How much does it cost you to build a model rocket?

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Well, you have gotten a lot of good responses to this question.

I will just say this: Don't forget the cost of your time. Even if you don't charge for your time in your work like or you consider your spare time to be "free", the value of a rocket, to me, is how many hours (and days waiting for stuff to dry) I had to put into it.

So, if I had to put 16 hours, total, into making a rocket, and then had to spend about week waiting for everything to dry before I unveiled the final, finished paint job, the rocket has a lot of value to me. I can't put it into dollars and cents. I really don't want to lose the rocket because I spent a lot of time making it and getting it to look good. So I will often improve the recovery system with a longer shock cord and a nylon parachute.

But, let's assume your time is free. Let's see. I bought an E-SAM 58 at Hobby Lobby...

Rocket Kit: $12.99
Paint (base color): $4.28
Paint (second color): $4.28
Primer: $4.28
Nice 18" nylon parachute from Apogee Components: $7.49
Piece of 100 pound kevlar and some 1/4 inch elastic to replace the shock cord: $1.50
Shop Supplies: This is the cost of tools needed to build the rocket as well as the cost of "expendables", such as masking tape, wood filler, sandpaper, paper towels, glue, hobby knife, hobby knife blade, snap swivels, pencils, fin jog, body tube marking gizmo, plastic bags to hold stuff, launch pad, launch controller, launch rod, batteries for launch controller, etc. Only a small part of each of these supplies in my "parts bin" and only a small part of the total cost of purchasing the tools in my "tool box" are really needed for this one rocket. The parts and tools will be used on dozens of other rockets. Let's be conservative and call it $3.00, total, in shop supplies. That might be a little low.

Subtotal: $37.82

Don't forget sales tax (or shipping costs) on all of that stuff, above. Let's low-ball it at 7 percent: $2.65

Subtotal with tax: $40.47 (to build the rocket that only cost you, initially, $12.99 at Hobby Lobby, without tax)

Do you want to count the cost of flame proof wadding and engines? You can't fully enjoy the rocket without 'em! I can get some B6-4's and C6-5's from AC Supply Company. They sell the bulk pack of 24 B6-4's for $43.79 (that is $1.83 per B6-4). They sell the C6-5's in a bulk pack of 24 for $50.99 (that is $2.13 per engine). Let's also assume, just to keep costs down, that I submit an order for over $100 to AC Supply Company and they give me the free shipping deal. Yay!

Each B6-4 launch costs $1.83
Each C6-5 launch costs $2.12
Let's say the cost of the recovery wadding is $0.05 per launch.

Let's say I launch it a total of 8 times with B6-4's and 4 times with C6-5's before I lose it in the weeds, the rocket crashes and can't be repaired, or I just get bored with it.

That is 8 times $1.83: $14.64
That is 4 times $2.13: $8.52
And 12 times $.05 for the recovery wadding: $.60

Total Cost to Launch the Rocket 12 Times: $23.76

Add that to the total cost to build the rocket of $40.47 and you get a total cost of rocket ownership of:

$64.19

But the rocket only set you back $12.99.

Still, how else can you spend $64.19 and have THIS MUCH TOTAL FUN? No way, now how. Model rocketry is your best hobby enjoyment value!
 
NC=$24
BT x 2=$24
Mmt and rings=$10
Retainer=$17
Shock cord 40'=$20
Plywood for fins=$5
Nuts, bolts, Quick links, Threaded rod, swivels, Welded ring nuts=$20
Primer=$4
Paint=$4
Av Bay=$10
This is approximate. So my 3" dual deploy with 3 fins costs about $140 without tax and shipping. Bigger rockets cost more. That means my rockets cost between $100 and $200 each. I figure I have from $15,000 and $20,000 in rockets hanging from my garage celling. There are currently more that 160 rockets up there.
 
For a typical Estes Kit excluding some of the Expert level stuff, Figure $10-$15 on top of the cost of the kit itself. This includes glue, fillers, sealers, paints, hobby knife blades, sand paper etc. As you get further into the hobby the cost per kit goes down drastically as you find that you can buy TBII glue by the gallon, Kevlar and Elastic are available in large spools. Fillers and sealers are available in quarts and gallons. Buy sand paper in the contractor size boxes of 100 sheets.

When you get to a point where you can scratch build without buying a kit you will really start to save money. Take the Estes Big Bertha kit as an example. You can pick one up from AC Supply for around $16.

