: The link below has 5 foot strip built model canoes selling for $550! That's
: the only site that I've found selling model canoes. No model kayak sites,
: at least not that I've seen. But let's just say that it takes him 50 to 60
: hours to build one of these, which is quite possible, he's earning less
: that $10/hour for his labor by the time you figure a rather small
: materials expense.

: That's cool if it's just a hobby, like it is for me and many others, if it
: helps support the materials costs, but I honestly can't see doing THAT
: full-time. Not at $10/hour.

If you are into mass producing model, you can use a male plug. Vaccum bagging can be done on a 5 feet model. With vaccum bagging, you can move up to fast curring epoxy. All these can cut back on production time.

: The only real benefit of building small sized kayaks to sell that I see is
: that it would be fairly easy to find buyers. Everyone that I've shown my
: models to (most are not even into kayaks) want one. Not that these people
: are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on one, but those that are
: willing are out there. The guy that wants one of my models did not even
: blink an eye when I showed him this canoe site and the $550 price tag. I
: actually thought he was going to order the canoe, but he said he would
: much rather have about a six foot kayak, so I agreed to build him one.

: I spent some time last night thinking about this and concluded that I would
: set the prices for a quality kayak model, that's built just like the
: full-sized, to be based mostly on size alone and time spent to be around
: $180-250 for my 1-2 foot models, $250-400 for my 3-4 foot models and
: $400-600 for my 5-6 foot models. I realize the prices are high and have
: quite a range, but I think it would totally depend on the quality of each
: particular boat.

: I was going to email you my thoughts Ross, but felt it was better to be
: honest and up front with this entire group of builders to hopefully get
: some (positive) feedback. By the way, even when I start my little craft
: business, I'll keep my day job. I've been working here (survey CAD tech.)
: from 6am to 5pm 5 days a week for the last 11 years, and it's fed my
: family of six just fine. Now in order to gain some free-time for model
: construction, I'll need to convince my wife into working full-time

: Thanks to everyone for listening to me ramble, please let me know what you
: think. Off-line (email) is fine also.
: SMF