Plastic Model Hobby Expenditures: What Do You Spend Money On?

My expenses are in pretty much the same order as yours.

I haven't been buying much lately, but am still spending about the same....quality over quantity!

My estimated rankings by expenditure would be:

Kits

Decals

Reference books

A/M detail parts (both photoetch & resin)

Paint, glue & other misc

Kits are by far the biggest single expenditure, the others would be pretty close and vary from year to year.

Mark

I would add weathering products,the abundance of products from AK,Mig and others make it easier for less talented people like me get good results.

first is decal sheets, second is paints, third is Ordnance sets to give me more options for load outs

and I do still buy some kits here and there, when new ones come out in my area of interest

Rex

I am at Kits, paints, and then tools.  It is actually rare that I buy any after-market anything.  I will buy decals once in a while but only for special projects and not just because.  

I usually build OOB and scratch build so whatever I buy can usually be used for several builds before I have to buy again (styrene, putties, brass tubing, etc..).

My hobby budget is very limited.

I don't buy kits except maybe 1 or 2 I REALLY want these days. Lately I've been getting in the game of bartering kits I got years ago and no longer want to build for others kits so that's generally how I obtain those.

Paint: Being an all around builder with a sub specialty of automotive subjects paint adds up. Case in point I just popped $75 on imported Japanese clearcoat for my body shells. Toss in all the other custom mix auto body colors and primers, armor, aircraft, figure, etc colors it adds up.

Aftermarket: I'm not real big on the AM end of things. I much prefer scratchbuilding/hashing my own details together (I suppose this would put sheet styrene/styrene shapes, wire, soldier, and the like at #2)however if I can't get what I need from doing it myself I'll order something which amounts to $200-300 per year in my best estimate.

Beyond paint and the occasional aftermarket I don't really buy much else. TBH I think my monthy videogame expendetures outweigh my modeling

Paints first, then tools (I've been trying to upgrade some things), decals, reference books. Haven't spent any on kits; I've plenty, and the ones I've gotten have been gifts, so that frees up some revenue.

Glenn

Kits and paint mostly.

Tools are third, though I did get a new magnifying lamp the other day.

I haven't got too deep into the AM stuff yet.

My biggest expense would be kits but after that it's hard to say. I dont buy stuff all that often so the next big expense could be about anything.

Easily, by far - Reference books. Love 'em. 4-5 books for each kit.

Then it's: AM Parts

              Paints and Weathering medium

              Kits and Tools - I pretty much have every kit and tool I'll ever need aside from some new            

                                        paintbrushes now and then. My kit stash grows via xmas & bday gifts.

A guess, since I don't keep an account book, but I suspect I spend about as much on tools- especially power tools, as I do kits.  Airbrushes, compressor, dremel tools, modeler's drill press, things like that.  They are more expense than most kits (at least the kits I buy- I don't buy many kits over a hundred bucks, look for bargains), but I buy fewer tools than kits.  Oh, had to replace my ring magnifier lamp awhile ago- that was thirty bucks, but it replaced one I'd had for forty years.

Cheapest category of expenses would be supplies. I use a LOT of paper towels, but that stuff is cheap.  Keep toothpicks, coffee stirrers, masking tape, and a lot of supplies I do not buy at hobby shop (yes, I do have tamiya masking tape, but use hardware store stuff for large areas).

Having just dropped a $141 dollars to Squadron the other day for the Trumpeter 1/200  Arizona I would say kits first, followed by paints and AM detail sets.

Ditto for me red...  Over the 2 and a half years that I restarted for a 40 year absence, I have spent $$$$s

Lately it has been kits, then paint.  I don't have an airbrush, so I spend money on the rattle cans.  As long as I stick with WWII planes, I should be ok.  But my daughter and I are looking at doing a car sometime this year.  I just don't see being able to get away with Dark Sea Blue, Olive Drab, and Neutral Gray for the exterior of a car.  

I don't spend any money on A/M, at least for now.  We do spend a little on tools and supplies, but not that much.  Our next shopping trip will be for masking tape, 1/2 oz of brown paint and maybe a rattle can of dullcote.

