How much have you spent on a build?

[John Pol]

Like to see how much Chris spent so far on his 1/16th scale Jungle Jim car. Prouably could of bought a real car for what he spent on the one kit

[High octane]

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.

My thoughts exactly.

[Daddyfink]

Like to see how much Chris spent so far on his 1/16th scale Jungle Jim car. Prouably could of bought a real car for what he spent on the one kit

Did he secretly build a Jungle Jim car and not tell us? Dude! 

[Eshaver]

Hummmmm, a single model car , I guess a couple , three months . Diorama to completion , probably eight months

[THarrison351]

It would depend on what decade I built it. My detailed Bill Elliott Bud 11 car took two kits, aftermarket paint, decals, and various photo-etch bits and accessories. I built it in 1993 and it cost probably less than $70. Kits were cheap at Walmart, maybe $5 or 7 each. I think the decals were maybe $5, Tru-Match paint was less than $5, each one of those bags of Detail Master sets were less than $5. Each decade the price of kits went up a little, but right after 2010, wow! Double! and every year it seems a few dollars, not cents more. I'd say to try and build the same type of detailed car today (not NASCAR, because you can't give the '90s models away), I might have to spend twice as much, depending where the model was purchased from.

Edited August 10, 2017 by THarrison351

[Mooneyzs]

Like to see how much Chris spent so far on his 1/16th scale Jungle Jim car. Prouably could of bought a real car for what he spent on the one kit

John... were you meaning my Army Vega Build??

 

 

Did he secretly build a Jungle Jim car and not tell us? Dude! 

Jesse... I was wondering the same thing.... was I building another car in my sleep I didn't know about... ... Now it makes sense why It's taken me so long on this build, I was building something else and didn't know about it...lol 

[John Pol]

John... were you meaning my Army Vega Build??

 

Jesse... I was wondering the same thing.... was I building another car in my sleep I didn't know about... ... Now it makes sense why It's taken me so long on this build, I was building something else and didn't know about it...lol 

Yes that is the one lol

[russosborne]

I don't spend much. The kit price, and maybe a can or two of paint and some glue spread out over a few models. I only rarely buy a kit just to use parts from it, but I do once in a while. I'll hang on to the rest of it and hope to use it for something someday.

I am not counting the stuff I have bought but have never used, like lots of craft store stuff for detailing that I have yet to use. that would only add pennies to each kit anyway.

I don't really keep track, I just can't afford to buy extras. If I had the budget to I would, while still not worrying about keeping track. It's like on 1:1 cars. If you add it all up it tends to get depressing. For me at least. There are others who proudly share down to the penny what they have spent.

Russ

[StevenGuthmiller]

I've on occasion, spent more to purchase a really nice rare vintage kit than most guys would ever care to spend on any build, but that's where it ends for me.

I don't keep track in any way, shape or form of how much the actual build costs.

I think that I would rather not know.

Ignorance is bliss, as they say, & I like bliss.

 

Steve

[Roncla]

I've on occasion, spent more to purchase a really nice rare vintage kit than most guys would ever care to spend on any build, but that's where it ends for me.

I don't keep track in any way, shape or form of how much the actual build costs.

I think that I would rather not know.

Ignorance is bliss, as they say, & I like bliss.

 

Steve

 I'm with  Steve. Ignorance is  bliss for me. I'm confident though that many of our hobbies manufactures and retailers will have a comfortable retirement  when I look at my stash.

[cmfowler]

Most I have in a finished model is my latest build, a Aoshima Lamborghini Huracan with Hobby Design's LB Performance body kit. With supplies,  the kit, extra wheels and paint I am in it around $200.

[iamsuperdan]

How much do I spend? More than I tell my wife I spend!

 

I don't really keep track of what I spend on a particular build, or on the hobby in general. I need supplies, I'll just go get them. And I know what I'm comfortable spending on a kit.

 

[crazyjim]

I don't keep track.  If I need/want something, I buy it.  I bought a '70 Road Runner for $15 and put Zimmerman wheels on it ($20), primer, paint, glue, etc. so maybe $40 or $45 in it?  I would guess most are less than that.

