A New Tiger I at GPM

[Jim Nunn]

GPM has just released a model of Walter Wittmann’s Tiger I H Late HERE The kit looks impressive But it has a whopping price of $72.31 with the laser cut parts, Wheels, frame and track links. As one of the threads asked is Paper going the way of plastics, I think the answer is yes they are.

Jim Nunn

[CharlieC]

The model price is still reasonable at $US17 - the $US55 of fluff is optional. My opinion is that the better card models are more accurate (and look better) than the majority of plastic models so the motivation to use the laser cut everything is much less.

Regards,

Charlie

[Johnny]

That one sure looks good
So I won't be surprised if it ends up in a pile very near me....

[Jim Nunn]

Charlie,

I agree with you that a well done paper model has a truer scale appearance / look then most plastic models. As you know I go toe to toe with high level plastics at IPMS shows but I have yet to win more then 1 First place. Always a bridesmaid never … Plastics have us beat when it comes to the small details, but they do have to pay for the details and they don’t have the Joy?? of having to make them.

As for the GPM kit I see no easy way to make the stamped road wheels with out using the Laser cut parts and even then there will have to be some sanding. I’m just overwhelmed with the cost perhaps when the Dollar to Euro gets back to being equal I pop for the kit.

Jim Nunn

[Jim Nunn]

Johnny,

What can I say if you built it will be a great model.

Jim Nunn

[Vicar]

I think the cost has to be kept in perspective. I guess this model, with all the extras, would take me at least six months to build. It cost about £40 or less than £2 a week. That's less than the cost of a pint in the UK. Looked at like that, and with a decent model as a result, it doesn't seem so bad. I suppose the drawback is that the money has to be up front, but what other hobbies cost so little?

[dansls1]

Originally Posted by Vicar

I think the cost has to be kept in perspective. I guess this model, with all the extras, would take me at least six months to build. It cost about £40 or less than £2 a week. That's less than the cost of a pint in the UK. Looked at like that, and with a decent model as a result, it doesn't seem so bad. I suppose the drawback is that the money has to be up front, but what other hobbies cost so little?

Yeah - I always try and look at a 'dollar per hour of entertainment' value of my hobby expenditures. Anything under $1 per hour is a great deal in my mind. I spent 75-80 hours building the Modelik BF109. It cost me $15 w/ shipping plus $2-3 in paints and another $2-3 in piano wire. That's about a quarter spent per hour of entertainment. I've certainly had much worse ratios on computer games...
I recently purchased the Modelik Scud launcher. My guess-timate is that it'd take me 1000 hours to build. I spent $60 on it (with shipping). That time estimate doesn't include the many hours I'll spend studying diagrams before starting the build.
Now - laser frames and other 'addons' are an interesting tradeoff. Purely on the above calculation, you are spending money to save time. My personal opinion is that frames themselves are probably not worth it, nor would wheels or barrels. I can make those out of paper or some substitute easy enough. Canopies, ship railings and laser trackes definitely would be, as I don't see any enjoyment in the techniques to scratch-build these. Personal opinion here, obviously.

I think that'd put this tank in the $50 range with laser tracks, shipping and none of the other 'addons'. Now, judging by the 'moderately difficult' rating, I'd easily guess over 100 hours to complete the tank (for me), so it would certainly fit a respectable cost.

[rlwhitt]

I agree with Dan on the laser thing. If I were to build a tank, laser treads would be MUST if I wanted to avoid the insane asylum, but I'd actually LIKE doing the frames myself. I'd see wheels as a toss up depending on how many, etc.

And the cost/hr equation is something everyone should remember. A plastic goes together quickly (except maybe the paint & weathering) so is far costlier per hour. If you really want to see a high cost per hr, try R/C stuff (especially helos!)

[APA-168]

I often spend 30-40 hrs on a $30-40 plastic kit......but then, I'm AM crazier than most (Oriskany, Oriskany...::sigh:: will it ever end???)

[whulsey]

On some of the plastic kits I feel like I spend 30-40 hours of just staring time, going "how the hell am I going to correct that and get it to fit right".