Many modelers, sooner or later, find themselves building for other people. Whether for fun or profit, I have found it to be rewarding. Perhaps the most rewarding models I've built have been for Veterans. I recently completed a pair of Tamiya 1/48 F-16C Block 52 airplane models in South Carolina Air National Guard markings for former colleagues who have deployed--numerous times--to the Middle East. I delivered one of them right after Thanksgiving to a Master Sergeant (and all-around nice guy) who just returned from a deployment, and the first comment was, "You're not giving that to me!" and "Wow, this looks just like one of our jets." That, folks, is payment enough for me. I'm giving the second model away tomorrow. For this particular person, it is sort of a retirement gift, as he finally called it a career not too long ago--honestly, it is the main reason I built the model for him. I'm hoping he enjoys it as much as the first recipient did.
Another rewarding project was the AV-8B Harrier I built for my mother about ten years ago. Mom teaches high-school Latin, and one of her students became a Marine pilot after college. He flew Harriers in Operation Desert Storm, and sent Mom a photo of him flying over Kuwait City--he signed the photo with the caption, "Veni, Vidi, Vici". So, now Mom has the photo and a model of the airplane in the photo. Since then, said pilot was one of the test pilots for the STOL version of the Joint Strike Fighter...
I've built models for others for a while--I usually build for friends and people I know, which means that I'm pretty reasonable, rate-wise. I'll usually charge for the kit and materials, no labor. When I do a commission build, I think I'm more than fair--three times the base cost of the kit, plus materials, and, if the job will see a lot of additional detailing (either aftermarket or scratch-built), an additional labor fee gets tacked on. I don't actually seek out commission work, since my time is limited enough and I rarely get a chance to work on my own stuff.
While I don't try to make a living at it, I know a few people who do. If you want to read about the adventures of a professional model builder, check out my cyber-friend Pat Hawkey's Life in Plastic page. Pat is one of those modelers I've followed for a while, and I like his take on the hobby, and how, once you start doing it to pay the bills, it ceases to be a hobby. Pat turns out a good deal of neat models for his regular clients.
For me, though, I'll stick to the casual build for friends, relatives, and veterans.
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another. I bid you Peace.
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