[Tom Geiger]

If you built only one model, bought several kits at hobby shop retail for parts, bought supplies and paint exclusively for this project, you could indeed spend $100-200 for a typical  AMT /  Revell build of an American car.  But we don't do that.  We amass the supplies we use over years and they get used on several to many models. 

I do own old rare models and resin that I paid $100 for, but I can't help but notice that my best builds... those I've had the most fun with... both in building them and sharing them with my friends, all started out as the cheapest kits.  My signature model, a 1953 Ford pickup called "Pyrite's Paddler"  started out as a $3 closeout kit.  Maybe that says something.    

This is a rather affordable hobby.  When I go to shows, I always go with a few hundred in my pocket, and I buy whatever hits my fancy that day.  I'm likely to spend more on lunch and travel.  I cannot complain.

Now my stamp collection is another story.... wanna see $1000 worth of zeppelin flown covers?

 

[Richard Bartrop]

 

This is a rather affordable hobby.  When I go to shows, I always go with a few hundred in my pocket, and I buy whatever hits my fancy that day.  I'm likely to spend more on lunch and travel.  I cannot complain.

 

 

Oh yes, you don't have to throw money at this hobby to enjoy it.

Honestly, I'd be way more impressed if somebody showed a really nice model and said they did it all for 12 bucks.

[Daddyfink]

Oh yes, you don't have to throw money at this hobby to enjoy it.

Honestly, I'd be way more impressed if somebody showed a really nice model and said they did it all for 12 bucks.

That sounds like a challenge .

[martinfan5]

I think the most I have spent on one build was the cost of all the supplies needed to make said subject, a 53ft trailer, I think I spent just north of $100, not counting the rig.

Edited August 11, 2017 by martinfan5

[Snake45]

Oh yes, you don't have to throw money at this hobby to enjoy it.

Honestly, I'd be way more impressed if somebody showed a really nice model and said they did it all for 12 bucks.

I can do better than that. I've got a number of models I could build completely from leftover and castoff parts from other projects--including the paint. Total cost: $0.00.

In fact, at least one of my beloved original annual AMT Sting Ray projects will be built up from a bunch of leftover and glue bomb parts most modelers would consider unfit for use, including the body. The one I'm thinking of will be a road racer, but I'm pretty sure I can get a full custom together the same way.

ETA: Come to think of it, I've already beat the $12 barrier, too, and recently. Last winter I bought this original annual AMT '67 Vette at the local toy show for the grand sum of $8.00. The paint was tolerable, so all I did was disassemble it, clean it up, do all the chrome trim in Silver Sharpie, repaint the interior Krylon Satin Black, and swap out the wheels and tires with goodies from the parts box. It's not perfect but it sure looks better than $8 sitting on my shelf.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Snake45

[Richard Bartrop]

Looks good!

[Bernard Kron]

This has the potential to be a very interesting question indeed, once you consider that the amount you spend on kit, parts and meterials can be part of your design influences themselves. This has happened to me many times.

For example, sometimes I'll set myself the goal to build a project 100% from parts, materials and paint I already have. In a sense the project has $0.00 marginal (additional) cost since the "money has already been spent". Of course this is an illusion, a little white lie I tell myself, but it means I haven't gone out and spent any additional money for the project. A good example of this would be the Rat Rod I built for the 2016 NNL West. The body was a leftover from an AMT/ERTL '29 Ford Roadster kit which also contributed the seat, dash and windshield, the wheels and front tires were leftovers from an AMT '34 Ford Coupe, and the rear tires leftovers from a Revell '40 Ford Deluxe kit. The front and rear axles came from a Revellogram '37 Ford Sedan Delivery kit. The motor wasn't purchased for the project as such, but it did come from a discreet source, a Revell Parts Pak. The chassis and gas tank were scratch built from styrene stock which I already had, the paint is leftover Krylon Purple from another project, and the weathering powders have been with me for years. The decals were homemade. So, allowing for the fact that all these "leftovers" have some sort or pro-rated marginal cost, as did the .styrene and paint and that I bought the Parts Pak for less than $5.00 on eBay the most expensive part of the build would either be the motor or perhaps the headers which are aftermarket parts bought on eBay for around $7.00. A guesstimate would be this is a $30.00 project and close to as little as I am likely to spend on a given project these days.

