wow, im always getting more and more involved in this hobby and i cant beleive it!

i was looking at some verlinden products and my faw hit the floor! its so expensife! i mean, for such a small object thell charge you 30 bucks! what a rip off!
i also took a look at some after market tracks...and my jaw hit the floor again! 30 bucks! s**t! if you buy a 60 dollar model, 30$ tracks, 40$ interior set, 40 dollar engine! etc plus figurs! how much do you spend on a dio!!!!!!!!! lets say one with 2 tanks, and 5-7 figures and whatever else you want

Frank

Im not happy having to shell out so much money on extra items either, but if its something you really want, why not? I mostly build kits OOB. But some need that little extra ... like tracks or PE to improve it. But that is up to every builder and what it takes to satisfy them.
I would rather build one tank with tracks and pe and be happy with it, rather than 3 OOB builds that had stand out flaws like tight tracks or poor detail. With these extras it takes longer to build, as well, so the cost evens itself out.
One thing I know for sure, your taste and preference on what you will spend your cash on, will change as your skills and experience improve. that is certainly true in my case anyway.

Hey, :-)
Living in Canada and being a modeler ain't cheap!! Stuff is almost twice the American price. Even Custom Dioramics which started out in Winnipeg is now American.
Look for bargains, do research and try your hand at scratch building, it can be less expensive and more rewarding.
At my local hobby shop, if I special order they give a discount. This helps but they can't always get what I want.

Just my 6 cents (2 cents American)

Can I interest you in trying 1/72 scale? The good kits, like Revell of Germany, run around $10-12. There are limited amounts of photo etched sets that can run from $6 to a $20 Eduard PE set. Add to it an Armo aluminum barrel for $4 if one is available.

Whole project can be done for under $25.

I also live in Canada, about a 2 hour drive from Toronto. We have one model shop in town, the owner is charging $55 for Tamiya's M1025. But I go to a model show, what's this $35?! Like plasticbattle said, go all out on one model. Tamiya's King Tiger with production turret, Aber PE set and Achtung Panzer 6! is sitting in my stack of kits waiting to be built, and I'm still looking for individual link tracks and a aluminium barrel.

Try a 1/16 Tiger 1;

$300 for the kit(and that was on sale)
$180 for AM tracks
$125 for P/E
$20 for finishing supplies

Yes, it can be expensive. Some hobby, huh?

Cody

Actually that's usually the best time to buy (at a model show).

We have a local IPMS model show that is done here annually, and that's the only time I buy my kits. They are usually about atleast 1/2 the retail price, and you get a much better selection too. I stock up during the model show, enough to last me more than a year, and then end up buying more the next year.

I have only bought an aftermarket kit once, mainly cause they cost so dang much like you said and iam afraid i will mess up and ruin it, wasting 30 or so dollars. But then again they do make the model look that much nicer when its finnished.

I probably average about $40US per kit. I rarely do the super after market kits but will load up the outside with backpacks and cargo. I start by getting good deals on ebay or negotiating with the store. If I can't get a deal I pass. Nothing says you MUST buy full price

Problem is, NO SHOWS AROUND MY PLACE lol so iam part of the guys out there who paid 70 bucks for the tamiya tiger 1 late version yup...sucks to be canadian sometimes

thank god i founs some cheap site of internet( thanks hasty!!!) they sell that same freakin tiger fro 55 bucks with a set of tamiya crew figures with shipping and handling for free!!!! say i could of saved 30 bucks at christmas

Frank

o i almsot forgot:Stahlhelm
if i wouldnt be so nuts on modelign id say your nuts! i spent less money on my dirtbike ( including all the little things i had to change on it, and now it runs liek a new one)

wow, 300$ for a kit plus the extras! did you wife kill you or made you work all weekend?

thats why its called a hobby. lol.
nomatter what hobby u like to do.
we are going to pay thought the nose.
so other hobbeis cost more then modeling.
i my other hobby was gas powerd
radio conroled cars,
now that is a rip off. 25 bucks for a gallon of gas.
every time u break a part or it a crub it would be like 20 to 25 dollars to fix it.
thats hwy i stoped to much money lol

3442,

I am very fortunately and quite determinedly single and can joyously squander my disposable income as I see fit instead of how SWMBO decides my income is to perish. :-)

Cody

lol, almsot tempting to be single
hey, to all my fellow moder buddies who's wife looks at you wwith huge eyes when you spend as much money as Stahlhelm for your models, try to get the min the hobby

tazz is right, its a hobby...i spend over 1g on sk8boarding appearal and gear each year...lol, thats why my dad makes me pay for my modeling its fun because when i want sk8boarding stuff i go shop with my dad since he likes the idea of me sk8ing and when i want models i bring mommy along since she likes me being creative now il go see momy and convincer her to order my aztek 470 and some models

Frank

Hey 3442....

Where in Quebec are you????

I know of at least 2 big shows in Quebec.

The Quebec City club has a yearly show usually held in mid spring, and there is a show in Laval I believe in the early fall.

I am down here in NB, we have one show in Fredericton in mid spring (was actually the same weekend and the QC show), for the Fredericton club, of which I am a member and help organize the show, and then there is one in Halifax in the early fall.

The only other one here is a car one in Moncton, NB to correspond with their huge 1:1 scale auto show!!!!


As far as kits go....I am very happy to build OOB, I personally don't have an urge to run out and buy every PE, track and barrel aftermarket kit for the kits I have. I do have a few that I would like to do that for, but that is a very few, and is only because I have gotten other aftermarket prodects for them for dirt cheap on the internet, or have had stuff given to me, like an interior PE set for the Dragon MLRS (THANKS STORMFRONT!!)