For me would be a house...bought one that had a nice room just for my build room.

Second would be the kits.

Third would be Airbrushes or paints

After that would be other tools that I can justify buying cause "i might use them"

I don't buy much AM stuff so that is not a big expense for me.

For me is :

1 Kits

2 PE and AM stuff

3 Paint and decals

My tools I've had for eons and stuff like blades I buy bulk, sanding sticks at Walmart (cut them to size) and any other misc tool (s) i get at Harbor Freight really cheap.

Mine is mostly tied up in tools and paints. I stopped buying kits altogether. Got enough of those to last the remainder of my life although my stash isn't half of what I have seen from others. I just aquired my first double action airbrush and air compressor this year and what a blessing that was. Still have some other tools and equipment to buy but just purchased  a newer car so that will slow some.

I suspect the answer to this question may depend a lot on what genre a builder does most.  While ship kits do cost a bit more than most other genres, the ship modelers take so long on each kit that they buy fewer kits per year.

Then, of course, there are those that do a lot of scratch modelers.  This depresses budget for kits, increases amount for supplies.

The bulk of my hobby money gets spent on impulse-purchases when I find an online sale, but paint would a close-running second place.

Is it just me or are the prices of kits getting outrageous?? I found an old Squadron Shop catalog while moving. It was from the 70's (yes I've been modeling a long time) The prices have gone up more than 10x. Maybe I'm just an old guy for want of the old days but it seems to me with things like video games ect. chasing after the "spare time" buck the model companies are slowly pricing themselves out of business.

I have a Squadron flyer dated 1973 that was in a Scale Modeler magazine.

Tamiya 1 /25 Tigers are listed at $14.95; Airfix 1 / 24 Me-109 E kits priced under $10; Fujimi 1 / 76 armor kits were $ 1.50

OTOH, I paid under $4,000 for a new Ford Mustang in 1975.

Unfortunately 70s era American cars weren't very durable.

TOOLS !!!

So far this year I've spent the most money on books and back issues of magazines.

Several times this year there have been solid weeks when I would get a periodical package, sometimes several,  in the mail every day.

I've cut way back on model kits, mainly due to the expense.

I also grew tired of paying full retail when a kit came out only to see it drop to almost half in price a few months later.

My biggest expenditure used to be painting supplies, I used to use an airbrush that took cans of compressed air, which were easily $40 a pop, depending on the size of the model and the number of coats I'd need, I'd go through anywhere from one to three cans per project, I have an AMT Enterprise-D that took four or five cans.  Plus the cost of paint and thinner, it was murder for my wallet.  I've since gotten a better airbrush that works on a compressor though, which saved me a ton.  Now I probably spend more on kits, specifically accessories kits (ammo boxes, jerry cans, etc) and troops if I'm doing a ground vehicle.  Although paint is still a close second, especially with the ground kits, because they use a lot of olive drab or desert sand paints.

I'd have to say paints.  As I'm just getting back into building, I find I'm building up the paint collection.

I am trying to stop buying kits as I keep getting them faster than I build them. Second is decals, then paint and other supplies.

A distant last is aftermarket stuff. I seldom buy it unless it is to replace a missing part or the kit part is woefully inadequate.. Or to totally change the version of whatever I am building when it is not practical to do things the hard way.

paintsniffer

I am trying to stop buying kits as I keep getting them faster than I build them. Second is decals, then paint and other supplies.

A distant last is aftermarket stuff. I seldom buy it unless it is to replace a missing part or the kit part is woefully inadequate.. Or to totally change the version of whatever I am building when it is not practical to do things the hard way.

Yeah, aftermarket stuff would be dead last for me too.

I think most of it is really cool and do not believe the sellers are anywhere near being price gougers. It would not surprise me if they were selling the items at cost!

However, I cannot justify spending as much as or more for the aftermarket part than what the kit itself cost.

I'd say paint followed by reference materials. I don't buy a lot of AM unless it is necessary to replace terrible kit parts.