If you built it from scratch.

Nose cone: $1.33 from Belleview Hobby.
Body Tube: $1.90 from AC
Stuffer Tube: About .50 when you determine how much of the material you actually use.
Sheet of Balsa: $4.00 from HL.
Shock Cord. About .25-.30 When bought in bulk from Amazon.
Centering Rings. .70 from BMS.
Decals: Depends on your skill level. I can cut them on my Cricut for about .50
All in I can build a Bertha clone for about $9.25 in materials. I don't include my time as it's a hobby and not my job.

Best part is you will find that you have most of this stuff just laying around. Things like centering rings, motor blocks, spare tubes, motor clips, balsa, misc. nose cones etc. They just kind of show up as you go along and one day you decide you organized and wonder where the hell all this crap came from :)

The SINGLE biggest thing I have learned since returning to this hobby is to buy stuff in bulk and stay away from the specialty stuff that is packaged in small quantities from some of the online rocket resellers. The Epoxies, Sealers and Shock cords are some of the worst offenders. I was buying sanding sealer in a small 4oz jar for $10 until I realized that is was nothing more than MinWax sanding sealer that I could buy a quart of for $9
 
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The cheapest rocket I could probably build would be just two sheets of paper, some kind of string, and crepe paper.

Roll two 18mm tubes. Slice one of them up for fins. Trifold your string one crepe-paper-width from top of tube. Roll your crepe paper up, doubles as a flat nosecone. Tape on part of a stir-stick for the upper guide.

So yeah, probably about $2.50 each including the motor, igniter, glue.
 
You can spend anywhere from a dollar or two for a scratch-built micro maxx rocket to $100 for an Estes Saturn V. It varies a lot depending on the size and intricacy of the model. Most low power rockets probably run you around $20-30 to build, but that doesn't include launch equipment and motors.

My most expensive high power rocket ran me about $350, but that doesn't include the motor case or reload. I'm also probably going to spend about twice that on my upcoming level 3.

Or things like motor retainer, kevlar shock cords, nomex chute protectors, Level 3 sized parachute, electronics, qwik links, all-thread.
 
Ok so these days I am doing mostly Low-powered BT60 and smaller scratch builds w/ 3D printed parts. Note: This is in bulk -- i.e., need to buy enough for building 20-30 rockets to get prices down (e.g., free shipping from AC Supply or Amazon). Also not counting glue (wood, CA thick, CA thin, tape, tools, etc... need lots of that stuff to make the cost per rocket low. Also obviously not counting engines or launch platform (launching on standard Estes engines up to D or E).

3D Printed Parts: $.50 - $5.00 (cost for filament usually fairly low - under $2 - but there are re-prints, prototypes, etc.)
Body Tubes: $1.50 - $5.00 ($5.39-$5.69 for 3pack BT55/BT60 AC Supply; $30 shipped for 6x BT80 Rocketarium)
Basswood Fins: $.25-$1.00 ($20 for 20 pack of 200mmx300mmx2mm basswood sheets Amazon)
Weights: $.25-$2 (fishing weights)
Shock Chord: $.10-$.30 (.5% of 600' Kevlar line for $17 shipped Ebay; 1/8 of 24' Braided elastic for $2.40 at Walmart)
Parachute: Reuse Estes Plastic Chutes ($2-$4 if need to be replaced; trying to DIY but not there yet)
Paint: $.50-$1 (I mostly just prime rockets since my finishing is crap).

So really comes out to under $5 usually but definitely under $10 even for a larger or more complex rockets (once you have a workbench full of stuff and have inventory of raw materials - few hundred $$$ all in lets me make dozens and dozens of rockets).
 
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You also have to account for what your time is worth. This is however variable. Some people find sanding or fine cutting and recutting, etc., soothing or relaxing, so shaping a cone from a raw balsa block is a joy and not a tedious chore. For the former, it’s therapy, for the latter it is a hassle.

I once made an ogive nose cone out of a toilet paper roll, masking tape, and a lot of carpenter wood filler. It came out great, but took me a couple days. I did it because the rocket was the Uranus Explorer and was made nearly entirely from toilet paper tubes to stay true to the theme. aside from that, I would have much rather just bought one that fit.

remember the old Estes kits used to come with a raw balsa plank and paper templates to trace and cut your own fins. Apparently today’s modelers favor precut fins or the kit makers wouldn’t go to the expense of making them.
 
