What are you working on right now?

[Littlemarten]

Does anyone remember paying a dollar or two for a really nice kit you couldn't wait to get home

I remember that in the 50s and early 60s.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

After growing up with Revell and those early car kits?? I'm constantly AMAZED at the incredible level of detail and tight tolerances of today's models.

 

[Jakko]

Why not save up another week or two until you can buy an $80 kit that will take you months to build not just days.

Good point, IMHO. But a lot of people (not just in modelling*) don't look at money over time, only at price right now, and like you say, then think that they're better off because they're not buying something expensive.

I've seen similar behaviour when it comes to modelling tools: people using tools that really weren't adequate for the job (worst example was someone using a small kitchen knife and nail clippers to build Warhammer figures) but refusing to spend money on good tools for … who knows why? My suggestion then is buy better tools instead of another model that you won't build any time soon.

Does anyone remember paying a dollar or two for a really nice kit you couldn't wait to get home

When I started modelling in the early/mid-1980s, I bought Matchbox kits from my pocket money, that usually cost 4.95 guilders for a 1:72 plane or a 1:76 tank, or (IIRC) 8.95 for the larger planes or vehicle kits in those scales. In US dollars of the time, that would be something like $1.50 and $2.75, says some quick research. (In modern money, without inflation correction, those prices are about €2.25 and €4; with correction it's more like €5.50 and €9.75.)

---

* I have an iPad Pro. My last iPad was also a Pro, even though they cost two or three times what a non-Pro iPad costs. But because of their higher specs, they last me two or three times as long as a regular iPad would, which to me is a net gain: I have a high-end machine when it's new, and even by the time it no longer gets OS updates, it's still powerful enough to be a capable of running new software.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Good point, IMHO. But a lot of people (not just in modelling*) don't look at money over time, only at price right now, and like you say, then think that they're better off because they're not buying something expensive.

I've seen similar behaviour when it comes to modelling tools: people using tools that really weren't adequate for the job (worst example was someone using a small kitchen knife and nail clippers to build Warhammer figures) but refusing to spend money on good tools for … who knows why? My suggestion then is buy better tools instead of another model that you won't build any time soon.


When I started modelling in the early/mid-1980s, I bought Matchbox kits from my pocket money, that usually cost 4.95 guilders for a 1:72 plane or a 1:76 tank, or (IIRC) 8.95 for the larger planes or vehicle kits in those scales. In US dollars of the time, that would be something like $1.50 and $2.75, says some quick research. (In modern money, without inflation correction, those prices are about €2.25 and €4; with correction it's more like €5.50 and €9.75.)

---

* I have an iPad Pro. My last iPad was also a Pro, even though they cost two or three times what a non-Pro iPad costs. But because of their higher specs, they last me two or three times as long as a regular iPad would, which to me is a net gain: I have a high-end machine when it's new, and even by the time it no longer gets OS updates, it's still powerful enough to be a capable of running new software.

I hear you. At this specific point in time? I can't seem to buy enough tools. And brass. This morning I went to Ace Hardware and bought about eight packs of rods and tubes

 

[BarleyBop]

rods and tubes

Haha, if styrene is considered an addiction, brass is the hard stuff!
Just wait until you fabricate your first MG post and pintle! I giggled just looking at it!

 

[Littlemarten]

Haha, if styrene is considered an addiction, brass is the hard stuff!

If you want to get really good with PE, try a few Metal Earth™ or similar kits.

 

[Glenn S]

Here's something you can digest with your coffee. When I started back in the seventies? Does anyone remember paying a dollar or two for a really nice kit you couldn't wait to get home

I used to save my allowance for a couple of weeks so the I could buy a 1/72 Matchbox kit at our local drug store. I think the kits cost about $2.50 at the time.
Then I would paint the model with a marker ( black 1/4," "Magic Marker").
I had the best black Japanese zero engine cowling ever created by a 7 year old! Thank goodness the kit was moulded in green styrene.

 

[Edbert]

This looks like the bench of someone with no direction or interest, unless "flying things", I guess that makes sense...

 

[Wig41]

Still working on this Tamiya T-72.

 

[Ron2]

What I don't understand or maybe I do but I just want to throw this out there. I think it's kind of a conundrum. I think there's lots of people out there that don't have a lot of money to spend on models. But I watch them get these cheap, small models with 10 pieces and they start on the cockpit and before you know it they're painting the darn thing and calling it done! But that kit was expensive at $25. Yeah but you threw it together and now you're done looking for something else to do. So you rationalize buying another kit at $25 because they're cheap and it's only $25 come on honey. Why not save up another week or two until you can buy an $80 kit that will take you months to build not just days. That's what I don't get. I mean, I'm not rich. I don't have money to go out and buy big expensive models with all these add-ons every two weeks and have a stash that needs an extra bedroom. But when I do buy a model I make sure I'm not going to finish it in 2 days and I also buy a model because it looks cool and has lots of pieces so that my boredom has somewhere to go for a couple weeks

Last year when I first started I bought all my kits at hobby lobby on the sale week, so usually around $20. They aren't great kits. My rationale, besides sticker shock, was I had no skills so I'd learn on these cheap kits and if I messed it up too bad I'd toss it. I still like picking up cheap kits every now and then because they're usually quick builds and I can satisfy that itch - especially if I've had several projects going for months. Also, if I get an idea or am wondering how something might work paint wise- they're good paint mules.

 

[Littlemarten]

learn on these cheap kits and if I messed it up too bad I'd toss it.

A good learning strategy, very similar to how I did it. The cheap kits are a good way to try out a new technique or material.

 

[Ron2]

I've got 7 or so projects going right now, depends how you count. The FT, a
Tiger, p38, trans am, my Lancaster, B17, and a P51 which I'm dreading.

 

[Edbert]

I've got 7 or so projects going right now, depends how you count. The FT, a
Tiger, p38, trans am, my Lancaster, B17, and a P51 which I'm dreading.

Just a personal preference but that is what I do too. The minute (or the minute after) I hit a blocker of feel bored or frustrated I put it away and pick something else up.