Some kits I have gotten on Ebay have had aftermarket parts with them, such as Dragon's Zsu-23-4, came with a set of Modelkasten Tracks....they are awesome tracks, but if they hadn't of come with the kit, I wouldn't have gone out to pay retail for them.

The one kit add on that I do like is the metal barrels, but thats only because it eliminates having to sand that dasterly seam down the barrel.

I know I will get blasted for this next comment, but really, I buy alot of stuff on Ebay.

One reason I do...is I can usually get it for alot cheaper, even from the US, including the shipping and exchange on the money. You have to watch out, and really pick out the good deals. You aren't going to find a new Tamiya T-55 for $10, at least not yet, but you can sometimes find other older Tamiya kits, like the Challenger 1 mk1 and mk3 for cheap.

Some of my greatest buys have been the mk1 and mk3 Challengers from Tamiya, of which I picked up from the same guy for $9 each. And Tamiya's older M2 Bradley with the interior, and newer M2A2 Bradley (non OIF) for $8-$10 each.

My second reason is that the LHS in my hometown sucks. Hasn't had anything new in for months, the paint racks are next to empty, and when he does bring in new stuff, its the el cheapo reboxers like Hobbycraft (old HobbyCraft kits, not the new Trump reboxes) and ModelCraft reboxes.....instead of the great new stuff coming out from the companies.

Worst part is....he won't special order for you either....well not unless you want to wait 6 months!!!!

So I buy online thru Ebay.

Anything special I want specific, I will buy from a hobby shop in Halifax....although I don't get there enough!!!!! (Sorry Blackfly!!)

OK...enough ranting...time for bed!!

hey viper! your my jesus! i live in rosemere, which is reletevly close to laval( parents will drive ) can you give me more info on the laval show?

Frank and thx a lot!

Since PE and other aftermarket products are not available in my LHS except through mail order I make do with what I have from my spares box, soda cans, lead sheets and other hardware stuff. Even so $15 for a set of PE's for a kit that costs $20 is kind of steep.

Before you guys moan about the price of models see what we pay - I order a lot of stuff from the States at just over half what we pay here, and when I went to Victoria BC last year I took an extra suitcase just to fill with models at 2/3rds UK prices!!!

well i would agree that some items, especially aftermarket seems expensive, put it into context;

how long does it take you to complete your model in terms of hours?

20-30 hours?

how much does it cost to see a football match, or go out for a meal? these things only last for a hour or two at most.

all hobbies are expensive, i play bass guitar, and to even get started you need an instrument and an amp, which will cost several hundred pounds each, then consisder the cost of frequent replacement strings, new plectrums, parts etc.

my bass cost £250, and my amp was a similar amount, then i spend on average £25 per week on strings and other bits and bobs.

now im getting ready to buy a new bass, and for the one i want it will cost at least £350.

so modelling isnt that expensive afterall!

cheers

joe

ps, dave is right, we pay a LOT

well i would agree that some items, especially aftermarket seems expensive, put it into context;

how long does it take you to complete your model in terms of hours?

20-30 hours?

how much does it cost to see a football match, or go out for a meal? these things only last for a hour or two at most.

all hobbies are expensive, i play bass guitar, and to even get started you need an instrument and an amp, which will cost several hundred pounds each, then consisder the cost of frequent replacement strings, new plectrums, parts etc.

my bass cost £250, and my amp was a similar amount, then i spend on average £25 per week on strings and other bits and bobs.

now im getting ready to buy a new bass, and for the one i want it will cost at least £350.

so modelling isnt that expensive afterall!

cheers

joe

ps, dave is right, we pay a LOT

well i would agree that some items, especially aftermarket seems expensive, put it into context;

how long does it take you to complete your model in terms of hours?

20-30 hours?

how much does it cost to see a football match, or go out for a meal? these things only last for a hour or two at most.

all hobbies are expensive, i play bass guitar, and to even get started you need an instrument and an amp, which will cost several hundred pounds each, then consisder the cost of frequent replacement strings, new plectrums, parts etc.

my bass cost £250, and my amp was a similar amount, then i spend on average £25 per week on strings and other bits and bobs.

now im getting ready to buy a new bass, and for the one i want it will cost at least £350.

so modelling isnt that expensive afterall!

cheers

joe

ps, dave is right, we pay a LOT more than most for our models!

well, this hobby isnt that expensive compared to others.

i'm nuts about bodybuilding. I spend about like >100 bucks on protein/mass shakes each month or so. with that amount i can buy 2 DML kits (my fav company!) and other bits and pieces.

too bad i'd rather use that 100 bucks to get supplements

With over 1800 kits in my collection, I can feel the pain you guys are talking about. When I first got back into the hobby, I was floored at the cost of AM parts. That is when I decided I would learn to cast my own stuff. The initial cost of the AM resin set me back a little bit, as did the mold making and casting resin, but the money I saved in the long run made up for it. While I have had to replace a lot of my molds over the years, I have a ton of stuff that I can continue to use on my kits for quite a while yet. I have one particular kit that has just about all the bells and whistles you can think of. Dragons T-34/85. Complete interior, working suspension, engine and transmission, JR barrel, 2 sheets of PE, Archer dry transfers, Frui metal tracks, resin roadwheels and a few more parts and pieces that I cant recall at the moment. They best part is....I probably have less than $75 in the whole thing as I picked up most of the stuff through trades, or at really discounted prices at model shows/contests. Gotta be thrifty these days. Good thread. keep it going. "Q"

i dun buy much aftermarket though...being a amatuer modeller..i have yet to spend lots on money on them yet