Cannibalising/Robbing kits.

[seadude]

I've been a long time "What If'er" for a good many years. Building straight from the box is just so plain and boring to me. I'm always on the lookout to try and find new ways to build something that has never been seen or done before, and to use new techniques for painting, decals, spare parts, etc.
But I have to wonder, Sometimes I feel a bit guilty not building the model straight from the box the way it was intended to be built and shown, or even robbing parts from one model to put on another model. It almost feels like sacralage (Sorry about spelling), or pillaging, or whatever you want to call it. I almost feel like someone will inevitably say "You did WHAT to that kit?! For shame! You butchered a completely good (Insert model type here)!"
I've got all these kits:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/modelstuff/DSC01844.jpg
........plus several more, but all of them will get robbed of parts in one way or another or will get built into something different than what was intended.
Does anybody understand what I'm going through? Anyone else ever feel "guilty" about cannibalising/robbing a good kit, or get nagged by "purist" modelers?
I really do love making What If stuff. I really do. But sometimes, I do get a slight guilty feeling about using a part for something else, etc., etc., etc.
I try not to feel like I'm destroying a good kit, but rather "expanding" the hobby by showcasing new ways to be more creative and imaginative. If we as modelers keep on building and showcasing the same old F-16, Fletcher destroyer, Tiger tank, etc., etc., etc. in magazines and at contests, then we're just becoming stagnant with our skills and this hobby as a whole.

I'm sorry if this post offends anyone. I was feeling a bit "contemplative" lately.

[The Rat]

I've got a different but related problem. I don't worry about the parts I'm taking but the parts left in the box, and I always wonder what the heck I'm going to do with them. 

[B777LR]

I've got a different but related problem. I don't worry about the parts I'm taking but the parts left in the box, and I always wonder what the heck I'm going to do with them. 

I had that problem after building the MPM Fokker D.XXI Danish version, and found an extra set of wings in the box.

[thedarkmaster]

To be fair i find i never have enough of the " right " sort of bits, this leads to more and more robbing and it all spirals from there       

[chrisonord]

For a lot of my whiffing, I have started with a perfectly good kit, and looked beyond what it should look like without ever considering, anyone elses opinion on what I will or won't do to it. At the end of the day I spent my money on it. so I will do what I want to do with it!!
Alot of my whiff bits have originated from the "boneyard" of dead models in my shed, my AH-70 Taipan is an example of boneyard bits, with a couple of no longer needed bits from a kit in the stash.
But saying that, I do have some old/expensive kits in my stash, that will more than likely get whiffed but only by colour scheme, markings, weapons and current user. Just by doing this can be just as interesting as putting wrong way round wings on a draken I think.
The stuff I have started doing for my SHADO builds will probably involve a fair bit of cut and shut to some very nice as standard kits, but like I said, I bought it so tough!!
Chris.   

[seadude]

I've got a different but related problem. I don't worry about the parts I'm taking but the parts left in the box, and I always wonder what the heck I'm going to do with them.

I have this exact same problem. 

[Thorvic]

Nowt to worry with this lot  , there quite a few here who will purchase kits just as a potential prt donor without any intention of building the actual kit !!!!. After all virtually all the sci-fi film starships we all know and love were created and detailed from parts from hundreds of kits of various types to get the right sort of look and feel suitable for movies .

Personally i come from the ship modelling side, and worse i dd my stuff in 1/600 so once the basic kit options ran out, futher kits were then canibalised to act as bais or even just donor to create other ship classes not available in kit form.  Thus it was quite a shock to some of the SIG members when i changed to 1/72 project aircraft and started scratch building utilising what materials i had or searching for specific kits to act as part donors. These days they take it for granted and some even do likewise (Although they tend to like to find some specific use for the rest of the donor kit  .

Actually when you read the old model mags like Airfix Magazine the previous model generation would often kit bash various kits to create something not previously kitted. These days they wait for someboody else to create a kit of the rare subject or to do a resin conversion set, and wouldn't even consider anything like scratch building !!!!

[anthonyp]

I've done this a couple times, but usually only when I look at my ancient boneyard and discover planes missing things, or buying a kit from the bargain table and realizing it's missing parts.  Never feel guilty about it, as the end result usually meets or exceeds my expectations.

[puddingwrestler]

I think my signiture says it all...
"There are no good kits, bad kits or grail kits, just kitbash fodder."

