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How long does it take?


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How much time do you guys put in to a build... Lets say a 1/48 modern jet.. Hours per week, and how long does it take on average to complete.. Let's say strictly out of box, maybe some added brake lines..... Also, when do you find the time to build.. Evenings? Early morning? 

 

-Ed

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Being semi-retired, I have time in the evenings and mornings to work.  I spend between 3-5 hours a day working on a kit.  I have completed about 20 kits this year, all 1/48 about 1 kit every 15-16 days.  This has been a very productive year for me.  I usually do minor upgrades to kits, I like building out of the box to keep it simple.  I am trying to make sure I don't leave any kits for my wife to dispose of. 🤪

 

Geoff M

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I returned to the hobby roughly about 3 yrs ago after I'd decided to make a career change... then the virus turned up!

So with time on my hands I'd spend about an hour or two every couple of nights gluing and painting. All 1/48 scale and would take 6 to 8 months to complete each one.

Now that I've finally become a tax payer again, my work hours and 3 step kids have consumed my hobby time to the point of half an hour two nights a week...

Be careful what you wish for! 😉

Andy

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I might get about 45 minutes to an hour at the hobby bench for maybe 2-3 nights a week; perhaps an hour more on a Saturday night.  It takes me about five months to finish a 1/48 scale plane.  If I'm seriously blazing away and making good time, then it takes me about four months.  If I'm binge-watching a show on TV with my wife, then figure about six to seven months.

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Awesome to hear this!! I fall within most of these responses.. I just got back into this after 17 years or so.. Moved a few times and could never establish a proper work bench/station.. I'm noticing that I'm getting in about an hour or two Saturday and Sunday mornings depending on how early I manage to get up, maybe an hour or two during the week at night. One issue I have is living in S. Florida and it really has not cooled off yet to the point where I can sit in the garage especially at night when the sun cooked the roof and door all day... ( I face east)

 

 I jumped into a very easy Revell F-15E I had in my stash. Nice clean, easy build. This should be completed by Christmas. I was always very slow.. Eyes hurt after awhile, and sometimes I just needed to walk away especially if things were not going well... lol.... 

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Time just does not matter as everyone’s schedule and life are in different places, every build is different as well.  While not a 1/48 jet I am build a 1/32 hawk 81 by Great Wall, I spent around 5 hours saturday and another couple hours Sunday just on the paint job.  This plane has been one of my faster builds of late as I only started it a month or so ago.  I have not done any work on the engine option which is a kit of its own.  A normal 1/32 build for me can take at least 6 months.  Some 1/48 builds can be done in a couple months.  Hours, I don:t know.  

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Mostly 1/32 and now that I’m retired my builds are averaging a month instead of 4-6 months.  As much as I would like to cut that 30 days in half, just too much that needs to get done in the summer time.   Well, and play time too.  Let’s see what winter brings me. 

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Used to knock out a 1/48 kit in 4 weeks(2wks to put together then 2wks to paint/decal and finish), the last 2 builds have taken 2 and 3 years respectively. Not looking good for the next one🤣

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23 hours ago, bashace said:

I have some that I've been "working" on for 10 years.

Pah, that's nothing - I finally finished one after 32 years, pictured over in this thread:

The scariest part is, I've got others which are even older...

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21 hours ago, airmechaja said:

I hope Phantom chimes in on this. He's faster than a speeding bullet & high quality. :clap2:

 

 

Aww thanks, I don't know. I just sit down and build. Don't go nuts on stuff no-one will ever see. Try and limit lately the expensive aftermarket resin which often is not all that much an improvement over the kit. The biggest thing I have found that keeps me busy when building for others.......Don't overcharge, lower prices give you more things to build.

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We have a one year old. So I maybe get a half an hour two or three times a week depending on when I'm home. So basically after working 6 days a week and he happens to be asleep. Which in this time I haven't finished anything at all. But before he was born I completed maybe one or two models a year. 

Edited by joeltc
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I build 1/72, props mostly, no modern jets. I did build an Eduard Hellcat in a 48 hour challenge, spending perhaps 20-22 hours actually working on it. More typically total time is usually 20-30 hours, but spread out over days, weeks, and months. Last year I completed eight kits and had what I thought was a doable goal of 12 this year. However a severe case of summer doldrums as well as loosing a month to preparations for hosting a family reunion has meant I’ll need to scramble to get more than the four I’ve already finished done this year.

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