How much have you spent on a build?

[Jantrix]

It's a source of pride for many of us how inexpensive this hobby is, compared to many others available to us. I spend more on handgun ammo yearly than I do on my models. Anyone into RC anything is the same way.

Having said that, whats the most you have invested in any particular build? I know that large scale is more expensive by their very nature and aftermarket is much more hard to find. So for the sake of comparison, lets just keep the discussion to 1/24 or 1/25.

Personally, my most expensive required four kits to be purchased and parted out using ebay, so about $70. A few aftermarket parts, evergreen stock, paint and other incidentals another $25. So all told, somewhere in the realm of $100 for my Cherry 2000 movie car. Most of my work is much less than that, perhaps half.

 

[afx]

This would be my most expensive build due largely to what I had to pay for the original MPC kit ($100).  It was built before I ever dreamed the kit would get re-issued.  I spent another $40-$50 buying various decal sets to get the proper markings and $30 for a Polar Lights Torino to use for the chassis/engine.  Grand Total: $180

Edited August 9, 2017 by afx

[Dann Tier]

To go out and buy all the supplies I used to build my recently posted Jaguar "D-Type", I would need $400. I bought TWO kits at $125 each, just for start. Aside from crazy price fluxuations, (especially on ebay), i'm not a "compare-it-with-others" price shopper. I get what I need and move on quickly. On average, most of my UBER detailed builds would cost me between $300, and $400 in supplies.Thank God that a lot of supplies out there have enough for multiple builds!

[Daddyfink]

If you need to count how much you spend to enjoy a hobby, then maybe it is not the hobby for you. 

 

[my66s55]

If you need to count how much you spend to enjoy a hobby, then maybe it is not the hobby fo

I totally disagree. There are people in this life that keep track of their spending. It's their nature. I can tell you where every penny I spend goes. I'm an accountant and that's how I control my budget. It's got nothing to do with a hobby. 

[Jantrix]

If you need to count how much you spend to enjoy a hobby, then maybe it is not the hobby for you. 

 

How do you get through life without managing your expenses? I don't normally keep track of every penny I spend on models, but when a model requires more than average resources, I tend to take notice. Not to mention the fact that I do keep a rough estimate of hobby expenditures keeps me in the black with my wife. So that when a new kit comes out she's happy to indulge me. 

[Daddyfink]

I just don't throw money up into the air, but I do take care of my bills and save money. And when there is something I wan't, I buy it. If you are on a budget, get what you can, when you can. But to try and keep tabs on how much I am spending on a build is a bit much. 

And to keep track of how much I spend on my hobby would make me nuts

I am single and do not hold the title of accountant. Some of you take this way to seriously

[my66s55]

I'm also single, retired and on a fixed budget. If you don't know how much you spend on something, it's your choice. To tell people that, because they know how much they spend for a build, they need a new hobby is only you opinion. Not fact. 

[Spex84]

I think I understand both sides of this...I do track my spending, but I don't tally up what each individual project cost. The dollar valve of the hours I've sunk into any model far exceed the cost of the kit and parts.

I try to avoid buying online when shipping prices are nuts, go easy on the paint purchases (paint seems to east cash very quickly), and find craft supplies at the dollar store/from salvage rather than purchasing new kits. I'll put in the time to clean up a glue-bomb or strip paint from a partially started garage-sale kit rather than buy new.  I don't buy photo-etch and other expensive aftermarket parts (much).

My big indulgence recently has been 3D printing some small items and trying to make molds and cast then in resin. The $$$ this has required in failed experimentation is starting to bother me, but I told myself going in that I was going to just spend the money for the sake of the experience, regardless of the results.

It's all about the experience...It feels good to complete a project and know that not only was it enjoyable, it was also cheap. Thriftiness has an especially delicious feeling for some people (including me).

On the other hand, maybe someday I'll go nuts and load a model with aftermarket parts, just to glory in its shiny expensive excess. I just don't really get my kicks that way

 

 

[Spex84]

*Dollar valve

Hahaha. Good typo.

[High octane]

If you need to count how much you spend to enjoy a hobby, then maybe it is not the hobby for you. 

 

I tend to agree with you there, as I have another hobby and spend much more than what I spend on model cars.

[Daddyfink]

I'm also single, retired and on a fixed budget. If you don't know how much you spend on something, it's your choice. To tell people that, because they know how much they spend for a build, they need a new hobby is only you opinion. Not fact. 

Exactly, my opinion. 

Thank you

[gtx6970]

High dollar builds with loads of aftermarket isn't something I'm interested in. I don't do contests, as I build for my case and my case alone.

Thats said, I think the most I've got tied up in any single one build is maybe $100 , $125 at the very most.