Having said that, I really only ever buy kits from eBay, second hand or at a discount. Often I have seen a kit on eBay and thought to myself 'No, that's old, rare and unusual, I think I will let someone else win it, someone who will treat it as a peice of history etc.'

but usually only because it's expensive.

[ChrisF]

I've got a different but related problem. I don't worry about the parts I'm taking but the parts left in the box, and I always wonder what the heck I'm going to do with them.

I have this exact same problem. 

Me too... in fact i worry about this when im still in the planning stage.... For example... ive bought a 1/48 Tornado Gr4 with the idea of stealing all the load-out and bits for my Airfix 1/48 TSR2.... but im ALREADY feeling guilty about the half-kit left over....   

[DaFROG]

I don't really have this problem as I'm a cheapskate and hence usually confine myself to kits of rather dubious quality to start with. In fact I'm doing non whiffers a favour cos when they decide to build an accurate scale representation of something there'll be less crap, inaccurate and painful to build kits of said something out there. How good am I?

case in point my recent YF22/Su27 mash up. The SU27 was terrible in terms of both detail and fit, some poor JMN would  have had a nervous breakdown trying to build it straight (now they can just have an aneurysm looking at the resultant mess ) Sure the YF22 i butchered was a nice dragon kit but it was an F22 and got more than it deserved

PS all those who fell guilty about orphened left over parts can assuage their guilt by sending them to me, muahahahah muahahhaha mua... cough splutter ha....

[Weaver]

I think my signiture says it all...
"There are no good kits, bad kits or grail kits, just kitbash fodder."

Having said that, I really only ever buy kits from eBay, second hand or at a discount. Often I have seen a kit on eBay and thought to myself 'No, that's old, rare and unusual, I think I will let someone else win it, someone who will treat it as a peice of history etc.'

but usually only because it's expensive.

Yeah, I do that. Whisper the heresy, but I do have some sympathy with the collectors: it's good that somebody somewhere is cataloging all this stuff and preserving one example for posterity, just as long as it's not me.  If I wanted an old Airfix kit, for example, I wouldn't buy an immaculate bag-and-header, unopened-blister-pack or red-stripe-box one just to whiff it, because I don't need too - there are plenty of later boxings around.

When I'm planning a whiff, efficient kit-usage does influence me. That is to say, I'm much happier nicking one critical piece (canopy, for instance) from a kit if I can see how the rest of that kit is going to contribute to other whiffs.

Like DaFROG, I'm also influenced by the "that's cheap/bad enough for whiffery" school of thought, although I do sometimes wonder if it's false economy, since I seem to spend at least as much time struggling with the poor quality of the base kits than with any whiff features I might be adding.....

[tigercat2]

I have quite a bit of mixing kit parts lately, and am currently on a kick to combine F-16 wings and tail with an F-104 fuselage (I think it makes a really good looking model).  I have ordered about 6 inexpensive 1/72 F-16 kits for the sole purpose of using the wings, tail, underwing stores and decals.  Then I discard the unused F-16 parts along with the F-104 wings and tail; I have been giving them to a fellow modeler at work who uses them as fodder for other what ifs.


Wes W.

[The Rat]

... ive bought a 1/48 Tornado Gr4 with the idea of stealing all the load-out and bits for my Airfix 1/48 TSR2.... but im ALREADY feeling guilty about the half-kit left over....   

Meh, donate it to some kid to throw together, gluey fingerprints and all. They won't care about drop tanks missing, they'll just bung it together and then run around the yard with it making jet noises.

I'm certain we can all remember doing that. 

[DaFROG]

Like DaFROG, I'm also influenced by the "that's cheap/bad enough for whiffery" school of thought, although I do sometimes wonder if it's false economy, since I seem to spend at least as much time struggling with the poor quality of the base kits than with any whiff features I might be adding.....

I know where you're comming from on this, when I was a JMN I used to by really cheap kits, suffer terrible argavations with them then not finish them wheras  if i shelled out a bit more I'd have had not only an enjoyable build but a nice finished product.

Though for the purposes of a whiff were only the basic shapes are needed and it'll be a PSR bath anyway (ever tried bathing in modelling putty it's not pleasant) it's not such an issue. Also I tend to see terrible kits as a personal challenge to get extra creative and whiff round the issues (though that's not much help if all you wanted was a namibian airforce supermarine S6B).