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Made in ca
Twisted Trueborn with Blaster



Ottawa

Much has been posted about GW's determined efforts to put an end to kitbashing, with their lines of single-pose models whose torsoes cannot be rotated and whose arms cannot be swapped. Thankfully for kitbashers among us, there are still armies that have not had a makeover in a while.

I think the kitbasher's dream is currently the Drukhari. Their plastic models are among the most customizable and swappable currently available. Even their transports come with loads of extra bits, including pairs of legs with dynamic poses. They can also use parts from other Eldar or Elven factions from both 40k and AoS. Plus, thematically, it's easy to justify Drukhari models looking very different from one another or having fanciful additions, given their fleshcrafting science, their individuality and their love for excess and grandiosity. There are some amazing archon and haemonculus kitbashes out there. Just look at the Drukhari subreddit for many examples of the kitbashing possibilities of the model range.

I hope their next makeover is still a long way off.


Edit: To clarify, I'm talking about armies that can easily be converted or kitbashed using only GW bits, without the need for advanced sculpting, scratchbuilding or 3D-printing.

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This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2021/09/20 17:39:58


Cadians, Sisters of Battle (Argent Shroud), Drukhari (Obsidian Rose)

Read my Drukhari short stories: Chronicles of Commorragh 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Allow me to introduce you to Deathwatch, where the modeling rules are all made up and consistency in a squad doesn't matter one iota.
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





London, UK

Drukhari are honestly the best line for kitbashing. Their kits are relatively new so have a lovely blend of the older styled multipart kits and the new designs.

Orks and Space Marines are also good, but definitely require a bit more thought as many sculpts aren't designed with interchangeable parts in mind outside of arms and heads.

   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran






It's gotta be First Born SM (including all subfactions) and previous generation CSM (including all subfactions). Those two sets are literally completely interchangeable part for part, and it included nearly the whole line with minor exceptions for some special characters that would only be able to swap one or both arms, maybe their head, and their backpack. Even then, you could usually do some easy converting with the weapons. Even now, you can still get a box of Khorne Berzerkers, a Noise Marine Upgrade kit, and a SW Blood Claws and make some monstrosity of Chaos SW Khornate Noise Marines out it. Does it make sense canonically? No, but it'll look hella cool on the table!

I've actually long considered bashing up some Khorne Berzerker SW as they are already a CQC oriented Loyalist chapter and there are canon examples of SW going Chaos, not that I'd need canon examples to make a cool mini. That's actually really inspiring me to build that now... Might have to go source a cheap box of each and make myself another 27 champions of the Blood God.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/09/20 14:29:50


 
   
Made in ca
Veteran Wolf Guard Squad Leader






Deathwatch can allow for a lot of converting possibilities. Each member of the deathwatch comes from a different chapter, so you can customize each figure to represent different chapters in a way you can't do normally.

Wolfspear's 2k
Harlequins 2k
Chaos Knights 2k
Spiderfangs 2k
Ossiarch Bonereapers 1k 
   
Made in no
Liche Priest Hierophant





Bergen

Dark Eldar is a good one.

Orks are probably better. Also, it is very easy to scratch build or implement non ork stuff into orks.

I dn't know about deathwatch, but they sound great. Space Wolves have so many good parts in their old kits. I can only recomend them for kitbashing. Unfortunetly the new primaris kits do not have a lot of parts, so you lift them from the old kits. It is also a great army to learn how to greenstuff pelts. It is not that hard and you 'wolfify' all primaris.

   
Made in ca
Speed Drybrushing





t.dot

I think it really depends on what extent you take to be kitbashing (ranging from part swaps, to recombinations, all the way into the scratch builds).

For me, any army or range can be open to kitbashing; it's all about the concept or the idea, and how far one is willing to go in order to execute that idea. For some, they're looking for direct swaps of parts, like the torso from one kit combined with the legs from another, so something of a "simpler" kitbash", while others (like myself) would go all the way to cut, slash, break, and recombine (or try to) pieces in the strangest ways beyond just simple part swaps.

My Necrons combine kits purely from within the Necron range, but I go beyond basic part swaps and recombine elements (going so far as to cut apart limbs and chassis elements) in an attempt to shape them into something you couldn't do just by gluing two basic pieces together (although ultimately that's all kitbashing is, no? gluing pieces together until you get a finished result)

Spoiler:





My Junkforce Overlords do kitbash from a variety of kits (Kharadrons, Necrons, Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Genestealer Cults) but also tap into a lot of sculpting and plasticard scratch-building to create something truly unique.

