How much are you willing to pay

[AnobiumPunctatum]

I was curious if you are a budget modeler or one with no limit.  I was poking around the net today already thinking of what to build after the Bluenose.  I decided to perhaps build Amati's HMS Pegasus. Then I saw the price and for me it would be close to $1000.00.  I figure that is way too rich for me and I'm not yet willing to sell the Admiral or deck hands.

 

So what do you consider to be a reasonable budget for models.  I understand that we all have different financial backgrounds.  I mean, if I had a few million in the bank then I wouldn't be writing this post.

 

I am a little bit surprised. 1000$ for the Amati Pegasus. In Europe the kit costs around 400,- € which are aroud the same in $. Perhaps it is possible to order the kit by a European seller? I don't know what tax you have to pay later.

Edited January 14, 2017 by AnobiumPunctatum

[Robin Lous]

I'm not yet convinced I can do justice to a large and expensive kit, so I'm not even looking at them.

It's not persé the money, but I don't want to start something I'm not ready for. That will only result in frustration and an abandoned build gathering dust.

 

Slowly going up in skill level...and price of the builds. Bireme €55,00....trireme €120,00...Duyfken (with extras) €225,00.

That feels about right 

 

I better don't keep track of what I spend on books, tools and whatever more I (think) I need. 

Edited January 14, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Worldway]

I am a little bit surprised. 1000$ for the Amati Pegasus. In Europe the kit costs around 400,- € which are aroud the same in $. Perhaps it is possible to order the kit by a European seller? I don't know what tax you have to pay later.

 

Ages of Sail in the US sells it for $599.00 which comes to $785.00 Cdn Dollars.  Add in another $72 shipping. Total will be $857.00.  That would be a little cheaper.  My initial post was based on a Canadian distributor who has the ship advertised for $949.95 plus $55.15 shipping plus $130.66 tax which would come to $1135.76.

 

I would definitely buy from Ages of Sail.  I tend to get most of my supplies out of the US anyway.

[Kevin]

of course there is the Pegasus by Victory models at 1/64

http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/victory-models-hms-pegasus.html

 

lol I don't know if this is the same kit Amatri/victory models

 

 

and from Model Dockyard in the UK

http://www.model-dockyard.com/acatalog/info_VM5.html

Edited January 14, 2017 by Kevin

[Haliburton]

Worldway, re ages of sail, did you factor in Canada Revenue Agency collecting tax/duty? Generally the shipper will use a courier like fedex or ups that will charge your credit card or collect from you at delivery.

[Cathead]

I disagree that a kit is "just a bundle of wood". A good kit, at least, has had quite a bit of thought put into it by the designer and can save the builder quite a bit of mental energy. Having done both scratch and kit models, I enjoy the mental stimulation of designing and preparing everything myself in a scratchbuild, but also enjoy the relaxation of knowing that someone else has thought through the process for me in a kit. I think that dismissing kits as "just wood" does a disservice to the significant skill, art, and research that goes into kit design.

 

Now, a bad kit like my current build is more trouble than it's really worth. I should have scratchbuilt this one, given the amount of mental and physical work I'm doing to make up for its shortcomings. But not all kits are the same.

 

As for the original question, as I have a very limited disposable income (a few hundred US dollars a year for modelling), I keep things simple. No power tools, basic hand tools, try to re-use anything I can in future work, try to find workarounds for purchases (like making sails out of bond paper left over from Mrs. Cathead's graduate thesis over a decade ago rather than buy fine sailcloth). I would rather my models be enjoyable and cost-effective to build than perfect, and so allow myself a certain amount of leeway in the accuracy/perfection department to achieve the other goals.

[CharlieZardoz]

There is a post on here somewhere about buying a kit and replacing all the kit wood and metal with higher quality materials. My Sultana I invested probably 1000 already so its a very relative question.

[Erik W]

I had to do some of that mental math between my first build and my current build.  My first build was the Model Shipways 18th Century Longboat at $40, with some new hand tools, and some of Chuck's rope, say around $100 total . . . for a 6 month project.  My current build is Chuck's Cheerful built with boxwood.  Most of the cost was up front, with follow-on purchases as I've needed more supplies, or hand tools.  I think my total cost will be around $800.  I was a bit put off by this price tag, by far the most I've ever spent on a single model, but I did the math for the cost per day over an estimated 3 years (knowing my slow speed) of working on it, and it comes to $.73 a day.  Very reasonable in the long run.  At times, I've gone months without spending money on the Cheerful project.  Of course, a new parallel hobby seems to be collecting sailing ship books . . . I, er, won't talk about the cost of those 35 books.

 

Also, I made the decision to choose a second build that wouldn't require power tools.  If I get to the end of the Cheerful, and am confident I've found another life long hobby, I may dive into the expense of power tools.

 

Erik

[CDW]

I am not rich, but not really constrained so much by the cost of a kit. Much more constrained by the realization I have far more to build and finish than lifetime remaining to finish it all. Lots of nice kits on my shelves gathering dust. Never the less, if a big temptation comes along, I will succumb to the emotion.   

[Lucius Molchany]

I got really lucky thanks to this forum.I got the old Billings Wasa as well as the Steingreber Admiral Vernon for 40 bucks.Ebay supplied an incomplete Billings Lila Dan with a large quantity of nice mahogany planks and complete set of fittings.Amazon supplied an AL Hermine that allowed me to complete both ships.I designed my own bow and stern treatments for the inaccurate Wasa so I dubbed it the Ersatzia.Total cash outlay was about 400 bucks but the hundreds of hours I put in was the best bang for the buck I ever had.Learned a lot and have two large ships I am very proud of!