Do you think twice about spending $1500 on a model kit?

Hans von Hammer

M7 Priest 105mm SP Howitzer. Testor's/Italeri... About 30-35.00 on Ebay.. Built the Academy version, and saw no real improvements with it... None, at least, worth the extra 25.00 bucks over the Italeri kit..

Dragon makes a Priest, too. Around $50. Definitely a better choice at the upper end vs. the Academy...

You guys are GREAT!!!

I'm definitely looking for a BIG tube, being a Navy modeler.

The M40 looks the punk, as I think Dad was in a unit that had them, although I await his reply and he's a little low now.

Hammers 109 very awesome.

Gino I did build that 8" gun a while back (1972). It was a great kit and a possibility.

Thanks again.

$1500 for a model?

Maybe if I won the lottery.  Otherwise, no way.

If I ever spent this much on a model and my wife found out, I would have to find a new place to live.

Academy M12, 155mm WWII howitzer, about $25.  Nice kit with a good driver's interior.

Forgot about that one, and I even built it!

Also forgot about the Itaerli M114 155mm Towed Howitzer (Foregound piece, that's an M110 8-inch SP behind it)...   AKA "The Pig"...  That's no illusion, the tube's unpainted and polished.. If you see one painted, its "firing position" is outside the local VFW Hall or National Guard Armory... I only crewed this piece during AIT at Ft Sill, for two days or so, never been on one since... Didn't love it either, since that gun was NO fun at all.. 'Cept maybe for the gunner (the guy with the phone growing out of his head), who rode the left trail during firing..

For Vietnam-era through the 1980s, its Prime Mover is an M54 Five-ton..

Edited: AFV does NOT make a Five-ton kit.

Whoops.. Gino covered The Pig...

AFV makes a Five-ton kit, another Vietnam-war Gun Truck with a quad-fifty..

A little correction there.  The AFV Club Guntruck kit is a 2 1/2 ton M35A1.  There are no plastic kits of Vietnam-era 5 ton truck.  The only plastic 5 ton model is the modern(ish) M923 and M925 kits by Italeri. 

These can be converted into a Vietnam-era M54 5 ton pretty easily, using the Italeri kit and an AFV Club M35.  Here is a link that describes how to do it.

[url=http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=301]M54 conversion[/ur]

It can come out pretty nicely.

There are resin M54 and M800 5 ton kits out there if you want to go that route.  They are available from Hobby Fan and Real Model and go for about $150+.

Yer right, Gino.. I was thinking that the "Eve of Destruction"  was a stand-alone five-ton, rather than a conversion/kitbash... 

Man, I'm more effed-up than a football-bat this morning...

Disregard my last about the AFV 5-ton kit, Bondo...

THIS is a kit, however... You don't wanna know the price though..

213.00 Australian Dollars is all I can find about price.. That's GOTTA be 40 or 50 bucks US, at least...

The only 2 thing one needs to pay such amount for a kit are:

1-Disposable income

and/or

2- A genuine interest for the subject

I've seen folks at the RPF.com forums making line for X or Y caster to come up with a $600+ model. The studio scale Shuttle Tydirium comes to mind at almost $900. For us mortals or less hardcore, the MPC will suffice.

Another poster mentioned why some companies come up with this gargantuan subjects with equally large price tags. Some times companies want to make a statement. A few years ago Sigma announced their 200-500 f/2.8 lens. A lens that has very little to no practical use in the field due to its weight, size and of course, a price tag of almost $30K. Creating such a beast is a true marvel of optical engineering. They showed the competition it can be made and they were the 1st even if they sell 1 every blue moon.

This is the real thing, no doctoring whatsoever.

Not just the kit price of $1,500.

Gotta add in the cost of a new room addition and custom built display case...

plus all the new shoes for SWMBO............

That price is a little out of my league. But what makes this kit so much better than the Soar kit that they decide to charge almost twice the amount for? And don't say the figures!

