Murdoc

I`m kinda shocked that people here actually do this for money. Half the joy of this hobby is to help other people who needs it just as much as you did when you were first starting out in this hobby. Last year a guy from the club asked me if I could rebuild his raptor 50 after a heavy crash. I wouldnt even dear to say that its gona cost you mr.
Instead we had a fun time rebuilding it, and I could tell that he really learned alot from it. Taking money for this is just a shame! If you want to help someone, say yes. If you do this for money, say no.

Steve Landron

Over the years, I've helped out numerous people build kits and the occasional ARF. Other than being given a used engine for one complete kit build, I've never received any compensation for helping out, just the satisfaction of helping out a fellow modeler get into a great hobby!

The compensation discussed earlier in the thread seems fair, I think if that were my sole source of income it would be my dream job. Who knows maybe some day I’ll get compensated for my time, but for now I do it because it’s something I enjoy and love nothing better than to pass it on.

Steve

[8D]

tkilwein

Build a very small kit and give it VIAGRA!

I would expect if the person charges it should be at least minimium wage and go up depending on skills and complexity.
It should also cover cost of wear and tear on tools, disposable items and such.

Build it yourself and maybe have some guidance from a friend or two and have some fun.

FrankWilliams

My Feedback: (13)

I've worked in a hobby shop for 8 years. We don't offer a building or repair service, so when someone comes in with their car and asked "how much to fix my car" I tell them $30/hour + parts, unless they stay their with me so they can learn it themselve, then it's free + parts. Since I work solo I can't work on people's vehicles at the shop. I spend 8 hours a day helping people in this hobby, when I'm off work I want to play with my toys not someone else's. If they want my to fix their screw ups on my time then I'm going to get paid. It's rare that someone actually is willing to pay $30/hour, but it's happened... I use a high price mostly to keep people from pestering me about it.

I've built a number of ARFs for customers. Average price for labor is $200, bigger is more, smaller is less. Everyone who I've built ARFs for has been happy with that price. If they just wanted a little help and wanted to learn something, then I'd do it for free. I totally rewired and programmed a 33% scale Sukhoi for a friend in his own basement and told him that he didn't have to pay me because I was showing him how to do things better (programming a radio for 4 aileron and 2 rudder servos without using Y-harnesses). For that same friend I completely built an ASM C-130 with 4 electric motors (with custom milled mounts) and in trade I got about $600 worth of stuff, maybe more.

It really depends on the person who asked you to build them something. If they ask for a little guidance and help, by all means do it for some pizza and beer. But, if they come to you and drop of an ARF kit, engine and radio and want you to completely assemble it for you, then they should expect to have to pay for those services.

$200 is a fair price to assemble a 40-size ARF.

-Frank

psb667

Ya for one thing its more like six pizzas and beer.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

The original question was asked:

Fair price to pay for building an ARF: Pulse XT with all parts supplied.

Asked and answered. Period. Anything else added means nothing to the original question. Nothing mentioned by the OP of doing it for a friend, having someone build one for him, or building one for someone else.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with how long it takes to properly... read my lips... PROPERLY.. assemble any ARF model and what the prediction on the box cover or in the manual usually is a tad bit optimistic. Inventory the parts in the box, making sure nothing is broken or cracked, ironing out the covering.. which in itself can take up to a few hours to do, do you do that for nothing? Then comes the actual assembly (note not build, but assemble) which will take time to do it right which includes proper alignment of the tail feathers with the centerline and with the wings, installing and properly adjusting servos and linkage, hinging the control surfaces, and so on.

All of this takes time.

Hey, I'm perfectly willing to help someone, a friend, a fellow club member, a newbe.. put together their ARF with no questions asked and no fees charged.

The original question was "HOW MUCH" So, I answered the question.

Speculate all you want, and debate it if you wish.. as GBoulton put it in his reply:

Enough said.

CGr

Stickbuilder

I agree with you and Gordon 100%.

Bill, Waco Brother #1

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

$20 to $30 an hour is actually fair. Of all the ARF's I have built (more than 50 in the past 10 years), none of them go together in 10 hours. If someone claims to do that, then they are not spending the time to do it right ... and your plane will have many problems or crash. Trimming cowls; measuring; aligning; fuelproofing; checking for proper angles on the rudder, elevator, stab, and wing; properly mounting the engine with the correct angle of thrust; soldering; grinding; sanding; installing servos properly; installing control horns and linkages (making sure there is no play or binding); checking wing incidence and washout; working in tight places; ALL THAT TAKES LOTS OF TIME. Sure, I could slap a plane together in 10 hours ... but I woulldn't expect it to fly correctly ... or for long. Some people may build an ARF for nothing or charge very little, but I guarantee you that you will be buying another plane real fast, or not enjoy flying at all because of all the problems. Besides all that, many of the ARF's just don't go together easily ... many need adjustments, trimming and re-working in some areas. ALL of them need to be reinforced and glued in many areas because the manufacturer skimped on glue, and used hot glue which doesn't hold up.

