Hello
again all long time no see huh.... Well real life has caught up with me
for a little bit but don't worry I will be back soon with the Plague Preacher up date I have been promising you since the start of this blog. To hold you guys over for the week we have another article by Seraphic Machine from Obscurus Crusade.
Stumpy
So away we go:
I
don't know much about how these things are outside of Europe, but here
hobby stores (you know, stores that target bored middle-aged housewives
compared to DIY stores that target guys hassled by their bored wives
with "Oh, darling, you should paint the fence white so it will go with
these wonderful patchwork pillows I made for the rocking chair on the
front porch! Bone white, not eggshell white please.") tend to sell a lot
of stuff you can buy cheaper at other places, that are specialized in
certain fields (home improvement, DIY, plumbing, electronics etc.). It
might cost you some time, but you'll get a bigger package of plaster,
wire, various glues, paints (and brushes!) for a lot less. You will also
have a larger selection of all these things than in hobby stores.
Buying in bulk is also an option, you never know when you will need more of that neon green plumbing tube. (No, really, you can never know. Just remember the feeling when you need exactly that and it's sold out in the whole freaking city!)
The appointed basket at the gate of our apartment house is always full and there are at least 2-3 types of advertisement catalogues from DIY stores, so one can even compare prices.
The secret again is that one should not leave things to be done at the last moment, so one won't be tempted to buy the same thing for fourfold the price just to have it quickly. Yes, you might have go to the other end of the city, but when you make two lists of the things you need for your costume, one with the cheapest and one with downtown prices, you'll notice the difference. Rather spend that difference on something nice, like for your beloved one who is very patient with your weird hobby. (Or GW's Chaos Black spray paint, like I do. Really, you want to be nice to me, send a can over to old Europe.)
Though my current example isn't costuming related, doing things yourself instead of buying them might also leave you with more money in your pocket. We needed a battle mat for our Dark Heresy party, so I bought a 28x40 inch piece of paper for 50 cents, made an inch grid on one and a centimeter grid on the other side, traveled to the other end of the city and got it laminated for 6.50 dollars. So for 7 dollars I have now a custom battle mat fitting our picky European taste (hex grid? bah!). It would have cost me up to 50 dollars plus shipping (with the chance of it getting lost in the mail) for a commercially available one. Time is money, as they say, and come to think of it, I spared more money doing that mat than what I would have earned in the time that it took to make it including the bus ride.
Buying in bulk is also an option, you never know when you will need more of that neon green plumbing tube. (No, really, you can never know. Just remember the feeling when you need exactly that and it's sold out in the whole freaking city!)
The appointed basket at the gate of our apartment house is always full and there are at least 2-3 types of advertisement catalogues from DIY stores, so one can even compare prices.
The secret again is that one should not leave things to be done at the last moment, so one won't be tempted to buy the same thing for fourfold the price just to have it quickly. Yes, you might have go to the other end of the city, but when you make two lists of the things you need for your costume, one with the cheapest and one with downtown prices, you'll notice the difference. Rather spend that difference on something nice, like for your beloved one who is very patient with your weird hobby. (Or GW's Chaos Black spray paint, like I do. Really, you want to be nice to me, send a can over to old Europe.)
Though my current example isn't costuming related, doing things yourself instead of buying them might also leave you with more money in your pocket. We needed a battle mat for our Dark Heresy party, so I bought a 28x40 inch piece of paper for 50 cents, made an inch grid on one and a centimeter grid on the other side, traveled to the other end of the city and got it laminated for 6.50 dollars. So for 7 dollars I have now a custom battle mat fitting our picky European taste (hex grid? bah!). It would have cost me up to 50 dollars plus shipping (with the chance of it getting lost in the mail) for a commercially available one. Time is money, as they say, and come to think of it, I spared more money doing that mat than what I would have earned in the time that it took to make it including the bus ride.
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