In this blog post we'll have a detailed look at the shortlist and winners for our most recent Digital Kitbash competition, something we run regularly over on our Patreon, to get people's creative juices flowing and see what the potential for mixing and matching between our different Digital Forge kits can be!
If you like the look of these Kitbash creations, head over to the Anvil Digital Forge Patreon and start building your Digital Bitz Box today!
Digital Kitbashing - mixing and matching parts from different miniature styles - is a lot of fun and one of the biggest benefits of our Modular component offering, in resin but especially with Digital assets! This month's challenge was to use parts from both of the Exo-Lord Dieselpunk sets, and mix them with other previous kits, to create whatever they wanted! (with a few small limitations to keep it interesting and fair!)
Mike Michaels: Exo-Lord Drop Trooper
Mike has used both Dieselpunk sets, as well as the Automata and Desert Nomads kits to assemble a flying Exo-Lord!
This Kitbash kept the main focus of the figure squarely on using the Exo-Lord Heavy legs, torso, central backpack, and head, as well as the melee arms from the Dieselpunk sets. The additions that were then combined with that core gave them dual-wielded Phase SMGs with integrated Gunshields, which were mirrored. Mirroring a part to make it a twinned pair is another very handy advantage to using digital bits!
The Jetpack was made with the scenery elements from the Desert Nomad kit, combining the water storage tubes and ventilation fans together to form jump-jets, as well as the catamaran connector from the Nomad's jetbike. The landing skid was scaled wider and shorter to provide the shocks under each boot, presumably to help cushion the landing force of this multi-tonne suit of armour!
Ryan Bedell : Mutant Exo-Lord
Ryan has used plenty of components from our recent Mutant Horrors set to make this monstrosity!
Limiting yourself to just two sets doesn't mean you can't create something truly unique, as this kitbash proves! This critter uses only the parts from the second Dieselpunk set and the Mutant Horrors' giant heads and regiments arm claws to create a chaotic, but heavily armoured champion for the hoards! The Split-Jaw Giant's screaming head certainly lends this figure a sense of uncontainable rage.
With the clever use of scaling these extra parts up or down as required Ryan managed to create an imposing monster that looks ready to rip and crush its way through anything. The enormous chainsaw grafted to one arm, while the other wields a jet-boosted hammer means this fellow is likely to be rushing towards you in a cloud of diesel smoke while also bellowing out a melee challenge - one I doubt many others would win!
Matthew Francis: Regiments Drop Trooper
Matthew has combined lots of parts to make this Diesel Punk Drop Trooper, including arms from D-Day, exoskeleton legs from the Tracer Recon Team and many components from the Autonomous Drone Builder
The extensive mixing of Exo-Lord and Regiments parts continues in this kitbash from Matthew, seeing a heavily armoured Regiments-Scale figure that's downscaled the Exo-Lord torso and helmet to match up with the Thompson SMG and a set of dynamic legs from the Unity Council. However the show is most definitely stolen by the gigantic jet-pack on its back.
Shrouded in smoke as it is, it might be difficult at first glance to see how this was constructed. It is, in fact, a conglomeration of at least 5 distinct components; Two Exo-Lord torsos (one spun to have its exposed engine powerplant facing upwards, the other with its exhausts facing down), a 2-part chassis from the Autonomous Drones kit that's providing some detailing and a little more bulk, and a massively upscaled jet-boosted hammer head as the main engine nozzle at the back. Add to that two rotary fans occupying the arm sockets of the torso, and a lot of smoke, and you've got yourself a very dangerous-looking form of flight!
Ian Hendricks: 'Konflict 1947' Trooper
Ian has combined the most different sets of our spotlight entries thus far, mostly elements from Alien Bounty Hunters and D-Day, but featuring smaller inclusions from Tracer Recon, Corporate Police, Desert Nomads, and Republic Commandos!
Using scaled shoulder pads from the Alien Bounty Hunter set in just one axis, effectively 'stretching' them out to make arm guards, and using their 1 boolean cut to extract the m1919 Stinger barrel and use it as their weapon. The hand guard is another scaled part, this time using the Nomad Jet-Bikes' engine shroud scaled way down.
The figure was then packed with lots of pouches, grenades, another set of layered shoulder pads, and various greebles (that's a technical term for small detail elements!) to give the miniature some extra character. Finally, a head swap to something a little more era-appropriate in the form of an armoured welder's mask from the D-Day set. A worthy contender that got 2nd place in our Kitbash Competition!
James McDougal: Witch Hunter
James has mostly used components from our Vampire Hunters and the robotic hand from a Warden to make a characterful model with a lower-tech feel.
While the additions for this kitbash may be less intense than some of the previous entries, it certainly doesn't diminish the effectiveness! Using the Tricorn hat head, bullwhip, and lantern from the Vampire Hunters gives the model an anachronistic charm, when contrasted to the obviously more high-tech elements, such as the robotic hand from a C-48 Warden.
The composition of the model is probably its strongest aspect. While not many additions were made, it's the care with which they were selected and the well-balanced posing that really sells this kitbash, and gave it the 1st-place winner's spot in our competition, voted on by our Patrons!
Congratulations to Patrons who made it onto the shortlist, and thank you to everyone for voting for the winner! We had some brilliant and very creative submissions and we hope you are inspired to create your own digital kitbashes in future!
All our previous month's downloads are available for sale on our website, but for the best value, sign up to the Anvil Digital Forge Patreon and get every month's content for just $10!! (+local VAT if applicable)
Thanks,
Team Anvil
