Kit List, What's In, What's Out for 2017 - February

Part way through last year I decided to keep a record of everything hobby related that I bought and sold in order to keep track of my hobby consumption.

2017 has seen me continue this, so here's what I bought and sold this month, just been a few detail parts to enable me to work on several more aircraft kits which I currently own.

In - Purchases for February 2017

• Yahu Models Instrument Panels - £4.30
• Vacform Canopies - £4.60

Total Yearly (2017) Expenditure - £46.06

Out - Downsizing for February 2017

• None

Kit List, What's In, What's Out for 2017 - January

Part way through last year I decided to keep a record of everything hobby related that I bought and sold in order to keep track of my hobby consumption. Although I didn't buy an excessive amount I also didn't get much completed.

With a new year starting I've decided to repeat the whole exercise, and actually complete more models. After all what the point of buying them and not building them? I'm not looking to create a bigger stash because I want to keep my hobby consumption at an efficient level.

In - Purchases for January 2017

• Oil paints (for weathering) - £7.90
• Tamiya paints x2 - £3.60
• 4x Bandai 1:144 Star Wars Kits (X-Wing Starfighter, Y-Wing Starfighter, Poe's X-Wing Fighter, First Order TIE Fighter set) - £25.66 

Total Yearly (2017) Expenditure - £37.16

Out - Downsizing for January 2017

• Eduard 1:48 F6F-3 Hellcat

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - December 2016

Finishing my record of what I buy and sell during this year:

In - Purchases for December 2016

• None

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £231.80

Out - Downsizing for December 2016

• None

No sales, no purchases, this month. Although a great many model companies had end of year sales none them offered anything to tempt me into a purchase at this time as I have plenty to be getting on with and want to continue decreasing my stash over the coming months.

That bring this record to a close. There was one significant purchase which accounted for more than a third of my expenditure, the Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower board game. Apart from that the rest felt like I'd managed to reduce my purchases, but on the other hand I've haven't got anything built and so have I really got my stash under control?

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - November 2016

Continuing my record of what I buy and sell during this year:

In - Purchases for November 2016

• Hasslefree Miniatures - £32.22

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £231.80

Out - Downsizing for November 2016

• None

Just the one purchase from Hasslefree Miniatures as I took advantage of their yearly Halloween Sale (a few days after Halloween itself, which is why this is accounted for in November's purchases).

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - October 2016

Continuing my record of what I buy and sell during this year:

In - Purchases for October 2016

• None

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £199.58

Out - Downsizing for October 2016

• None

Finally a whole month of not buying anything, unfortunately that could be could down to a whole month of not much in the way of hobby progress!

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - September 2016

Continuing my record of what I buy and sell for the remainder of this year, unfortunately it's pretty much been a month of hobby inactivity for September:

In - Purchases for September 2016

• Citadel Paints - £15.30
•  Tamiya Masking Tape (2 Rolls) - £4.80

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £199.58

Out - Downsizing for August 2016

• None

Looking at my collection citadel paints it's becoming apparent many are no longer fit for use and so this month I decided to start replacing some of them, something which I'll probably continue over the coming months. Apart from that, Tamiya masking tape, because invasion stripes require a lot of masking and I'd ran out. So now I can get on with my Airfix Typhoon Build.

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - August 2016

Another month and continuing my record of what I buy and sell for the remainder of this year here's what I bought and sold in August:

In - Purchases for August 2016

• Kovozavody Prostejov 1:72 North-American Mustang Mk.III 'Malcolm hood', RAF - £9.99
• Kovozavody Prostejov 1:72 P-51B/P-51C Mustang p/e parts - £3.70
• Kovozavody Prostejov 1:72 North-American P-51 resin pylons & fuel tanks - £3.70
• Peewit P-51 Masks - £2.40
• Montex Hawker Typhoon Masks - £2.00

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £179.48

Out - Downsizing for August 2016

• Tamiya 1:72 AH-6 Night Fox
• Tamiya 1:72 AH-64 Apache
• Frog 1:72 B-26 Marauder
• Airfix 1:24 Spitfire Mk.Ia (Incomplete)
• Airfix 1:48 Spitfire Mk.Vb
• Airfix 1:48 Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4

A few larger scale kits went as I just don't have room for them and couple of helicopter kits were sold. I've had an interest in trying helicopters but there was no chance of me starting any time soon and so I decided to sell some in order to fund this month's purchases.

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - July 2016

Earlier I decided to keep track of what I buy and sell for the duration of this year. This is what happened during July:

In - Purchases for July 2016

• Airfix 1:72 Gloster Gladiator Mk.I - £2.99
• Airifx 1:72 Supermarine Spitifire Mk.I / Mk.IIa - £2.99
• Airfix 1:72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc - £2.99
• Airifx 1:72 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7/Trop - £2.99
• Airfix 1:72 Higgins LCVP - £2.99
• 2x Xdradecal D-Day decal sets - £14.52
• Tamiya Paints - £9.00

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £157.69

Out - Downsizing for July 2016

• None 

The Airifix purchases were me taking advantage of a promotion in the Home Bargains store here in the UK in which Airifx kits were on offer for less than half price. Some of the purchases will allow me to sell off larger box set that I currently own (Airifx D-Day sets), some are just for parts or test models. The remaining ones are not on my to build list, so I've over purchased, which ideally I want to avoid as part of this exercise.

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - June 2016

A few posts back I decided to keep track of what I buy and sell during this year as I attempt to monitor my hobby consumption. So here's what happened this during June:

In - Purchases for June 2016

• 2 x Airfix 1:72 Hawker Typhoon IBs - £5.98

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £119.22

Out - Downsizing for June 2016

• None 

Just a couple a kits this month which will allow me to sell a larger box set and still build one the kits on my to build list.

