Planning your kitbash before you glue anything together

There's a specific madness that hits when fresh runners land on your bench. You want to crack them open, snap the nippers, and start chopping immediately. That energy is half the fun, and it's why Gundam Eclipse members from Sydney to Perth keep posting new work-in-progress threads every week. But the cleanest builds almost always start with a bit of restraint and a plan sketched out before any glue touches plastic.

This guide walks through the steps Australian builders use to plan a kitbash. Whether you're cobbling a custom grunt from leftover High Grade kits or designing a scene piece for the next Manifest convention in Sydney, the prep work is the same. It saves money, saves parts, and stops you discovering at midnight that your awesome new torso won't fit over your existing legs.

Gathering references and locking in inspiration

Before you cut a single piece, you need a clear picture of your goal. Spend an evening scrolling the Display Case gallery, saving screenshots from the latest series, or snapping photos from the SMATS exhibition in Melbourne. Build a mood board on your phone or pin one above the workbench.

Pay attention to what draws you in. Is it the silhouette, a colour combination, or the way thrusters sit on a particular mobile suit? Write these observations down. Aussie builders often keep a dedicated notebook for this, which becomes half sketchbook, half shopping list. When the plan is written down, it's much harder to wander off-track halfway through the build.

Auditing your stash and donor kits

Lay out everything you've got. Group runners by scale, and check what compatible kits are hiding in the pile. Many builders in Brisbane and Adelaide forget they own a perfect set of shoulders buried in a spare HG box. Note down which parts are still sealed, which are painted, and which are missing altogether.

This is also the moment to be honest about the gaps. If you need a specific fin or booster, decide whether you'll buy another full kit, hunt for third-party option parts from local stockists, or import directly from Japan. Factor in shipping from Australian retailers like Mighty Ape or Hobby Link Japan, and remember that orders over AUD$1000 can attract GST and customs charges. A clean audit at this stage prevents the heartbreak of finishing a build and then realising you're one thruster short.

Sketching and proportion checks

Grab a pencil and some grid paper, and draw the silhouette you want. Side view and front view are usually enough to get the proportions right. If your kitbash mixes scales, say 1/144 legs with a 1/100 torso, this is where you'll spot the awkward joins before they happen.

Mark where each donor part will attach. Think about articulation: will the arms still swing? Will the backpack block the head? Builders who frequent the hobby shops in Melbourne's CBD often swear by quick paper templates cut to size and folded around existing runners. It's a low-tech way to mock up the shape without committing to any cutting.

Dry fitting and the temporary toolkit

Now comes the dry fit, where your concept meets reality. Use Blu-Tack, double-sided tape, or small clamps to hold parts together. Run through the full pose range, check that nothing clashes, and adjust the placement as needed. Most catastrophic mistakes are caught early at this stage.

A few common methods work better for different situations:

Pick the method that matches the part you're testing. Blu-Tack is brilliant for checking if a head swap works, but you'll want tape for a full torso assembly.

Planning colours and finishes

A kitbash can fall apart visually if the colours clash. Decide on a primary palette and one or two accent colours before you start priming. If you're mixing parts from different kits, check the plastic colours first. An off-white from a 2003 release next to a crisp modern white will look obvious under paint unless you plan to sand and prime everything.

Australian weather plays a role here. Humidity in Brisbane or coastal NSW can ruin a fresh coat if you're painting in a non-sealed garage. Plan your painting sessions around dry days, or invest in a small booth with a filter. Order your paints, panel liners, and top coats together to save on shipping from local stores like JB Hi-Fi or dedicated hobby suppliers.

Sourcing parts and budgeting locally

Budgeting is part of the plan. List every kit, third-party part, paint, and tool you need, then price it out. Local shops in capital cities are great for last-minute grabs, but the big savings usually come from bulk imports. Compare shipping speeds and costs between Australian retailers and Japanese proxy services, keeping an eye on the AUD-JPY rate if you're importing.

Don't forget the small consumables: sandpaper, putty, extra nippers, and cement. Bunnings stocks safety gear and sanding supplies that beat the hobby shop prices. A realistic budget stops the build from stalling halfway through because you ran out of money for thinner.

Lighting, electronics and final details

If your kitbash includes lighting, plan the wiring route before you close anything up. Battery placement, switch access, and how wires will thread through hollow runners all need to be decided in advance. A handy walkthrough for adding LEDs to small kits is the recent journal entry on How to add LED lights to a 1/144 scale kit, which covers resistor choices and common pitfalls.

Soldering stations, heat shrink, and tiny switches are easy to find at Jaycar stores across the country. Lay out the electronics on the bench, mock the wiring with spare cable, and only commit to soldering once you're sure the path works. A few hours of planning here saves the trauma of discovering a dead LED buried inside a sealed torso.

When the plan is solid, the glue finally comes out. Share your sketches, dry fits, and final results in the Gundam Eclipse community forums, and inspire the next builder who's about to crack open a box themselves.