They showed the competition it can be made and they were the 1st even if they sell 1 every blue moon.

Heh.. Blue Moons happen far more often and with more predictablity, lol.. (For those that don't know, a "Blue Moon" has nothing to do with the Moon's color.. It's simply a second full moon inside of one calendar month...)

That said, it took me a bit to figure out what you meant with RPF.com, but then it dawned on me, lol.. I was looking for the floor-plans for the 1960's Batman Bat-Cave for a diorama featuring the 1/32 scale Batmobile, and the associated bat-poles, bat-consols, bat-computers, bat-water fountain, Atomic Bat-pile (), etc..

I spent around $1000 bucks years back on a Tamiya 1/16 RC Tiger, radio, and aftermarket independent suspension kit. It was a fun build. It's fun to take out now and then and run around. I don't think I would do that again though, but I do eye the 1/16 Panther RC! For now, I'm gonna stick to conventional kits.

I'd probably do that too... IF I had the money, since it's just plain FUN to mess with my cats with R/C stuff... 

I'd never spend the money for it--but it's not a mater of the cost, really--it's a matter of "Where the heck would I put the darned thing?!"

Maybe if I won thelottery and didn't have to work at all anymore and bouht a big house...?

And maybe pigs will fly across the face of the moon tonight?

Hans von Hammer

I'd probably do that too... IF I had the money, since it's just plain FUN to mess with my cats with R/C stuff... 

Good point. Cats are very curious/afraid of the thing. It can just outrun a toddler. The neighbors dogs run scared, especially when I fire it at them. Where do you put a 1/16 Tiger tank? In the book case in your living room, naturally. I had a girlfriend who laughed that I had a Tank! in my living room.  Hey, it''s a replica of Michael WIttman's tank, doncha know?? (alas, she did not know who Michael WIttman was)

So...if you want to really either laugh or shake your head or find ammo to moan about how manufacturers' prices are insane...here's a link to just the figures. 

The Dora kit is ridiculous. But this is just stupid.

Need a "You gotta be Sh****' me!" smiley..

DoogsATX

So...if you want to really either laugh or shake your head or find ammo to moan about how manufacturers' prices are insane...here's a link to just the figures. 

The Dora kit is ridiculous. But this is just stupid.

8 unpainted metal figures for a bit under $250.... that's over $50 each... Are they made from Sterling Silver?

Hans von Hammer

Need a "You gotta be Sh****' me!" smiley..

Indeed !

FSM could use one of those smileys.

I suppose Dragon determined that the kit builders are unwilling and unable to modify existing 1/35 scale figures and have lots of spare cash to spend after blowing $1, 500 plus S&H and maybe tax.

I blow $1500 fairly regularly on real guns, but a model.........no.

That is really *messed up  (*be sure to use the real adjective).......

Those prices are INSANE        (ala Crazy Eddie for the east coast residents)

crosshead

I blow $1500 fairly regularly on real guns, but a model.........no.

Though I haven't checked for a decade or more, I can't recall much worth buying in that category that doesn't approach $1,500

DoogsATX

So...if you want to really either laugh or shake your head or find ammo to moan about how manufacturers' prices are insane...here's a link to just the figures. 

The Dora kit is ridiculous. But this is just stupid.

Yes but here's the bad news. It took about 2000 men to set it up and at least 100 to serve it. Just the crew.

Ummmm.......Not gonna even look at it to begin with. Not my kinda kit. Still wouldn't spend that kinda money on a kit. There's better things to spend it on.

$1500 for a kit?   Even more than $110 I have an issue with mostly.

In over 18 years of marriage I have yet to sleep on the couch, not going to start now. lol

And my camper is comfy but NOT that comfy!

I have the Soar Art kit but it cost nowhere near $1500!

Considering I recently had a blast building a $5 Airfix kit.... $1500 for a train with a cannon on top? Pass. And at $1500 it would have to be worked into my will somehow.

Tojo72

No I wouldn't even think once,out of the question for me.

This.