Expat Tomcat Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Avg. median income for a model maker in my market (Indianapolis, IN) is $55,500 or $26.70/hr. this is extremely skilled labor TIA EXPAT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 Ooohhh. Model "maker". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff M Posted September 11, 2021 Share Posted September 11, 2021 😕 I don't understand this thread. Geoff M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonwinn Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 I don't know. I do this for relaxation and stress therapy. Can't put a price on that. All I hear about in today's world is $$$. This is my way to escape from that. jon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SinisterVampire319 Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 I would say depends on who you're building for. Small businesses, News organizations, Museums, Architectural companies, etc. etc..... Or just ask for.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ElectroSoldier Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 Not all its cracked up to be. My hobby is my hobby Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 In a fairly recent episode of 'Tested' by Adam Savage on YouTube, he was asked the same question. He approached it from various angles, quite interesting, but ended with the simple recommendation of 500$ per day. I think that's a reasonable ballpark figure. Maybe make it 400$ so you're charging a round 50$ per hour. Remember you supply your skills that took you tens of years to amass, expensive tools (airbrushes etc), consumables, etc. Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie D. Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Professionally building kits for others? Or Professional model maker working for industry (and there are lots of niches, mine was industrial/product models). Two very different things. I did the latter for 20+ years. Great job, killed my hobby…finally finding my “joy” again after retiring. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swimmer25k Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 I’ve sold finished kits before and usually charge 3-4 times the cost of the parts. There’s no way you’ll ever get what your time is worth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 There is probably also a lot of guys like me who built models for friends and either charge nothing at all or only the cost of the basic kit. In my case, I´m picky which model I do - I build only kits in "my" scale and of subjects I´m interested in. I get a nice kit as a project, don´t have to think about where to store it when it´s finished, any my friends get a nice finished model. In this case it´s a Win-Win even without transferring much money.... HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob de Bie Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 9/12/2021 at 3:28 PM, Rob de Bie said: In a fairly recent episode of 'Tested' by Adam Savage on YouTube, he was asked the same question. He approached it from various angles, quite interesting, but ended with the simple recommendation of 500$ per day. I think that's a reasonable ballpark figure. Maybe make it 400$ so you're charging a round 50$ per hour. Remember you supply your skills that took you tens of years to amass, expensive tools (airbrushes etc), consumables, etc. Rob To clarify: this was for the situation of an independent 'maker' hired for a short-term job. Not a full-time employee. Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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