When I build a plane for someone, it is built well, flys well, and is problem free. I have seen a few guys that build their own plane or have built a plane for someone else ... things (tail surfaces, controls) were flimbsy, weak, and caused the plane to crash. Many of them were not airworthy. In fact, they were dangerous to fly. I've seen guys who have been building their own planes for 10+ years and not have the talent to build correctly or neatly. They come to the field and spend hours tinkering with their plane, get one or two flights and go home. That's not fun. I go to the field and fly all day long, clean the plane from fuel residue, go home and charge the batteries, and fly all day the next day. I have little or no "down/repair time".

I would not waste my time to build an ARF for less than $300 to $400 ... it's not worth it. I'd rather watch TV or do something at home. I spend at least 20 hours on most ARF's. And to build a jet, I charge over $1,500.00. Everything is at the rate of $20 to $30 an hour depending on the scale/detail the owner wants. Most people don't realize the amount of time it takes to build. So, if you think someone charges too much, build it yourself and see the amount of time and extra cost it takes to build a plane. Then, you will realize that $400 is well worth it to get your ARF done right.

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

That's very nice of you. Can I come over your house every night for a free dinner too? Maybe a place to live ... all for free. When you go to a restaurant, do they charge you or are they just so happy to talk to you that you can eat for free? Do you work for free at your job too?

Money makes the world go around.

Trisquire

Tell him to return the Pulse, and buy a RTF. Of course, he may ask you to assemble that as well.

Tom

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Murdoc,
Just because it's a hobby, doesn't mean that people can't charge for their work and time. With your thinking, hobby shops should just give everything away because they too are in the hobby. RIDICULOUS!! I suppose that fuel for my full sized plane should be free too, because I'm a member of a flying club and it's a hobby for me!!

Eating is a hobby, so grocery stores and restaurants should not charge for food.

Playing golf is a hobby ... so go to the golf course, tell them that and maybe they will let you play for free!

Services are never free. You pay for them all the time. Friend or not, if you want me to build or repair your plane, don't think you can take advantage of a friendship and expect the other person to spend hours on your problem and not expect compensation. Sure, I'll give you a beer for free, but there are limits.

Next time your car needs to be fixed, try going to the repair shop and asking them to do it for free. Maybe if you tell them that driving is your hobby, they will even OFFER to repair your car for free!!

GET A GRIP!!!

joeheren

My Feedback: (11)

i also agree with most here. i would help for free just to get another into this wonderful hobby. but beer is good to!

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Beer is always good... well, if that wing gets done a bit awkwardly, then perhaps the beer should wait till AFTER the build/assembly??? [X(]

bigmac399

I think it depends on the ARF. Some ARFs go together in a couple of hours some take longer and then there's "Builder ARFs" like my Nitroplanes P38 that I've got 30+hrs in already and it's still 3hrs away from maiden. I've built a couple of ARFs for friends and not charged them because I want my friends to fly with me. I even bought an ARF and engine for a buddy who was having financial trouble crashed his main bird and couldn't afford a new one. Find a friend to help with it so the experience is there.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Ah beer!! Another topic. I don't drink at all during the build but I do have two beers during the covering. If the beer goes down really smooth and I decide to have three I turn off my iron and gun, turn on some music and pull out a pack of smokes then enjoy the beer to it's fullest. I have even been known to enjoy more then three if friends come by the shop.
If I keep covering after the two beers I can tell just from looking at the plane the next day where the third beer landed on my brain.
Just an old lesson I learned some years back.

ArcticCatRider

My Feedback: (6)

Very few ARFs take longer than a couple of hours to build.

While waiting for glue to dry, work on something else....they're easy to pound out.

Also, putting together an ARF is not $30/hour type of work. I know many folks believe that working at a punch press, or sweeping floors in a steel mill are $30/hour...or putting together pre-fabbed model airplanes...but, I'm sorry...it's not worth that kind of money.

Putting together ARFs is not hard work. It requires a little focus, and that's really it. It's not like you're welding up a 3" pipe balanced on a ladder in a 120 degree room. It's not like you're pulling 2 gauge wire through 800 miles of conduit. It's not like you have to travel, and put on a presentation in some other city. It's working with balsa, and lite-ply...and 2-56 or 4-40 pushrods.

