Reasons to buy a kit?

[Bertie McBoatface]

59 minutes ago, 3DStewart said:

I always wanted one as a child, but never got one.

I believe that is the underlying reason for a great deal of stashbuiling. And of course, its  antithesis “I felt good/loved/in control when I was bought kits as a child, maybe I’ll feel even more so if I buy another six of them now.”

[IanC]

14 hours ago, 3DStewart said:

Other reasons for buying a kit:

1. I know I can sell it at a profit.
2. It is an outstanding example of its type and it's alway pleasurable to own things of quality.
3. I may never see it again.
4. It makes my collection of Italian experimental WWII jet-piston hybrids complete.
5. I always wanted one as a child, but never got one.
6. I've driven/flown/sailed in a real one.
7. It brings back exciting memories of a film I've seen.
8. I can show it off to the model club.
9. Joe will be happy if I give it to him as a present.
10. It brings back happy memories.
11. I was drunk and on eBay.
12. Product research, so my aftermarket accessories will fit.

 

 

 

No.11 is the real killer. 😄

 

[IanHx]

Reasons for buying kit #13 :

 

" I needed to justify the shipping on 2 tins of paint from Hannants"

[3DStewart]

On 8/30/2022 at 11:27 PM, Bertie McBoatface said:

I believe that is the underlying reason for a great deal of stashbuiling. And of course, its  antithesis “I felt good/loved/in control when I was bought kits as a child, maybe I’ll feel even more so if I buy another six of them now.”

 

The psychology of kit hoarding, that would be an interesting area of research.

 

I think another psychological reason to buy is a fear that the future will not have enjoyment in it, so we have to create a store of things that made us happy in the past.  

[Bertie McBoatface]

4 minutes ago, 3DStewart said:

a fear that the future will not have enjoyment in it,

 

That's an interesting idea. I think it's rather widespread right now, along with a fear of not being able to afford enjoyment in the future.

 

[JohnT]

It’s the perpetual illusion that we will have an over abundance of free spare time next week/month/year to make this new kit as well as the all those in the stash and those on the shelf of doom which is inevitably going to be wrecked on the jagged rocks of reality. 
 

To borrow from the thoughts of many aircrew on their chances -  It’s the other chap that won’t get his model done, not me -  I will be alright 

 

 

1 hour ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

That's an interesting idea. I think it's rather widespread right now, along with a fear of not being able to afford enjoyment in the future.

 

A bit like dating and marriage then ……..

[janneman36]

On 29/08/2022 at 14:52, Mark Harmsworth said:

So, I've got this voucher the kids gave me . . . . . . 

“Hmm darling you’ve had a lot vouchers then that I did not recall you getting these”

Sorry you have to get a better excuse 😉

Like I have to insulate the attic for the winter or something like that…

Or the voices in my head kept telling me this was my last chance to buy it….

[MrB17]

On 8/29/2022 at 3:16 AM, davecov said:

"But I only buy a model when you buy a pair of shoes..."

 

True story… I worked part time in a hobby shop. Twice a year a middle aged couple from Washington State would come in. While he shopped for kits, we gave her our padded stool and she sat and waited patiently, chatting occasionally for about 2 1/2 hours. While I was chatting with her, I remarked how she was pretty content with waiting so long. She told me that they had a deal, whatever amount of time and money he spent at the shop, she was entitled to the same time and amount, while he waited in the shoe store. Expensive but completely justifiable to both. She was a rarity, most wives would just stand in the doorway, tapping their feet with the arms crossed and a glare that could freeze Medusa.

 

Working in a hobby shop and getting things at cost seemed at first like an ok idea, if I weren’t freelancing at the time, I would never have done it. My stash  was in the closet, under the bed, under the stairs and in the attic. When my freelancing dried up, I went and drove bus, and could finally afford my hobby, even paying full price. In spite of that, I dropped my stash from 750 to 250, and everything is in the closet now. I’m retired and the glory days are over,

you won’t find me sitting in the shoe store, and she certainly isn’t going to wait for me in a hobby shop. The couple at the beginning knew exactly what each other had. My wife knows nothing (in my best Sgt. Schultz accent).

 

Cheers

Jeff 😉

[Bertie McBoatface]

8 hours ago, JohnT said:

It’s the perpetual illusion that we will have an over abundance of free spare time next week/month/year to make this new kit as well as the all those in the stash and those on the shelf of doom which is inevitably going to be wrecked on the jagged rocks of reality. 
 

