Is it just me? Money rant

Fred, it sounds like you're pretty much on target as far as supplies go for what you listed. I usually buy stuff as I need it, a little at a time, but if I added it all up it wouldn't be far from what you have spent so far. The one thing I didn't notice on your list was an air source for your airbrushes. Do you already have one?

The good thing is, like you said, that many of the items are one-time purchases, or at least items that if taken care of and used properly will last you a good many years.

Hey Mike,

Yeah, I already own a nice 3 gallon 1.5hp craftsman compressor.  I've been airbrushing for some time, but it's always been much larger resin pieces.  I already have an Iwata HP-BCS (bottom feed) which is great for large areas, but I just purchased an Iwata Revolution BR (gravity feed)and a .3 nozzle for small area work.

I wanted to purchase as much as I can upfront because I do have 2 fine molds star wars kits sitting here waiting to be built, but no real LHS.  Most of my hobby stuff is purchased online through hobbylinc and micromark.

-Fred

Fred,

I think you are ahead of the curve—nothing wrong with that. However, there are other places to buy tools and supplies that are sometimes considerably cheaper. Drop me an e-mail or PM and I'lll send you some links, if you want.

The problem is that once a hobby gets popular, people who are more interested in money than anything else start acquiring and sellling the things necessary to the hobby—at whatever price the market will bear. When this gets out of hand, it becomes a rich person's hobby. It happened to model railroading, golf, bike riding, camping, and others too numerous to name. It is happening to archery, hunting, shooting, and now scale modeling. Even needlepoint is going.

You want cheap? You can be a couch spud and watch TV. 

Gigatron wrote:

Is there such a thing as an inexpensive hobby?

In a word? No.

If you compare the longevity of the tools and amortize them over the years, add up the cost of all the consumable materials, including kits, and then divide the total expenditure by the amount of time you spent doing this hobby you will find that it IS one of the more inexpensive hobbies out there.

Unfortunately part of many hobbies seems to involve having to buy "stuff".   Unless you limit yourself to hobbies like watching TV (No cable, No dish) or reading (only getting books from the library) you are kind of stuck.   I guess walking could count also.

I like Rob's approach on this one.  I've been wanting to get back to modeling for a while, and now I have time to do it.  I rushed out and bought the Academy 1/48 MiG-21 with all the fixins': aftermarket decals, resin cockpit, resin avionics bays, resin wheel wells, etc.

Having not done a single model between 1986 and 2003 I found very quickly I was out of my league!  Needed to start with the basics and get my modeling legs under me again.  Now, I'm doing less expensive kits, pretty much OOB.  At some point I'll graduate to the level of detail I'd like to do and airbrushing, but I'm just not there yet.

Seems better in this hobby, for me, to start slow and graduate to these high-dollar purchases (like compressors and $125 Trump. kits!) otherwise, I'll model myself into a corner, get frustrated, and quit.

Flynavy1958 

The biggest single expenditure right now has been the spray booth.  I've had the Iwata HP-BCS for some time as well as the compressor.  I've always had the intention of getting a gravity feed brush, so I figured this was a good as time as any.

That right there accounts for a large chunk of change.  The other stuff was more of a necessity than anything else.  I mean in order to build models, you need stuff like paint, glue and brushes.  I'd love to be able to buy on an as-needed basis, but without a local hobby store nearby, that's an impossibility.  So in order to get my stuff online, I decided to get as much stuff as possible to justify the shipping costs.  I'm not going to order a 10/0 brush for $3 and pay $8 in shipping and then have to do it again a week later for a 20/0 or a spotter. 

Financially, it just made sense to order as much as possible and try to future-proof the collection.  I tried to figure out all my future needs as far as tools were concerned and ordered them.  Is it overkill right now?  Hell, yes!  But it beats starting a model then realizing while you're in the middle of it that you don't have the right tools for the job.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it

-Fred

Welcome back to the hobby!! Sounds like you have just about everything and more to start. This hobby use to be a lot cheaper years back, just buy a couple bottles of paint nowadays, that can cost a small fortune but I tell myself the hobby is relaxing and really it is.

Scott

In Work- still.....1/72nd VIIC/41

AWM- 1/72 VIIC, Gato, 1/32 F-18D, F-105D & G, F-4E for starters....

Archangel Shooter wrote:

Welcome back to the hobby!! Sounds like you have just about everything and more to start. This hobby use to be a lot cheaper years back, just buy a couple bottles of paint nowadays, that can cost a small fortune but I tell myself the hobby is relaxing and really it is. Scott In Work- still.....1/72nd VIIC/41 AWM- 1/72 VIIC, Gato, 1/32 F-18D, F-105D & G, F-4E for starters....

Tell me about it.  I just bought some paints that I didn't have for an upcoming project and 8 colors (1/2oz jars) set me back about $23.  I have to find more model kits that use those colors .

-Fred

Shellback wrote:

A total of 4 oz. of paint for $23 ....... That make the price of a gallon of gas look like a bargan doesnt it !

Actually, I think on a gallon to gallon comparison, gasoline is still the cheapest liquid used by the most people.  A gallon of milk is around $3, orange juice is like $4+, modeling paint would be about $368...

-Fred