Has anyone here tried 'Kit-Bashing'?

MBwannaB

No, I don’t mean building up a kit, then smashing it to smithereens… The term ‘Kit Bashing’ refers to taking a stock kit, tossing aside the instructions, and MOC-ing with the parts it contains. True kit-bashing does not mean swiping bricks and elements from the kit to combine with parts for another project, nor does it mean introducing additional ‘outside’ parts to the ones in the kit. I tried this yesterday with the simple kit #31015 ‘Emerald Express’ from the Creator series. It is amazing how many different ‘builds’ can be produced within the confines of this one kit!

cody6268

Did that with a Lego ambulance--twice.  I first did it with the Prisoner Transport van from five years ago, then with the ambulance from three years ago.   At the time of the about third or fourth iteration of my "Brickfield Medic 5" ambulance it was a Type 1, then when I got the 4431 ambulance, for a time, it was the "second ambulance" in my Lego Rescue Squad, then the two got combined.   

madforLEGO

Don't some Brick conventions do this as a contest (ie the best alt design wins something)?  I think LUGs may do this as well, I think some even some team building companies use LEGO and have people build with it as well.
However I think it is a good idea if you have a bunch of kids over for a birthday party or something and need a group type activity.

binaryeye

I think this is usually referred to as an alternate build. There are a lot on Rebrickable. Amazing Vehicles and More Amazing Vehicles are books that each have 10 models that can be built from #5867 Super Speedster.

I often try an alternate build when I take a set apart. Here's my attempt with #6862-2 Superman vs. Power Armor Lex:

MBwannaB

Thanks for the responses. I only used the term kit-bashing as that is what it is called in the model rocketry world. binaryeye, how did you post this pic?

binaryeye

MBwannaB said:

binaryeye, how did you post this pic?

Well, the URL option of the image attachment function didn't work for me. So I just did it in HTML.

drdavewatford

binaryeye said:

I think this is usually referred to as an alternate build. There are a lot on Rebrickable. Amazing Vehicles and More Amazing Vehicles are books that each have 10 models that can be built from #5867 Super Speedster.

Spot on - I reviewed those two books here and here and constructed a number of the alternate builds along the way. I have to say I was impressed - some of the alternate models are excellent.

binaryeye

It's remarkable that the author was able to get 20 different models out of one set of parts. I have the second book and was pretty amazed by that alone. Granted, the parts in the set are quite versatile compared to other (even Creator) sets, some of the models are similar (e.g. the cars), and some of the models are fragile compared to a typical LEGO set. But I was really impressed with the final result in most cases (specifically the F1 car and the semi-truck cab) and it was neat to see techniques that generally aren't used in official sets.

TheLoneTensor

binaryeye said:

I think this is usually referred to as an alternate build. There are a lot on Rebrickable. Amazing Vehicles and More Amazing Vehicles are books that each have 10 models that can be built from #5867 Super Speedster.

Kitbashing doesn't really refer to alternate builds so much, but more augmenting, tweaking, improving, building-upon, etc. an existing model.  The term is really common in model railroading (and elsewhere I'm sure) where say you bought a model of a steel mill, and instead added some stuff (walls, signage, equipment, etc.) to make it into a brewery.  Another example is if you bought a locomotive and replaced the motor to add more power, or digital control, or tweaked the boiler details to look like a particular prototype engine, etc.  The adjustments many of us made motorizing #79111 would be examples of Lego kitbashing.

While we're on this subject, another big concept is scratchbuilding, which is basically just that, building from scratch with no instructions or base model.  An example would be building the aforementioned brewery from raw balsa wood, metal sheets & tubes and such.  This would more of a true MOC in the Lego world.

ACWWGal2011

TheLoneTensor said:

binaryeye said:

I think this is usually referred to as an alternate build. There are a lot on Rebrickable. Amazing Vehicles and More Amazing Vehicles are books that each have 10 models that can be built from #5867 Super Speedster.

Kitbashing doesn't really refer to alternate builds so much, but more augmenting, tweaking, improving, building-upon, etc. an existing model.  The term is really common in model railroading (and elsewhere I'm sure) where say you bought a model of a steel mill, and instead added some stuff (walls, signage, equipment, etc.) to make it into a brewery.  Another example is if you bought a locomotive and replaced the motor to add more power, or digital control, or tweaked the boiler details to look like a particular prototype engine, etc.  The adjustments many of us made motorizing #79111 would be examples of Lego kitbashing.

While we're on this subject, another big concept is scratchbuilding, which is basically just that, building from scratch with no instructions or base model.  An example would be building the aforementioned brewery from raw balsa wood, metal sheets & tubes and such.  This would more of a true MOC in the Lego world.

As far as KB'ing they originally mentioned, I haven't done it. I've had a couple cases of partially doing it but I needed parts outside the set.

as far as KB'ing in the form of improving, I did that to the garbage truck when I added tiles on the inside so the trash would come out better. And I'd do something to improve the melting room set and that 10 dollar chima lion set if it wouldn't be for that both are likely candidates for being parted out. lion is filled with great tan parts and the melting room is with the lego movie and I care for neither that set or the movie. The only thing saving my 2-in-1 models from the parts bin is the fact that I love the wacky designs.

As far as the SB method, that's pretty much what I do all the time when I moc. I start with an idea and end with a finished thing.

MBwannaB

I just completed the Melting Room set, and after comparing it with the movie version, I found one thing I really didn't like. In the film, the bot is seen pushing the lever from atop a pedestal at the same height as the 'laser' gun. The kit includes the lever in the right spot, but the control console is at floor level, hinged to the main floor plate. So, I modified things a bit. The lower control console was removed and replaced by a 4x4 grey plate. A column of 2x2 black bricks was built up on top of this and supports another 4x4 grey plate. This serves as a raised platform to hold the robot and the newly positioned control console. I also removed the 'dial panel' plate from the console and replaced it with the 2 lever controls, just as in the film. Now, with the bot minifig atop the platform with his hand on one of the levers, the scene is much more true to the movie. I plan on further modifying the kit to include the bot seen in the film at the back of the laser, supposedly aiming it. I need to figure out another platform sytem for this one. I will probably go as far as to mount the whole scene on a larger 'scene plate' and add a few of the sentry bot minifigs, also seen in the film version.

Kevin_Hyatt

I always thought that kitbashing referred to taking a stock set/kit and adding to it or modding it not completely changing it.

I did one a couple days ago with two Lava Falls Ninjago sets. On my flickr

SuperTramp

Disappointed

I thought this was a new way of opening new sets.

mooman66

^Toys R Us has been kit bashing for years.

Legoboy

Best Alternative Build entry using The First Night #21115 at last week's Brickish AGM.  A deserved winner.

MBwannaB

Nice build, Legoboy!

LordofLego

I thought kit-bashing was a hipster name for creating a MOC...

tomalphin

My upcoming book, The LEGO Architect includes several models which you can create with the LEGO Architecture Studio set.  

To be fair, though, that set doesn't even include instructions, and was always designed for building MOC's so I don't think it counts as "kit bashing" - as the kids call it.  ;)

jason1976

This is a very good kit bash / alternate build: http://jkbrickworks.com/construction-site/