Topic: The Price of Scratch building a BOAT (Read 17913 times)

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **on:** August 29, 2012, 04:04:07 pm »

This has come up several times on our illustrious pages so, as a bit of knowledge from our members, I thought we would mark out the costs involved in scratch building a model boat, to save on the costs of a Kit.

Please feel free to contribute your own prices and items, whether better or worse, without naming manufacturers of course and let's see what it really costs.

ITEM Costs in Pounds

Hull (average moulded) 50
Motor 10
Speed controller 22
Battery 20
Prop coupling 6
New brass propeller 12
Rudder 5
Tiller arm 3
Servo for tiller 6
Radio 35
Receiver 14
Plastic card 10
Plastic weld 5
Super glue 3
Wires and fuses 8
Paint 15
Maybe a bit of wood. 20
Drawings of similar ship 10
Funnel 10
lifeboats 20
Guns ! 30
Rope 5
Brass railings 15
lifebelts 15
Air vents 20
Masts 10
Lights 10

Sub Total £383

The thing you forgot to budget for. you tell us

ps ....
My scratch built lifeboat costs £985 to make.

Arrow5 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:14:29 pm »

The thing you forgot...? Did you have all or most of the stuff in your workshop ? How about the cost of trips to the model shop or postage for stuff bought on-line. My model shop is 50 odd miles away for instance, round trip at least 100 miles in a diesel Transit.

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #2 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:25:18 pm »

Good thinking ...

I've just got back from a trip to Cardiff (21 miles) and all I got was one tube of Superglue from Maplins. (my nearest shop)

ken

Netleyned · « **Reply #3 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:42:02 pm »

Just costed up the MFA Piranha I am building for my grandson.
The kit was £50 and if I had had to buy everything to complete the build using UK pricesyou are talking best part of £100 on top not including radio gear
Thats just for a kids runabout.
I am going to cost everything for my Cygnus
GM 33 rebuild and will post the results as long as SWIMBO doesnt get to see it.

Ned

jimmy2310 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:43:09 pm »

But can you put a price on being able to say " I built that".

Jimmy

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #5 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:43:30 pm »

But if you are buying a lot of the bits, lifeboats, vents, lifebelts, not to mention the hull then it isn't really scratchbuilding in the sense of the word is it? To some extent your are assembling your own 'kit'. Plus a lot of the items, glue, paint, R/C gear & motor would also have to be bought if you were making a kit.

I certainly don't want to get into the 'what is scratchbuilding' controversy again but surely it does involve making most of the model from what might be termed 'raw materials' including the fittings.

The reality is that you can choose to build a wide spectrum of options from 'full kit', through various varieties of 'semi kit' until you end up at the point where you are making your own studded anchor chain. At what point this becomes 'scratch building' is a moot point and I doubt whether any two people would fully agree except to the extent that it is somewhere in the range where you have built the hull, superstructure and a good proportion of the fittings yourself.

Colin

Circlip · « **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:48:19 pm »

Bet it wouldn't cost Krishna all that

AND he'd make a darned good effort of it.

Regards Ian.

sailorboy61 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:49:42 pm »

Quote from: Circlip on August 29, 2012, 04:48:19 pm

Bet it wouldn't cost Krishna all that

AND he'd make a darned good effort of it.

Regards Ian.

Yea, but some people just like to comment for the sake of an arguement.

boatmadman · « **Reply #8 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:55:14 pm »

I don't want to know what it costs me!

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #9 on:** August 29, 2012, 04:57:03 pm »

Quote

I don't want to know what it costs me!

Nor me, and i have just spent what seems like a fortune on buying materials to make a case - for a kit too!

Colin

boatmadman · « **Reply #10 on:** August 29, 2012, 05:02:18 pm »

Think it cost me nearly the price of a small kit just to build a transport and launch trolley for my last one!

Martin (Admin) · « **Reply #11 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:17:02 pm »

I try not to think about the cost... well at least hide it as best I can from Mrs mayhem!

Actually, I think Ken's estimate is pretty conservative.

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #12 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:31:57 pm »

One issue is that you may buy something for a particular model and then there is plenty left over to use on subsequent ones. But until you do build those subsequent ones it remains chargeable against the first one. I suppose you could class it as a capital asset though. On that basis I have a fully stocked traditional model shop in my garage. Must be worth a fortune really....