To borrow from the thoughts of many aircrew on their chances -  It’s the other chap that won’t get his model done, not me -  I will be alright 

When you reach a certain age, and your doctor mentions a certain word, your certainty of immortality evaporates overnight like Tamiya Extra Thin with the cap left off. 
 

That’s when ‘weekend editions’ suddenly become more attractive. 😏

[psdavidson]

It was in my cart, no idea how it got there

This is a true story

I was on the big H for some pre-orders, which I duly added to the cart. When I went to checkout, I found another kit was in there on top of the ones I was buying.

Ah well, not going to delete it, am I?

 

I do remember looking at the kit a couple of weeks previously but have absolutely no recollection of adding it to the cart. 

Maybe I just meant to put it on my wishlist 😕

 

 

[wombat]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:28 PM, 3DStewart said:

 

The psychology of kit hoarding, that would be an interesting area of research.

 

I think another psychological reason to buy is a fear that the future will not have enjoyment in it, so we have to create a store of things that made us happy in the past.  

That’s definitely a factor. Also manifesting a hope that we’ll have more free time in future...even a long retirement 

[upnorth]

I stopped stashing years ago, but I never made any justifications for my purchases.

 

I buy quite rarely now, but I buy what I know I will build. The last kit I bought was the ProfiPack boxing of Eduard's 1/48 Zlin Z-126; it's been years since I built 1/48, but the kit has decals for an aircraft I got a flight in back in 2014 and has been preserved in a museum not too far from me since 2015. As such, I bought it for the personal connection and because the Z-126 and its family are just really cool planes.

[alt-92]

Parametrised decision making here, usually 3 params:

a) do I like the subject/kit?

b) how big is the box

c) does it have a reasonable price tag

 

 

 

[Knevi]

It will be more expensive next year and I'll have an astronomical gas bill to pay.

[wellsprop]

Normally, for me, it's because I see a new kit whilst browsing the local model shop and I start running around like an overly excited 8 year old, returning to the shiny box with it's fancy artwork before gleefully going to the checkout whilst making aeroplane noises.

 

Just me? Ok then!

[bentwaters81tfw]

Because it's there.......

[Filler]

To support the Russian economy seems to be a surprisingly common reason I've noticed recently.

[klr]

1 hour ago, Filler said:

To support the Russian economy seems to be a surprisingly common reason I've noticed recently.

Not me. I've not bought a Zvezda kit since late 2021, either in a Zvezda box or someone else's. For context, I've bought quite a few Zvevda kits over the past few years, and they are still available to some degree.

 

I did buy 4 Roden kits today. I don't buy kits as a form of charity (there are far more effective ways of giving aid), but it's good to be able to buy Ukrainian nonetheless. Why I bought the specific kits I did reveals something about my current priorities:

 

2x LaGG-3 (1,5,11 series + 66 series - I already have one of the first, and also one of the 35 series)

Sd.Kfz. 234/1 (that's the one with the open-top turret as used in the Sd.Kfz. 222, etc.

Albatross W.4 float plane

 

Single-engined WW II fighters are one of my main staple areas. The Roden LaGG-3 kits all have the same basic plastic, covering a multitude of potential options. They are well detailed, although not with the finesse of an Arma Hobby kit, but then the tooling (ex-ICM I believe) is from the mid-1990s.

I already have the Sd.Kfz 234/1 from Hasegawa, but there's no harm in having another. I already built the entire series of "1st generation" 8-rad German armoured cars from Roden, and have the Roden 234/3 and /4 in stash (and the Hasegawa 23/2 "Puma").

The Albatross W.4 was not a kit I had ordered. But I like seaplanes, and a fighter float plane is especially interesting.

 

All subjects are small, all are 1/72. I'm trying to get away from anything that's not a 1/72 aviation or 1/72 (maybe 1/76) military subject. I'm also trying to avoid any more large and very expensive kits, which I may never have the space to display, even if I have the time to build them.  All kits were well-priced, all well (if not very well) detailed, all reasonably complex (although that's not an overriding consideration). Being the last word in accuracy is not the biggest consideration, as that is always a moving target. For subject matter anywhere off the beaten track, it's also less important, relatively speaking. For a Spitfire, Mustang or Bf 109, I would likely be more demanding on the accuracy front.

Edited October 7, 2022 by klr

[TonyOD]

"If I don't buy it now, it might not be there to buy in the future,"

[Bengalensis]

"I just bought this new car so I must buy this kit to build a model of it"

[John_W]

"It got a really great review from Mike on Britmodeller"