Scratchbuilding vs. Kitbashing

[bill w]

Some of you know I'm building a 1/8 scale 69 Camaro from scratch. I've been working on it for almost 13 years. It's not as easy as

some may think, all the parts are scratch built, (except for nuts, bolts, and springs). It took three tries to do the engine, and five

attempts to get the body done. I'm not saying I'm perfect, I've always said no matter how good you are or no matter how good you think

you are there's always someone better. I build models because I enjoy it. It's better than getting drunk at the local bar every night.

What I'm saying is scratch building is a higher skill level. Not everyone can do it. I hope I didn't sound like I'm above others,

I MOST DEFINITELY AM NOT. And I'm sure there are lots of mistakes in my work.

Bill

[Harry P.]

  On 8/5/2010 at 2:32 AM, bill w said:

What I'm saying is scratch building is a higher skill level. Not everyone can do it.

Bill

I happen to agree with that.

[danielpras]

hi,

thanks for makin me clear on these 2 different stuffs.

to honest im askin about what is kit bashing all about yesterday, and finally i got it clear.

thanks for the information..

[Harry P.]

  On 8/5/2010 at 3:53 AM, danielpras said:

hi,

thanks for makin me clear on these 2 different stuffs.

to honest im askin about what is kit bashing all about yesterday, and finally i got it clear.

thanks for the information..

Glad we could help!

[Danno]

  On 8/4/2010 at 9:50 PM, Aftashox said:

I have a half brother. And he and I used to get model vans back in the late 70's early 80's. Custom vans were the in thing back then My father even had a 6 wheel custom chevy. Anyway my brother and I used to compete to see who could make the best custom van (we were between 8-10 at the time) I would always want to do more than just the box stock kit I would get thick construction paper and make the cabnets and furiture for the van.

I say that to state my scratch building started way back as a young boy. The need to do what was not already done. And I have only taken what I have been doing all my life and improved on it. To say scratch building is a superior skill is a bit grandiose, but i will say that it is a skill, and as with all skills it takes time to master it. Here I am some thirty plus years later and I am just getting into my grove so to speak and feeling really comfortable with my "gift". and weather we are scratch building or kit bashing we must realize that we (modlers) are a special people cause not anyone pick up a box of plastic and turn it into a true work of art. Romell

This man says it good, too.

[sjordan2]

If you've been following Bill Wowk's Camaro and the work of Gerald Wingrove, you know what amazing skill it takes to build something from the ground up. If you haven't been following this one, here's another thread of mind-boggling scratch building in progress – a 1/8 GT 40.

http://www.scalemotorcars.com/forum/large-scale-cars/6477-1-8-gt40-mk1-ford-scratchbuilt-why-not.html

[Darin Bastedo]

  On 8/5/2010 at 2:32 AM, bill w said:

What I'm saying is scratch building is a higher skill level. Not everyone can do it.

Bill

I don't agree. I believe that any skill can be taught to anyone with the motivation to learn. what can't be taught is the artistic side to it. I'm certain I can take any modeler who wants to learn scratch-building and give him a set of plans the correct tools and a little guidance and teach him how to build something from scratch. will that make him Gerald Wingrove? no but the difference between wingrove and most modelers is his skill at designing his own models and drawing up the plans.

on the same level I can teach someone to paint a picture, but it is the imagination and creativity and eye for proportion and design that will seperate him from DaVinci.

Scratchbuilding is not a higher skill level. having the eye for design and the ability to create your own plans is. it is the difference between art and skill.

[DRG]

The very words kitbashing and scratch building would seem to require no explanation.

[GrandpaMcGurk]

Okay Harry, got a question for ya....more out of curiosity than anything else.

The 1/8th Cuda I'm working on is no doubt a "scratch built".

However, I have a very dusty 1/6th '54 Chebbie (that gets worked on occasionally, the old Jesse James RC car) and a couple of the 1/6th Willys RC's. One will be a retro gasser coupe and the other a shortbed pickup.

As you know the scale on RC cars is pretty much tongue & cheek as they tend to get really goofy with over size wheels, tires etc.

In the case of the Chevy, it started as a a plain Jane 2-door sedan. So far it has been stretched, the hood pan-caked, converted to a 2 door fast back, sectioned, chopped, doors lengthed, frenched headlights and totally reshaped rear quarters, wheel wells etc. In other words....yes I started with a manufactured body, but at this point it is so far removed from the original injection molded body that by the time I fab an interior and chassis there's not much of the old car left. I guess it would it still be considered a kit bashed build?

Personally I like to think of it as a radically modified 1/6th scale '54 Chevy and not concern myself with the "misused" terms.

What would you call it?

[Harry P.]

  On 8/7/2010 at 2:37 PM, GrandpaMcGurk said:

Okay Harry, got a question for ya....more out of curiosity than anything else.

The 1/8th Cuda I'm working on is no doubt a "scratch built".

However, I have a very dusty 1/6th '54 Chebbie (that gets worked on occasionally, the old Jesse James RC car) and a couple of the 1/6th Willys RC's. One will be a retro gasser coupe and the other a shortbed pickup.

As you know the scale on RC cars is pretty much tongue & cheek as they tend to get really goofy with over size wheels, tires etc.

In the case of the Chevy, it started as a a plain Jane 2-door sedan. So far it has been stretched, the hood pan-caked, converted to a 2 door fast back, sectioned, chopped, doors lengthed, frenched headlights and totally reshaped rear quarters, wheel wells etc. In other words....yes I started with a manufactured body, but at this point it is so far removed from the original injection molded body that by the time I fab an interior and chassis there's not much of the old car left. I guess it would it still be considered a kit bashed build?

Personally I like to think of it as a radically modified 1/6th scale '54 Chevy and not concern myself with the "misused" terms.

What would you call it?

The body is definitely not scratchbuilt (as far as I understand the term)... but a modified production piece. Sure, it's highly modified, but you still started out with a manufactured body... and modified it. You didn't create a body by carving a buck out of a hunk of basswood and vacu-forming it out of sheet styrene, or by hammering brass or aluminum sheet to shape. To me, when someone says their model was "scratchbuilt," that means it was created from raw materials ala Gerald Wingrove. Like I said before, a model may not be entirely scratchbuilt but may have scratchbuilt components, which is what it sounds like you'll end up with.

The "misuse" of terms that I was getting at in the first place is when someone takes a body from kit A and a chassis from kit B and an engine from kit C and some spare parts and puts it all together and calls it a "scratchbuilt" model, which it isn't.

[Danno]

  On 8/8/2010 at 3:13 AM, Harry P. said:

The body is definitely not scratchbuilt (as far as I understand the term)... but a modified production piece. Sure, it's highly modified, but you still started out with a manufactured body... and modified it. You didn't create a body by carving a buck out of a hunk of basswood and vacu-forming it out of sheet styrene, or by hammering brass or aluminum sheet to shape. To me, when someone says their model was "scratchbuilt," that means it was created from raw materials ala Gerald Wingrove. Like I said before, a model may not be entirely scratchbuilt but may have scratchbuilt components, which is what it sounds like you'll end up with.

The "misuse" of terms that I was getting at in the first place is when someone takes a body from kit A and a chassis from kit B and an engine from kit C and some spare parts and puts it all together and calls it a "scratchbuilt" model, which it isn't.

Harry, the vast majority of builders agree with you on the definitions of terms. There's 'out of box,' there's 'kit-bash,' there's 'modified,' and then there's 'scratch-built.' They are distinct and mutually-exclusive terms.