Colin

Martin (Admin) · « **Reply #13 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:35:45 pm »

.... are you going out any time tonight Colin?

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #14 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:37:38 pm »

No Martin, sitting inside it with a loaded shotgun...

TheLongBuild · « **Reply #15 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:41:51 pm »

Quote from: Tug---Kenny on August 29, 2012, 04:04:07 pm

This has come up several times on our illustrious pages so, as a bit of knowledge from our members, I thought we would mark out the costs involved in scratch building a model boat, to save on the costs of a Kit.

Please feel free to contribute your own prices and items, whether better or worse, without naming manufacturers of course and let's see what it really costs.

ITEM Costs in Pounds

Hull (average moulded) 50
Motor 10
Speed controller 22
Battery 20
Prop coupling 6
New brass propeller 12
Rudder 5
Tiller arm 3
Servo for tiller 6
Radio 35
Receiver 14
Plastic card 10
Plastic weld 5
Super glue 3
Wires and fuses 8
Paint 15
Maybe a bit of wood. 20
Drawings of similar ship 10
Funnel 10
lifeboats 20
Guns ! 30
Rope 5
Brass railings 15
lifebelts 15
Air vents 20
Masts 10
Lights 10

Sub Total £383

The thing you forgot to budget for. you tell us

ps ....
My scratch built lifeboat costs £985 to make.

I would class this a a semi kit ! not a scratch built, Could easily knock 150 of the bits which could be made from scratch, although I asume some cost would go into the additional materials required

irishcarguy · « **Reply #16 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:42:57 pm »

Why bother & wind up scaring yourself to death, I am making light of it of course, but I don't smoke & don't drink (excluding a glass of wine with a special meal) & am having a great deal of fun trying to build a nice boat/tug & for the most part staying out of trouble. It is not always wise to let your better half know the true cost because it will wind up making the rock for her finger just a bit larger with each passing model you build, LOL. Mick B.

jimmy2310 · « **Reply #17 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:48:41 pm »

Quote from: Martin - Admin on August 29, 2012, 06:35:45 pm

.... are you going out any time tonight Colin?

Quietly whistling the Mission Impossible tune to himself.

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #18 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:00:35 pm »

Most of my list is the price to make said object, not buy from a shop. There are items that you have to buy like the electronic stuff but on the whole, I do like to actually design and build the items by hand.

Yes, the prices are conservative because I'm cheap.

tugmad · « **Reply #19 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:06:46 pm »

I have just finished building a 44" plank on frame tug and the total cost of materials alone was £744. the price of quality timber has rocketed in the last year or so, it was nearly £100 just for the lime planking alone.

TheLongBuild · « **Reply #20 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:08:25 pm »

Quote from: Tug---Kenny on August 29, 2012, 08:00:35 pm

Most of my list is the price to make said object, not buy from a shop. There are items that you have to buy like the electronic stuff but on the whole, I do like to actually design and build the items by hand.

Yes, the prices are conservative because I'm cheap.

Fair enough, but 3 pounds for tiller arm ?. 30p plug use the earth pin, also same plug contains fuse and fuse holder

irishcarguy · « **Reply #21 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:11:35 pm »

Hi Kenny you should never say cheap it has a nasty sound, inexpensive is much better ,it does not have that Chinese sound, LOL, Mick B.e

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #22 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:24:02 pm »

Quote

Hi Kenny you should never say cheap it has a nasty sound, inexpensive is much better ,it does not have that Chinese sound, LOL, Mick B.e

'Cost effective' is the correct phrase!

Bob K · « **Reply #23 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:30:22 pm »

I doubt if any of us can really cost up what our models have absorbed in terms of money spent.

a) We all happened to be lucky enough to already own a fully fitted out model workshop?
b) The cost of innumerous tools to form cut and shape all these 'scratch built' parts?
c) The seemingly endless supply of 'consumables' such as epoxy, PVA, resin, thinners, solder paint and special finishes?
d) Chargers, soldering irons, airbrush plus home made spray booth

Many of us us are relatively new to this and are thus fully fully aware of the high peripheral costs involved before it is possible to shape cut or bend anything.
If you discount a huge stock of decades-aquired materials and tools I think you really would be surprised how much everything cost, divided by your total number of actually completed and working models.

irishcarguy · « **Reply #24 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:37:24 pm »

Thank you Colin, how would we ever survive without the wordsmiths,Mick B.

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