Spoiler:


So I guess ultimately my answer is really, any army can be a kitbasher's dream. Some may be a little easier than others for direct part swaps, but depending on the amount of effort you want to put in, the sky's the limit really on any idea or concept.

   
Made in ca
Twisted Trueborn with Blaster



Ottawa

 DV8 wrote:
For me, any army or range can be open to kitbashing; it's all about the concept or the idea, and how far one is willing to go in order to execute that idea. For some, they're looking for direct swaps of parts, like the torso from one kit combined with the legs from another, so something of a "simpler" kitbash", while others (like myself) would go all the way to cut, slash, break, and recombine (or try to) pieces in the strangest ways beyond just simple part swaps.

[...]

So I guess ultimately my answer is really, any army can be a kitbasher's dream. Some may be a little easier than others for direct part swaps, but depending on the amount of effort you want to put in, the sky's the limit really on any idea or concept.

Obviously my question was about armies whose models are kitbash-friendly by design.

It's easy to say "anything can be kitbashed" if you own a 3D printer and are willing to put 20 hours of work into every trooper model. But an army that requires this expenditure of time and money can hardly be called a kitbasher's dream, because you can *also* optionally do all this advanced stuff with armies that happen to be easy to kitbash with just the GW bits.

As an aside, your kind of answer seems common on DakkaDakka. I once asked which army was easiest to carry (not too many models, not too many spikey or spindly parts, etc.), and a bunch of people said: "Any army can be carried if you have this super special setup I built from scratch with a metric f*ckton of magnets and foam and which takes up my car's entire trunk space!" Yeah, sure, but my question was about armies that were easy to carry, not armies that it was technically possible to carry.

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This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2021/09/20 17:19:02


Cadians, Sisters of Battle (Argent Shroud), Drukhari (Obsidian Rose)

Read my Drukhari short stories: Chronicles of Commorragh 
   
Made in ca
Speed Drybrushing





t.dot

I'm going to go ahead and say that 1. that question wasn't obvious at all, and that 2. a kitbasher's "dream" (or even what a kitbasher is, by definition), is completely subjective, as I think you and I have vastly different opinions on what kitbashing can potentially be and do.

Neither of those armies were made when I owned a 3D-printer, so I don't even know why that's even relevant. And it's not my fault I'm willing to invest the time into making my models look good.

But hey, it seems you're not interested in actually having a conversation/discussion about this so I'm just going to walk away from this as there's clearly no value I can add or take from this.

   
Made in ca
Twisted Trueborn with Blaster



Ottawa

 DV8 wrote:
And it's not my fault I'm willing to invest the time into making my models look good.

No, it's not "your fault". I'm not looking for someone who's "at fault". Your work is amazing and I can understand why you want to show it.

But this thread is intended as a pointer for those who like to customize their models but don't have vast amounts of hobby time or 15+ years of modelling experience. Answers along the lines of "There is no right answer because with enough motivation, a mere human can move mountains" are not what people are looking for when they open this thread.

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/09/20 17:23:44


Cadians, Sisters of Battle (Argent Shroud), Drukhari (Obsidian Rose)

Read my Drukhari short stories: Chronicles of Commorragh 
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







I was. Dv8s work is inspirational, and I think it’s useful to see that level of work, as well as whatever it was you intended when you posed a really rather open question in the thread title.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/09/20 18:39:12


Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in gb
Mighty Vampire Count






UK

 DV8 wrote:
I think it really depends on what extent you take to be kitbashing (ranging from part swaps, to recombinations, all the way into the scratch builds).

For me, any army or range can be open to kitbashing; it's all about the concept or the idea, and how far one is willing to go in order to execute that idea. For some, they're looking for direct swaps of parts, like the torso from one kit combined with the legs from another, so something of a "simpler" kitbash", while others (like myself) would go all the way to cut, slash, break, and recombine (or try to) pieces in the strangest ways beyond just simple part swaps.

My Necrons combine kits purely from within the Necron range, but I go beyond basic part swaps and recombine elements (going so far as to cut apart limbs and chassis elements) in an attempt to shape them into something you couldn't do just by gluing two basic pieces together (although ultimately that's all kitbashing is, no? gluing pieces together until you get a finished result)

Spoiler:





My Junkforce Overlords do kitbash from a variety of kits (Kharadrons, Necrons, Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Genestealer Cults) but also tap into a lot of sculpting and plasticard scratch-building to create something truly unique.

Spoiler:


So I guess ultimately my answer is really, any army can be a kitbasher's dream. Some may be a little easier than others for direct part swaps, but depending on the amount of effort you want to put in, the sky's the limit really on any idea or concept.


