and see what others have done, there is some brilliant customizers out there far greater at this than Me that can also help you with ideas. Sure, you can do this too but everybody is different and have their different ways they work around things so you can do it the way I do or your own, it is your choice!

Q. #7. I see that there is many types of male and female bodies but seen that there is none that are unique like giant or children size, is this the case?

Yes, companies usual don't make it a habit making a kid size or a giant size 1:6 figure unless it is for a licenses for accuracy like Predator & Alien for instance, but some are making more muscular bodies for males and some companies are making alternate female bodies for fantasy but other than that, that's just the way it is...for now.

Q. #8. I live outside the states and seems impossible to get 1:6 stuff, is this true?

Not at all, whether your in the USA or not, the web stores usualy ship anywhere, some even free shipping! This is one thing that is beauty when it come to the Net.

Q. #9. I see male and female head sculpts have different neck joints, how can I be sure which proper body fits each respected head?

Good question. For males, if you see a wide neck post and the head has a sculpted neck with a large hole, it may fit as this is the type that goes on that type of neck. Sometimes however, if it doesn't fit the head hole you may have to cut/trim it down a bit and may have to require glue. If this is the case then make sure that you want that combination. If there is a pointy neck post sticking out of the neck, this is for heads with no neck with a small hole under the head, the same is for some female figures, however, if there is neck joint with a ball, it will require a head with no neck with a large hole in it, the same may require for male heads too but is not guaranteed to fit all so you must be cautious.

Q. #10. I got some clothing that is either too tight or too loose, what do I do?

In My experience, this does happen, when you think you got it right you may not. What I do is just see if there is another way it can work or just keep it for another figure. I don't recommend that you return it or throw it away, you may need it later!

 Q. #11. What about hands and feet? How can I tell which ones will fit properly?

These had been nagging subjects for Me for a while too. For hands, if you see ball posts for either sex that means that they require hands with no posts and just holes. If there is no ball posts and just a hole that means it will require a hand with long posts such as BBI. As for as feet goes, if they are ball jointed they can be removed and others can take their place or even boot feet can fit, if they are hinged it is possible to remove them via a small ankle peg but hard to find replacements for and these kinds of ankles cannot fit in boot feet boots/shoes. Speaking of boot feet boots/shoes that most of the time are for females, how you can tell if they are boot feet is look at the pictures of them, sometimes the ball joint is revealed and other times you can just tell because of the size of the actual shoe cuz a 1:6 foot couldn't fit in that small space.

Q. #12. The majority of 1:6 action figures I see is Caucasian, is there any other kind to choose from?

Yes, there is Asian male & female ones but only a very small amount of African-American and Hispanic of both sexes to choose from. I'm personally hoping this will change in the near future that more companies will make a much more variety of humans such as African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Islanders to have a much greater potential of making better variable collections!

Q. #13. Is there any more advice that help a novice succeed at this hobby?

As a matter of fact there is. Always take your time at choosing what you want, think to yourself, envision, make sure you make the right decision. If you cannot decide and have multiple ideas that you think will work then do it, go ahead and and get it all that is in on your mind, that way you'll know if your multi-ideas worked or not. If there is a certain item that a store or seller has only one of and you feel you really want it then I suggest you get it, sometimes in this hobby opportunity only knocks once on that door unfortunately.


Thank you for reading, I hope this will help you, if there is any questions then just reply in this topic!

Great Tips Brandon

Thanks Dan, I was hoping they were gonna be helpful to at least one person.

Lots of fantastic tips mate, great guide 

Thanks Dal, I was hoping it could help someone.

I am keeeping this in my Favories bar Amigo

G-Force

gforce wrote:

I am keeeping this in my Favories bar Amigo

G-Force

Whoa, I really appreciate that and I am glad it helped you  

I seemed to have missed this the first time around   

Definitely some great tips, Brandon!   It's very much appreciated  

Cheers!

clivvers wrote:

I seemed to have missed this the first time around   

Definitely some great tips, Brandon!   It's very much appreciated  

Cheers!

That is OK and I am so glad that it can help you!

I hope that I had helped somebody here with their upcoming project, please let Me know that I did