If you need to ask, you can’t afford it.
Awww I know you were joking but that's maybe a little disenchanting for our friend. He might not be able to afford all of the tools and tidbits and options that many of us have, but he can put together a couple of sound (and fun!) rockets and launch gear pretty inexpensively. Motors might get a little pricey if you're operating on the fiscal edge, but if you can afford a cheeseburger you can afford a launch!
 
The cheapest rocket I could probably build would be just two sheets of paper, some kind of string, and crepe paper.

Roll two 18mm tubes. Slice one of them up for fins. Trifold your string one crepe-paper-width from top of tube. Roll your crepe paper up, doubles as a flat nosecone. Tape on part of a stir-stick for the upper guide.

So yeah, probably about $2.50 each including the motor, igniter, glue.
Sheesh, at that level, might as well just tape a stick onto the motor and call it a rocket!

Good thinking, but it's not all that difficult to repurpose household "debris" into a functional rocket for cheaps.

Several TRF folks have demonstrated that ingenuity in threads here (sorry, would need to search for them...)!

Maybe I lost the scent, but is this a "hypothetical", or do we have a colleague who's temporarily short on pennies yet still yearning to see a rocket fly? If the former, these guys'll have at ya and maybe you deserve it. If the latter, ping me and we'll get a rocket (kit) in your hands pronto! With a bottle of TBII, too, because everybody knows that's the only glue for model rocketry construction!
 
You also have to account for what your time is worth. This is however variable.
If I bring a kit to our hangar on a day when we're shut in for weather, I can get paid to work on a hobby. Once daily chores, patient rounding, and education or training is complete, the rest of the shift is mine.
 
If I bring a kit to our hangar on a day when we're shut in for weather, I can get paid to work on a hobby. Once daily chores, patient rounding, and education or training is complete, the rest of the shift is mine.
I am sure that the effort and stress on the busy days more than balances a little bit of building time!
 
maybe I missed it, but what happened to “time is money”?

aside from making your own motors (let’s must not go there), just about every part of a low power rocket can be made by stuff thrown in a trash can, so materials are potentially free.

shopping bags for chutes (hobby lobby bags are tougher than Walmart or Kroger) or streamers
aluminum foil or plastic wrap rolls for body tubes.
cereal box cardboard for fins (may need to go double or triple thick), also motor mounts, centering rings, engine blocks, true conical nose cones, transitions, launch lugs
plastic Easter egg capsules.
toothpaste caps or ketchup cups for simulated motor nozzles
paper soda straws make great launch lugs as they attach with paper or wood glue. Unfortunately hard to find. Plastic straws work but need epoxy or tape or something else to attach, they don’t stick well with paper or wood glue
used string for shock cords,
used underwear for elastic (do not use with Skidmark motors!)
used Gift wrap paper for color on tubes fins, and conical cones.
windshield wiper blade metal for motor hooks.

But it often takes more TIME to gather those materials and cut, carve, file, reinforce or otherwise modify them than it takes to just to buy ready made parts

about the only thing I think would be impractical to make is glue (I suspect it is do-able, but THAT sounds like a lot more trouble that it is worth.). You can use discarded wrapping paper for color on body tubes fins, and true conical nose cones, so you don’t even need paint.

this one was basically free

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/please-dont-squeeze-the-charmin.32869/
The cost of an LPR kit is fairly affordable compared to the time and effort to build it and the investment in tools and materials needed to build all of your rockets. Unless you are actively trying to build a rocket out of all household items, just buy the kit. No biggie. A garden variety Estes kit at Hobby Lobby will set you back anywhere from $7.99 to $22.99 depending on the size and type of kit. That’s a pretty reasonable price to pay, IMHO, to save a lot of hassle. Now, if you are just, for the fun of it, trying to build a kit out of toilet paper tubes, drinking straws, cardboard, and so forth, that I can appreciate. But I know when I build such a rocket that I am building the homemade rocket just for fun and to prove I can: I am not building it to save tons of cash. All I am saving is about $15.
 
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You may not have thought about this (if so, sorry for the tricky question), but I really want to know roughly how much you spend to build a single model rocket. (Not high-power rocket... but interesting as well)
I hope you can share it.

Nothing but time.
I have oodles of parts, glue, balsa and spray paint.
Now if I had to buy a kit, that would be a different story.
 
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