Awesome work - really great models!

I AM A MARINE PLAYER

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A Bloody Road - my Warhammer Fantasy Fiction 
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






Tyranids.

Its not just weapon swaps. The organic nature is very forgiving with greenstuff. Parts can be swappes from all kinds of kits to make all kinds of units.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
Made in us
Scarred Ultramarine Tyrannic War Veteran






Maple Valley, Washington, Holy Terra

I've seen a lot of very cool kitbashes built combining parts from Genestealer Cultist Neophyte Hybrids and Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii. I assume that if you were going to play Warhammer 40,000 with them, they would be Imperial Guard to Adeptus Mechanicus or something.

"Calgar hates Tyranids."

Your #1 Fan  
   
Made in no
Liche Priest Hierophant





Bergen

You can very well incorperate Skitari Rangers into a genstealer cult no problem.

One of the named cults even have parts from admech in them, Bladed Cog.

   
Made in ca
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






 Pariah Press wrote:
I've seen a lot of very cool kitbashes built combining parts from Genestealer Cultist Neophyte Hybrids and Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii. I assume that if you were going to play Warhammer 40,000 with them, they would be Imperial Guard to Adeptus Mechanicus or something.
Actually, if you have Kill Team: Elites for the 2018 Kill Team, you can run them as the Bladed Cog, a Genestealer Cult that is on a Forge World. I've seen a local building his GSC kill team as the Bladed Cog even before the Elite rules were published.

@DV8. Those are some impressive and good-looking conversions.

re: Deathwatch. As my first and primary kill team is Deathwatch, I agree they are pretty easy to convert without using 3rd party bits. Additionally, since plastic marines have been around a long time, there are figures and bits on eBay if your own bits box is limited. {As I had a Blood Angel army until I sold it, my own box has an obvious bias.}

Now offhand I'd have thought Genestealer Cults would also be a good base for the simple "plug & play" type of kit-bashing. GW already produces the crossover set with the Guard (Brood Brothers IIRC), so swapping bits with the various guard kits should be simple. Necromunda kits or their weapon upgrade sets ought to work, and GSC are usually associated with the civilian side of the Imperium. However, as I have not tried this myself, I don't know if that is really the case. It was just something that occurred to me while browsing the Necromunda section of the GW store.


Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Charing Cold One Knight





Sticksville, Texas

For AoS, I would probably say Beasts Of Chaos. Beastmen don't create anything besides simple weapons. They just loot and steal better things from what they kill.

So that means ANYTHING from AoS can be reasonably converted into their grabby hands or worn as stolen armor.

It is why I went with them for Warcry. Any neat bits I pick up or find can be converted onto spare Gors to represent them finding better gear as a way to differentiate them from newer members of the warband.
   
Made in ca
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






 NH Gunsmith wrote:
For AoS, I would probably say Beasts Of Chaos. Beastmen don't create anything besides simple weapons. They just loot and steal better things from what they kill.

So that means ANYTHING from AoS can be reasonably converted into their grabby hands or worn as stolen armor.

It is why I went with them for Warcry. Any neat bits I pick up or find can be converted onto spare Gors to represent them finding better gear as a way to differentiate them from newer members of the warband.
That's a good point. Historically, less developed societies often used captured equipment of their enemy, thus Gauls and Germans flaunting captured Roman gear. If you've some spare Stormcast weapons you could do the same. A beastman shaman or chief could show off their prowess with an evocator's staff or starsoul mace.

Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Charing Cold One Knight





Sticksville, Texas

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
 NH Gunsmith wrote:
For AoS, I would probably say Beasts Of Chaos. Beastmen don't create anything besides simple weapons. They just loot and steal better things from what they kill.

So that means ANYTHING from AoS can be reasonably converted into their grabby hands or worn as stolen armor.

It is why I went with them for Warcry. Any neat bits I pick up or find can be converted onto spare Gors to represent them finding better gear as a way to differentiate them from newer members of the warband.
That's a good point. Historically, less developed societies often used captured equipment of their enemy, thus Gauls and Germans flaunting captured Roman gear. If you've some spare Stormcast weapons you could do the same. A beastman shaman or chief could show off their prowess with an evocator's staff or starsoul mace.


Yup. Exactly why I enjoy them. I have been sitting around staring at cut out parts for my Gors... and really have no idea where to begin since they can be built any way I want.

Hoping to scavenge a few Free Guild firearms for my Ungors, and am thinking of using Free Guild Great Sword weapons to make my Bestigors look like a parody of elite/heavily armored fighters.
   
 
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