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.
Edited
Looking at couple of typical beginner “builder” kits (rather than prefinished, plastic fin “E2X” rockets) here’s my take:
Case 1 - Estes Viking, kit cost is between $8-14 depending on where you buy it. Picked the Viking because the fiberboard fins don’t need filled or sanded. Assuming you have nothing on hand but common household stuff - knife, scissors, ruler, pencil - you’ll need glue (we’ll use Elmer’s Glue All) a 4oz bottle costs $1.50 and paint (simple single color paint job, no filler or masking) a 3oz Krylon “Short Cut” can is $4, I’d recommend a yellow or orange so the green decals will look ok, unfortunately the Viking has a two piece nose cone so you’ll need either plastic cement or CA (Krazy Glue) - we’ll go with CA, a $2 tube at the checkout counter. And that’s it - roughly $16-26 from kit to launch.
Case 2 - a bigger rocket that flies pretty nicely, Quest Big Betty, kit cost is $11-18 again depending on the vendor. If you want a nice finish we’ll need to fill the balsa grain and tube spirals - water based latex wood filler is the simplest path - cheap ($4 for a 3.5oz tube of Elmer’s Carpenter Wood Filler) and easy to come by, still need glue so we’ll stick with Elmer’s $1.50, let’s splurge on paint - filler primer (Rustoleum 2 in 1 Filler Primer at Lowe’s) $6, can of white Rusto Pro for the base coat plus a can of yellow Rusto Pro so we can duplicate the face card
paint scheme, $12, the Big Betty doesn’t need any glue for the nose cone so we’ll skip the CA.
Oops, forgot SANDPAPER - $6 for a multi grit pack! Total $41-49, which includes supplies that will easily build more kits.
So there’s my quick cost breakdown - you could spend less, build that Viking with just CA and fly it unfinished for less than $10 or you could spend more though that would mostly be on paint for more complex schemes.