As far as actually hobby progress, there's been none this month.

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - May 2016

A few posts back I decided to keep track of what I buy and sell this year as I attempt to monitor my hobby consumption. So here's what happened this during May:

In - Purchases for May 2016

• Games Workshop Liquid Green Stuff - £6.00
• Warhammer Quest: The Silver Tower - £95.00

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £113.24

Out - Downsizing for May 2016

• None 

Obviously one significant purchase in buying Warhammer Quest: The Silver Tower. I'd been searching for a board game for a while as a long term painting project and this one turned out to be ideal. With this and my Mordheim painting project. I should have plenty to be getting on with for some time now and don't really envisage any more miniatures purchases, (other than components), in the immediate future.

However one thing I have realised is that my paints will need refreshing as the Silver Tower features a lot of colours I've not tended to use much before now. I'll try and phase them in over the next few months as I paint certain batches of miniatures.

Kit List, What's In, What's Out - April 2016

A few posts back I decided to keep track of what I buy and sell this year as I attempt to get my stash under control. So here's what happened this month:

In - Purchases for April 2016

• Games Workshop parts (for a Mordheim project) - £12.24

Total Yearly (April to December) Expenditure - £12.24

Out - Downsizing for April 2016

• Fujimi 1:24  Porsche 917K, 1971 Monza 1000km winner
• Games Workshop 5x Marauder Horsemen box set
• Eduard 1:144 Me 262A Dual Combo
• Tamiya 1:100 Me 262A & Me 163B
• AZ Models 1:72 MiG-17F / Lim-5 Fresco-C
• Airfix 1:72 Hawker P.1127
• Tamiya 1:48 Sd.Kfz.222 Armoured Car
• Airfix 1:72 Hawker Hurricane / Sea Hurricane Mk IIc plus Eduard photo-etch detail set
• Hobby Boss 1:72 Me 163 Interceptor (Easy Kit)
• ICM 1:72 SB 2M-100 Katiushka
• Special Hobby 1:72 Yakovlev Yak-23 Flora Warsaw Pact

It was a bit disappointing to see some of these go. They were all projects that at some time I'd intended to build; but hopefully they've moved on to somewhere where they'll actually get built.

Kits I Want To Build - Aircraft

A few posts back I wrote about downsizing my stash in order to help me focus a bit more on what I’ve got and what I want to build in the future. A few kits have already been moved on and so now I thought I’d try and identify the aircraft I have an interest in, both from a historic point of view as well as well modelling point of view.

I have to confess it gets a bit difficult at this point, there’s still quite a lot of them. I had to stop eventually and that point was when I reached 25 aircraft, any further would be straining the credibility of the exercise.

So here’s the list, broken down into five categories. Four of these are Second World War categories, the first three being aircraft of steadily increasing sizes. A couple I have already built but would like to do again in different colour schemes, (Spitfire and P-51D) and so are not considered essential builds right now. Medium bombers present more of a challenge for me as a build although the Il-2 is looking like a distinctly possible build for the near future. Heavy bombers are the same plus I have to contend with the issue of displaying them due to their size so they’ve effectively been put to one side for now.

The WWII experimental fighter / jets category is pretty much a self-contained project that I’ve had in mind for several years now. It’s not been started yet, partly due to my inability to replicate RLM colours to a satisfactory likeness. I actually plan on writing further on this subject, but for now, like the heavy bombers, it’s been put to one side.

And finally we get to the Cold War era aircraft. Initially this interest was sparked by the late WWII jet fighters and by my Hobby Boss F9F-2 Panther build. And this is the point where I’ve decided to draw a line, just two kits will remain, and that’s because they’re really good kits with a whole load of extras that I don’t wish to part with at this time. I do have a couple of helicopter kits as well which I’ve excluded, and then there’s all the non-aircraft kits which are not with the scope of this post.

Does this help? Well looking at a list of 25, it’s still quite daunting. But the categories do help me prioritise a few builds, and then things look a bit better. With that in mind I’m going to get started on the WWII fighters list.

Downsizing My Stash - How Much Is Too Much?

Outside of my hobby life I've recently been doing through a re-evaluation of my consumption with the aim of being more mindful when it comes to purchases I make. Of course the elephant in the room is my hobby stash and the way I go about purchasing models.

Having a stash of models is part and parcel of the hobby, but how much is too much and is it really necessary? I can honestly say every model I've bought I have done so with the intention of building it. I'm not a box collector, but I have unintentionally become one, and so I have a large number of models stored away and very little idea of how much I've spent over the years.

In my case so many models is becoming quite a burden, there's a feeling I'll never get them done. So much so that for the past few months I've found it really hard to focus on anything model related. Of course at the same time when it comes to thinking about downsizing I feel I've invested a certain amount of my heart and soul into them. They are all projects I researched and once intended to build, and so it makes it quite difficult to part with them.

On the miniatures side I have managed to accumulate a number of rare models, at no cost to myself, that are no longer available for purchase unless I pay over the odds on eBay. Generally speaking these models will remain for now as it would not make sense to sell and then realise I want to paint them. Of course I will periodically reassess them and I may at some point move them on.

So, starting from April the 1st, until the end of the year, I'm going to keep a record of every single hobby item I buy and how much I spend. I'm also going to record the kits I sell or give away during the year. However I don't want to put a price against them because I don't want sold kits, and their value, to be used as justification for unnecessary purchases purely on the  the basis that I can afford them.

So the intention is that going forward this will help me focus, make sure I get better utility out of the items I already own, and save me from making more unnecessary purchases. If I feel little less overwhelmed then hopefully this blog will be seeing an increase in hobby related project posts.