Paint related brain teaser

[dryvr12]

how much do you tihnk you have spent on paint and primer? being relativly new to modeling, i have only spent about $20

[mademan]

roughly , 3-4grand in the past 3 years or so.

[evilone]

Shoot if your talking one car i have went up to 80 bucks.If your talking total im at about $500to a $1000 for my first year at the hobby.

[Pete J.]

Hmmmmm, lets see, $500 for a quart of Mirrachrome, $150 for a pint of Chromalusion, $15 a quart for automotive lacquer X 25, 'lebenteen hundred cans of Tamiya spary paint, umteen bottles of Alclad, and s***pot full of other bits and pieces. I du'no maybe a lot of thousand dollars. It was all needed for something or other. Heck, I don't remember.

[Smart-Resins]

To do one body I spend maybe in the neighborhood of $20. $5 for a can of auoto primer, $5 for a can of auto color $5 for a can of auto clear $5 with shipping for Alclad. Now if you want a different interior color other then those, different engine color then those, different colors on the body IE two tones, flames ect, then it goes up quickly. Once you have a "store house" of paint, then you dont realize it as much. But to buy per model, you realize the pain of it! LO. Jody

[dryvr12]

roughly , 3-4grand in the past 3 years or so.

all i can say is WOW

[mademan]

all i can say is WOW

Ive got 4 "kitchen Cabinets" in the garage full of Special Mixed automotive spray bombs, which are 27.00 each at our "walkers paint supply", I only Use Dupont Premier Chroma Clear, and I have a HUGE stash of House Of Kolor.

[LoneWolf15]

I hate to admit it , but , literally thousands a year ! I sometimes wonder where my sanity goes at times . I think I leave it outside of the hobby shop door , then enter ! I know the owner gets a big smile on his face everytime I walk in through the door ! He knows he is going to make money .

Much of this is spent on customer's work , however , more than enough is for my own use . I'd rather spend it on paint rather than booze , so I figure I'm waayy out ahead of the game .

Donn Yost

Lone Wolf Custom Painting

[bobss396]

I would guess that I have around $300-400 of paint around at any given time. This includes primer, thinners, etc. I probably blow about $25 on every car that I paint.

Bob

[70gmcer]

You can use a lot of money as described above. I'm old school. I use Dupli-Color sprays available in a load of colors & Krylon Clears. Been doing it this way near 50 years now. Tried the spray gun once. Just once, got rid of it.

A can of spray will do a few cars depending on what size you get. With a little practice, you will be surprised how great your paint will turn out. It keeps the prices way down by using these things. On average, I can build a kit for around $20 to $25. Again, if you want to use the hi-end spray guns & paints, yeah, in the hundreds. Not a way to start in the hobby IMO.

[93Z34]

I'm convinced that every modeler is insane to a certain degree Wolf. How many sane people would punish themselves the way we do trying to build replicas of cars and trucks and sink so much money into the process?

With the increasing cost of spray paint, it's getting more and more expensive to paint our projects, but it's all relative. It costs about $30 including tax for me to build one kit now. Add to that the cost of bottle paints for detail painting and it can get even higher. Still, I'm not complaining. It's a hobby I love and it just means I have to cut corners elsewhere to play in the hobby. Now..if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go make a sandwich out of that empty model box so I have money for another bottle of flat black paint instead of buying that loaf of bread....

[Olle F]

When I see what you guys spend on paint, all I can say is: "Get an airbrush!"

I use enamels, and it doesn't take more than maybe 1/2 bottle to paint a car body. Of course, I have to add a little bit of miscellaneous colors for engine, chassis, interior and so on, but I have a pretty good assortment of the basic colors I usually use and the total is probably no more than another 1/2 bottle anyway. Add maybe a cup of laquer thinner, and the total paint cost for a model will be between $5 and 10$, tops. Granted, I don't build much nowadays, but my airbrush has sure paid for itself several times over.

[Pete J.]

$10? i know some builders like to spend a whole lot of money on paint for a project, but is it necessary? i spray bomb everything i build. for a new project that i have to go out and buy some paint for it's usually limited to the main body color and a fresh can of clear, hence the $10. the majority of the colors i will be using i have on hand already so i don't add that in to the cost. Walmart generic brand flat black for $1 something a can will paint alot of models and thier pieces. they have a wide variety of other colors too. i really like Krylon brand spray paints too, a little bit more expensive than the generic stuff but still i think less that $5 for a can. i love the newer Testor's lacquer paints in spray cans and they usually run around $5 for a spray can at the hobbyshop.

Dave

Dave, nothing we do is necessary unless you are doing it for a purpose. The most visible part of a model(I think most will agree) is the paint job. If you have a bad or great paint job it really is the first thing everyone looks at. Nobody walks up to a model and the first words out of their mouth are,"Wow, great wiring!" The paint draws them in and then the rest of the model needs to speak for itself. How much you spend on paint is irrelevant if you get a good looking finish. If you can do it with a $5 rattle can then great. That is what you need to use. I spend a lot on paint because I have gotten great results and I like to match the factory paint when possible. If people get in a argument over the shade I have used, then there is so little wrong with the model they have had to look very closely to find a flaw, and that is great by me. I also buy some strange paints like Mirrachrome(better than Alcad chrome) but it use to be that you could only get it in quarts(at $200), or Chromillusion(color shift). But then I like to experiment.

Yea, I spend a lot on paint, but I also spend a lot on other things like tools($1,200 for a Shurline Lathe), kits(about $40 a month) and aftermarket parts($650 SMS 935 super detail set times 5). That is my choice and as long as the mortgage gets paid, then the rest is recreation for me. Don't get hung up on what others spend. Just do what you can afford and what works for you. Making do with what you have at hand is the creative side of this hobby.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Pete J.

[LoneWolf15]

When I see what you guys spend on paint, all I can say is: "Get an airbrush!"

I use enamels, and it doesn't take more than maybe 1/2 bottle to paint a car body. Of course, I have to add a little bit of miscellaneous colors for engine, chassis, interior and so on, but I have a pretty good assortment of the basic colors I usually use and the total is probably no more than another 1/2 bottle anyway. Add maybe a cup of laquer thinner, and the total paint cost for a model will be between $5 and 10$, tops. Granted, I don't build much nowadays, but my airbrush has sure paid for itself several times over.

I am talking about an airbrush ! ...... Testors bottled enamels ! Scary ! Ain't it !

The Old Man

[Olle F]

I am talking about an airbrush ! ...... Testors bottled enamels ! Scary ! Ain't it !

The Old Man

Whoa... Yeah, that is indeed scary! But it seems like you do work for others, and that is a little bit different. At least you can recoup your money, while mine vaporizes through the airbrush.