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Have you ever sat back and PRICED this hobby?


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Guest PetrolGator

So, tax return season is here. I decided to hit up the FreeTime site and price out exactly what I'd want/need to buy to detail out JUST the kits I already owned...

 

 

....and this CAME OUT TO OVER FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS. For photo etch and resin details.

 

 

 

Still, to buy or not to buy? HRM

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I have looking at paint alone.

 

Paitn is say $3 per bottle average and I have about 400 bottles of one kind or another (inlcuding figure paitns, ALclad, MM, etc.) That's an easy $1200 in paint. Since I store my resin in their kits, I look and some boxes won't close anymore.... I think Revells 1/72 U-boat has almost $300 in resin, PE and wood parts and doesn't include books.

 

Sad thing is that most of it is worth pennies on the dollar used. It is an addiction you know.. love the smell of resin

 

Dave

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The last time I did an inventory MANY years ago, I determined that I had about $5000 in kits, but over $10,000 in books and magazines! Hadn't even thought about THAT side of the hobby til then!

 

There are many ways to try to put a price tag on our hobby: actual dollars spent; luxury items (pe/resin details, aftermarket decals); supplies: necessities and luxuries, and then "dollars spent against future higher costs" (buying that kit NOW on sale to avoid paying more for it later). In my opinion, like anything else, the amount is not as important as keeping your hobby dollars in line priority-wise with your household budget.

 

You can also amortize your costs over the time spent building a kit. Since you probably average no less than 20hrs on a kit, even a $100 kit only costs $5/hr; and that's cheaper than playing golf! You may spend $200 on an airbrush, but since it should last you 10yrs and paint no less than 50 models over that time, you're investing only $4/model.

 

And, as the advertisement goes: enjoying your hobby: PRICELESS! :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Still, to buy or not to buy? HRM

 

 

As I was signing the papers on my pickup truck the salesman asked "did you get what you wanted?" I said "no but I got what I needed".

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Guest PetrolGator

Yes, but Arthur, "need" is such an easy word to exploit. I mean, my Tiger needs the Artist Hobby PE to really shine. My Soryu, whole OK OOB, could really need the Lion Roar deck and PE. A new paint booth would improve my lungs and give me needed respite from seasonal allergies that are killing my workouts.

 

See? :smiley20:

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If that is the cost of all those aftermarket items then I'm running this hobby on the cheap. I don't buy aftermarket more than once every four to five years, I have maybe $200.00 worth of paints, and my amortization is probably more like $2.00/kit given how many I typically finish in a year. Overall, I'd say this is the cheapest and most enjoyable hobby I can think of, especially at my rate of "consumption".

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Guest PetrolGator

Gentlemen, please feel free to forward these replies to my dear lovely wife. If we all band together, we can convince her a mere 500 bucks is nothing for me to enjoy a quiet and constructive hobby such as ours.

 

I have two (possibly three?) major hobbies: Scale building, weight lifting, and craft beer drinking, sparingly. I think I should be commended in that I avoided other vices such as golf, whiskey, and other expensive hobbies.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

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Oh, don't ever start adding up the cost of a hobby. It will scare you! My last inventory, and I do an inventory every couple of years and I will explain why in a moment, was over $32,000 in kits alone. Now granted a lot of those came by way of "payment" from my work for Tamiya but they can add up quickly. I inventory my kits because my garage was broken into several years ago and they stole several kits. The inventory was all the insurance company needed to reimburse me for my loss.

 

But to the point. I went to Disneyland with the family last week. Entry plus food was a little over $230 per person for the day. That works out to about $20 an hour. If I take 50 hours average to build a model, then if it costs me less than $1,000 I am cheaper than Disneyland.

 

I went to the movies not long ago with my wife and the movie was about $15 and popcorn and a soda was another $10. The movie was an hour and a half so $17.50 an hour. Model built for that price $875.

 

A nice dinner out with a drink, $40. 2 hours of enjoyment, $20 and hour. Same cost as Disneyland. Pick you other enjoyments and run them as cost per hour, and I think you will find model building much less expensive. $500 worth of kits and supplies? Man you are just getting started! Don't look at them as what they cost, but add up the hours of enjoyment they represent. You will feel much better about them.

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It's still cheaper than drugs or hookers!

Just tell her that

 

If that doesn't work, add in GOLF!!

 

If I used the first, my wife would ask me how I knew..... I agree with the concept of never tell her how much you have invested even if you are dumb enough to do the calculation. A long time ago, I would stop at Squadron on my way home from work a few times a week. My purchases from those stops were always kept in the garage until I could being them in quietly.

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HAHA.....OK, another neat thing I learned about Automotive versus Armor. Part of that 3000 plus car/aircraft kit collection I am selling had this 1/24 "Hop-Up" in a 1/20 Mclaren Box. Look in the upper right hand corner.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261193276267?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_69wt_1178

 

I have never paid $95 for a single kit.....let alone for a Hop-up,conversion, or aftermarket item! Guess it is a good thing I don't do Automotive.

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I have SMS's Tamiya Porsche 956 kit... given the amount of work that goes into producing the aftermarket parts, the price is not that surprising.

 

And with the rarity of certain items, you never know... I started F1M because folks were trying to find McLaren MP4/6 kits for less that $400 (before Tamiya re-issued them)

 

Eric

 

HAHA.....OK, another neat thing I learned about Automotive versus Armor. Part of that 3000 plus car/aircraft kit collection I am selling had this 1/24 "Hop-Up" in a 1/20 Mclaren Box. Look in the upper right hand corner.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261193276267?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_69wt_1178

 

I have never paid $95 for a single kit.....let alone for a Hop-up,conversion, or aftermarket item! Guess it is a good thing I don't do Automotive.