$30.00 Out The Door?

At the other extreme would be a project where I've actually purchased a specific kit, parts and materials in order to be able to build it. A project I'm doing right now would be an excellent example. The source kit itself wasn't all that expensive: the often denigrated ESCI/ERTL/AMT Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta, bought very cheaply on eBay for $15.00 + $10.44 shipping = $25.44. The silver paint, gray primer, and clear coats are low-end Duplicolor items currently available at about $6.00 a can. They're big cans so figure 1/2 can each + 10% sales tax = ~$12.50. But here's the zinger. In order to make this model look decent you need need to replace several horrible modeled and highly visible parts/ One requirement is for decent wheels. The kit wheels are a joke. Careful shopping for proper Borrani wire wheels and believable tires reveals even K.A. or Fujimi p.e. wheels and decent aftermarket tires are a $50.00 event at best. The nicest true wires in 1/24 scale are from Fernando Pinto at FPP Modelo. I just ordered some at a cool $63.00 a set, but they include really nice tires and are exceptional - if I don't screw up they will make the model. Also, in order to get the carburetor stacks to look proper I landed up using a set of Detail Master Weber carburetor trumpets. They were from my parts stash but they would cost me $12.99 plus shipping to replace. I also am using two Morgan Auto Detail Scintilla/Vertex style magnetos to model the Magnetti Marelli distibutors which are mere blobs in the original kit. They cost $4.95 each plus shipping. Throw in another $11.00 including shipping for some metal transfer decals of the Ferrari Prancing Horse and script for the grill, valve covers and trunk lid and I'm out to $175.00+ at this point, not including decal paper and miscellaneous acrylic and Metalizer paint used on the chassis, interior and motor. While some of this might seem excessive, this is a Ferrari after all and the whole point of the project is to make a well-detailed and believable model. I don't think this is any different than many of us do for this type of car, and my kit cost is a fraction of what many of us spend on various rare and desirable specialist kits.

$175.00 and counting:

Metal Transfers:

Borranis from FPP Modelo (2 pairs):

Detail Master Weber Stacks:

The cheap stuff ($25.00 kit and $15.00 in paint and decals):

Edited August 11, 2017 by Bernard Kron

[Muncie]

Long, long ago, when I was working at my high school job in a local hardware store... and spending my earnings on my first car...  I kept every receipt and added them up long before it was running.  I had a general idea of the number based on the parts that I had bought  but the nuts & bolts, elec terminals, wire, tape, sand paper, paint, misc... added up to more than the real parts.  All together, it was  a lot more than I thought...  So I did the reasonable thing and stopped adding up receipts. 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Muncie

[HotRodaSaurus]

Tamiya Lola T70. Kit for £79 + spray paint, other paint, foil, new glue. No photo etch for this back in the 90s so time like most of us was the main event. probably came to around £150.

[tbill]

Probably have $450 into this build, did it before the trailer was reissued, lots of PE and other small aftermarket stuff.

 

[Tom Geiger]

Oh yes, you don't have to throw money at this hobby to enjoy it.

Honestly, I'd be way more impressed if somebody showed a really nice model and said they did it all for 12 bucks.

One time at a club meeting a guy put out a bunch of old parts kits in their boxes for $5 each. I bought about 6 of them because parts are a good thing. Then I started looking at this one. It appears to have been built by a kid, started but never really finished. The chassis was complete but the body was loose in the box. I mocked it up for this photo. There was something about that flat green body that fascinated me... so...

I built this!  There is nothing in this build. $5 kit, wheels from a diecast I got for nothing,  Seats from my parts box that I had already finished for another build but didn't use. Decals I had made from an Internet image I was itching to use somewhere. And you can see I kept that paint. Everything else was already on my bench.   Total cost?  Less than that $12 price!

And ya know, this is the one build I've done in the past 10 years that I worked on constantly from start to finish!  I was just fueled to work on it and totally enjoyed myself. And that kids, is what this is all about!  

[Jim N]

Hummmmm, a single model car , I guess a couple , three months . Diorama to completion , probably eight months

Wow Ellen, that is really nice work!