If someone came to me and told me "build this, " I'd do it for 10-15 an hour. You can drink while you're building it..you can watch TV, talk on the phone, jack around on the internet..etc. etc. It isn't exactly a real job.

David Jackson

My Feedback: (15)

If time was the issue driving my decision to find building/assemblying services, I would not pay more than the cost of the plane. Personally, for a 40 size ARF, I would assemble it myself even if limited time forced me to work on it for a couple of months. [8D]

xtraflyr

My Feedback: (11)

I've put together a couple of ARF's for a guy and I charged him the price of the kit. These weren't trainers either, they were precision/3d aerobatic models. They have to be done perfect or they won't fly straight and the pilot will be fighting it through his whole routine.. I'm unemployed right now and can use the money. He's a good friend and flying buddy of mine and he knows I need the money and he has the money but no time so done deal.. And not only for an ARF,He had another guy build him a Ziroli Corsair the same thing the price of the kit plus supplies. If someone needs help putting together a RTF then he should be looking into doing something else,really!!

If I had a kid come up to me at our field and wants me to help or give pointers on putting together his plane I'll do that for free. It's a good way to get more young guns into the hobby..

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I've spent more than two hours just ironing out the covering.

GaryHarris

Guilty.[]

jester_s1

I'm cautious about giving time away just because it can teach new guys to expect it. Answers and advice are free, and the occasional fixit job is free too if it's a new guy or if I was somehow involved in the mess up. But to spend my time working on another guy's plane for free while he enjoys himself doing something else? No way.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I had two trainers. One was a Tower Trainer 40 ARF. I put it together.. assembled it.. and it flew just fine. But, work related travel got in the way of my training. Eventually, I bought a NexSTAR RTF Trainer. I still had the Tower, but thought that the NexSTAR would help because it offered their SIM software that I could take with me on my travels.

When the model came in, I told my instructor about it and he invited me to go to his house and we would work on it together. The 20 minute assembly time was more like two hours with most of that time reading the manual and relating the manual to the parts and eventually making sure everything was set right and that it was ready to maiden.

I guess my point here is that we all have friends that are willing to help us out. Sure, I probably could have put it together myself, and, sure, it probably would have flown just fine, but this was an opportunity to learn something about setup, which was just about all someone can learn from an RTF.

It worked out just fine, the first flight required minimal trim and we were off resuming my training with the NexSTAR. Another friend really wanted my Tower Trainer so I sold it to him, and, by the way, both aircraft still fly and are still training students.

GaryHarris.. we did not share a beer until AFTER the assembly was complete.

CGr.

FILE IFR

Well said. That's how I feel about it too.

antiquefer

My rc hobby is now totaly self sufficiant due to building for others. I have yet to build for someone who is not a fellow club member and friend. My rate is a gallon of ys 20/20 fuel. or something else in trade. I put together 4 planes in Aug. A bit more than my average. I have put together nearly 40 since I started this service. I deliver them flown and trimmed. (turnkey if you will) I also build combat from scratch, for which I charge $50. Materials are $30. They hand me radio gear and eng and I hand them back a tset flown and ready to fight plane. My rate is way low but I have recieved many gifts also. A 27% yak and numerous 40-60 sise arfs in the box. A major plus for me is that I get to fly alot of different planes to see what I like. As far as I know there has never been a failure in a plane caused by my building methods. If I charged what I figure what my time is worth then it would be like any other job and might ruin it for me............Antiquefer

BountyHunter51

There are plenty of arguments on both sides of this topic. Not taken out of context, all have their own merits.
However, I personally wouldn't ask someone to spend their time, supplies, etc. working on my stuff without giving them due compensation. Whether it be money, goods, or to help them in return on something that they need help with. I'm certain that's what being a friend is all about, or a way to make a new friend.
Now, on the flip side, I have built planes for friends without attaching a fee for my time, supplies, etc. Some have offered compensation, some have not. Some are quick to help me out, others are not so quick. Personally, I'd rather not build for others. I still do though, but it has to be on my schedule as my spare time allows. I'm also a bit more particular about the projects that I'm willing to take on. I gladly donate alot of time to my club already.
I don't mind 'promoting the hobby' and helping to teach someone how to do something. That's part of the hobby, learning and sharing. But I see that there is a fine line in there, and it all boils down to this: If someone wants to be compensated for their efforts and materials, you can either accomodate them, or do it yourself. If you have a friend that's willing to help you build, at least offer to give them something in return.
As far as the OP's question, the cost of the kit or kit for kit for building seems to be the popular answer every time this question comes up.

Cheers! BH