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I have SMS's Tamiya Porsche 956 kit... given the amount of work that goes into producing the aftermarket parts, the price is not that surprising.

 

And with the rarity of certain items, you never know... I started F1M because folks were trying to find McLaren MP4/6 kits for less that $400 (before Tamiya re-issued them)

 

Eric

 

HAHA.....OK, another neat thing I learned about Automotive versus Armor. Part of that 3000 plus car/aircraft kit collection I am selling had this 1/24 "Hop-Up" in a 1/20 Mclaren Box. Look in the upper right hand corner.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261193276267?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_69wt_1178

 

I have never paid $95 for a single kit.....let alone for a Hop-up,conversion, or aftermarket item! Guess it is a good thing I don't do Automotive.

I'm with you Eric. Most I ever did(so far) was drop $600 on the 935 SMS aftermarket set. Well actually I've done that several times. Most of Matthews stuff(Scale Motorsport) is exceptional. In the same class as MFH and other world class model suppliers. In short, you get what you pay for. Now the only question is how bad do you want it? If you don't want it that bad, great. Don't buy it. If you want the best, it is going to cost you.
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I am definitely having Mrs. TreadHead talk you guys at the VA Nats! She'll think she is VERY lucky she married a TreadHead!

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Well for one ship I paid over 100.00 for the kit plus another 450.00 for PE sets, not including paint which will be another 100.00. But so far she is in the dark as I bought a bit at a time. My next goal is a Nagato but now your talking 200.00+ just for the kit plus the PE plus paint so total over 550.00. Might have to sell a body part if I ever wanted a Fuso :smiley29:

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Guest PetrolGator

Arthur - You should have seen the look on my wife's face when I almost bought a 1/200 USS Arizona + KA Models PE set. It was comical.

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Price doesn't matter......

 

At the Columbus Nats I bought the 1/48 "Ford Nose" vac conversion from Bill Koster. I forgot my wife was standing next to me..... :smiley9:

 

So I ask Bill "how much?" He says "$40" and my wife says "HOW much?"! :wacko: I also mistakenly hand her the box while I fish out my wallet, where upon she opens it and says "and THIS is all you get!" :smiley3:

 

I later asked Bill why he let me do that.....he said "I didn't think you were THAT dumb".... :smiley26:

 

GIL :smiley16:

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LOL! That's funny Gil! Man, what we modelers do when confronted with a deal!

 

The most I ever paid for a model was $165.00 for my Dora railgun; a steal when you consider it retails for between $280.00 and $320.00. I paid less than $120.00 for a $200.00+ kit of the Trumpeter Tu-160 Blackjack. And no aftermarket was purchased in the acquisition of these models. The most recent and most 'expensive' aftermarket I bought was a vac-formed canopy and some decals for a 1/48 scale P-51B Mustang I was "resurrecting", and that was over five years ago.

 

That's another story for another Forum....

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I like to build figures so $200 for a kit isn't that much for the larger scale. Plus, figures sometimes actually go up in rpice...

 

Still, my wife says I can't die as she does not want to get rid of all the "crap"...ouch

 

Dave

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I like to build figures so $200 for a kit isn't that much for the larger scale. Plus, figures sometimes actually go up in rpice...

 

Still, my wife says I can't die as she does not want to get rid of all the "crap"...ouch

 

Dave

Well at least she still wants you around, mine would be willing to help the grim reaper everytime I bring home another box :unsure:

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Guest PetrolGator

 

I like to build figures so $200 for a kit isn't that much for the larger scale. Plus, figures sometimes actually go up in rpice...

 

Still, my wife says I can't die as she does not want to get rid of all the "crap"...ouch

 

Dave

Well at least she still wants you around, mine would be willing to help the grim reaper everytime I bring home another box :unsure:

 

Well, how good is the life insurance? :smiley4:

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...canopy and some decals for a 1/48 scale P-51B Mustang....

 

Duke...1/48 scale...!!!!...??? I'm stunned.

 

 

Yeah, well; it was for a 1/48 scale P-51 I'd gotten after one of our IPMS club's Distressed Kit Auction. It had been badly started by someone who really messed it up. It was so seriously bad that it went through four auctions without a bid. Finally, it was offered to me for free or it would have been thrown out. For some reason, I hate the idea of throwing out a model; even one as badly done as this so I took it. Later, as I was looking through the box; I felt confident I could 'resurrect' this model. Since the only things that were missing were the canopy and decals, that's what I had to order.

 

It's not the first 1/48th scale aircraft I've built; at least three others were built and given as gifts or were paid projects for other people. This is the only 1/48th scale aircraft I kept for myself since I worked so hard to actually build this into something rather respectable. She won't win any contests, but it's one of the models I'm most proud of:

 

USP51BMustang48sclIII.jpg

 

USP51BMustang48sclII.jpg

 

 

Don't worry; so far every aircraft after that one (except two gifts for a friend), have been and will be 1/72! :smiley2::smiley20:

 

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled Thread....

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Guest PetrolGator

Pshaw. 1/72? Cake. Try 1/700! :smiley16:

 

I kid, I kid...

 

 

I'm waiting on another (potential) collection cleaning haul. Evidently, everyone and their brother wants to rid themselves of their 1/700 stuff pretty cheaply. Personally, I prefer the smaller scale.

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