Now,that said .  I may have that or more tied up in a kit. But keep in mind, I tend to buy vintage kits and old annuals. And I have a few I've  paid over $100 for. Those are mostly curbsides and other than maybe $10 in paint. Thats pretty much tops them out investment wise.

BUT,,,,I  dont really need to keep track of my spending on MY version of a HOBBY. My bills are paid my wife and I pretty much buy what we want , and my 2 girls don't go without what they may need. 

Edited August 10, 2017 by gtx6970

[misterNNL]

I have never kept track of the dollars going into a build but at my age I seriously think about wether or not I need to spend another $ 25.00 for a kit that I most probably will not ever build.

[FordRodnKustom]

I guess for me it would be this one. I didn't keep track of the numbers but I know I spent more that I should have on glue bombs to get the parts I needed for this restoration and to get it where I wanted it. If I had to throw a number out I'd say somewhere between  80-100.

[Daddyfink]

I guess for me it would be this one. I didn't keep track of the numbers but I know I spent more that I should have on glue bombs to get the parts I needed for this restoration and to get it where I wanted it. If I had to throw a number out I'd say somewhere between  80-100.

That is just too cool! 

[FordRodnKustom]

This would be my most expensive build due largely to what I had to pay for the original MPC kit ($100).  It was built before I ever dreamed the kit would get re-issued.  I spent another $40-$50 buying various decal sets to get the proper markings and $30 for a Polar Lights Torino to use for the chassis/engine.  Grand Total: $180

Man, I like that. Nice job!

[afx]

Man, I like that. Nice job!

Thanks Ron.  Here are a few more photos.

[Snake45]

Since first seeing this topic this morning, I've been trying to figure out. I really can't say. I know I have several AMT Corvettes on the bench that I've paid $50 or more for in glue bomb form, but can't say what's the most I've ever spent on a single build.

Whatever the number is, it would pale in comparison to the value of the time I spend on each one, even at current Minimum Wage.

[BigTallDad]

Does the cost include numerous trips to the "Purple Pond" and the expenses associated therewith?

Edited August 9, 2017 by BigTallDad

[Khils]

Undetermined. ...yet!

Still in need of parts to finish my Horn Toad.....like a couple others here...last count $125 in built ups / glue bombs,salvaging anywhere from 1 to 5 pieces @ a time.

[vamach1]

What I have spent in the past is water under the bridge.  I have bought resin kits for close to $200 but only a few.   The GT40 1/16 and the Fujumi 1/12 GT40 are probably the most expensive plastic kits I have.  I will NOT pay hundreds for a $2 model just because it is rare and old.  I'm happy with kits in the $20 to $25 range which represents 90% of my stash.  I have more detail parts and decals than I will ever use them all but with some of these items you cannot assume they will be available to buy forever unless you want to pay inflated Bay prices.  I managed to piece together a nice 68 Mach1 from glue bombs instead of paying $100 for an unbuilt one.  I used to buy a lot of 1/43 kits but rarely see any releases anymore that are in a subject matter I do not already have.  For whatever reason I feel zero nostalgia for kits I built as a kid and have for the last 35 plus years have stuck to a very narrow type of car (Mustang, GT40, Pantera and Cobra) so this pretty much limits how much I buy.  Thanks for reading.

[Snake45]

Lemme see, I got it in my head I wanted the cut-down wraparound custom windshield for an AMT Corvette. Turns out that part came only in the '65 roadsters. I already had one or two very restorable '65 roadsters, but bought a more complete one with the windshield for @‌ $50. And then I bought another one for almost that much. So now I have two of those windshields, at least one of which I will actually use in a build. But I've also got enough other parts from the scrounging to build at least three cars, maybe four, with at least two of them being nice factory stocks. So it's hard to say what I'll have in any ONE of them.

But even at $50, I look at it as, that's only twice what a common current kit costs (or 3x, figuring HL coupon prices), and I have AT LEAST twice as much fun restoring a rare old kit as building a brand new one, so it's actually a bargain.

[ChrisBcritter]

Plus you can offset the cost by selling some of the leftover parts on eBay.

Don't laugh - have you priced a Continental hood ornament lately?

[SSNJim]

How do you determine how much you spent on one model?  If you build a model using one kit and maybe a bunch of aftermarket junk, that's easy enough. If you buy Kit A as the base, Kit B for the wheels, and Kit C for the engine to bash into one model, how do you calculate that? Especially when you start a new model using Kit D and pull the engine out of Kit A, the chassis out of Kit B, the wheels out of your parts box and the interior out of Kit E? What if you buy aftermarket wheels specifically for this build but decide not to use them? Does that still count?

It is easy enough to determine how much you spend on kits, but determining how much you spent on a specific model would seem to be quite difficult.

 

Edited August 10, 2017 by SSNJim