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08-08-14 I havent had a rant in a long while but now and again little things (or people) just wind you up. Being a professional model maker for forty years I think I am a reasonably skilled bloke. And as a skilled person I charge a reasonable hourly rate. But unfortunately some people, albeit a minority, seem to think we are little monkeys and content to have a couple of peanuts thrown our way and we will work all day. I often get people who ask if I will make them a model. "No problem" I say, lying, "what are you after?" "A model of an Austin Allegro Turbo Estate Mk3 GT." "You wont sell many of them" I say. "I think I can sell 100" (In their dreams). "How much for a prototype model?" They ask. "£4000" I say and you never hear from them again, thank god. The best ones are where you get a phone call and someone wants you to build a kit they have. A recent one we were to asked to build was a space shuttle with working LED lights. A £25 Revell kit for someones retirement. They had a go at doing it themselves but couldnt and they want it by Friday. OK that will be £900 please. The reply: we will get back to you. When the Olympics were on I had a phone call from a gent who was doing flower arranging. He wanted half a boat to, strangely enough, put flowers in. He wanted it to be about 4ft long so I asked what his budget was. £150 comes the reply. Stick another naught on the end and we may be getting close. They think I am taking the Mick and can be quite rude. The point I am making is whether you are a plumber, electrician, IT consultant, etc. we all have to get paid and model makers are no different. So if someone wants a car ready to run from someone, consider the cost of the parts, paint, glue etc. and the sheer number of hours that go into it. A couple of chaps build my kits and sell them on eBay. Believe me they are very reasonably priced and I would charge a lot more, and they probably wouldnt be as well built. This week has been extremely boring, remaking moulds so not much in the way of actual news. Next week should be much more interesting. But I do have a new cat and have built a gnome town in my garden so here are some pictures of that.