mickoo
Western Thunderer
Yes and no, normally a build takes about 4-6 weeks if it's out of the box, even then with uplift 3D it doesn't take much longer, sometimes less as you're not fighting poor kit parts.
I personally prefer quicker builds because the pay day comes around quicker (you have to remember I had a monthly pay check for 37 years so you're tuned into that routine), but at the end of the day you still get the same hourly rate so it'll be two at four weeks or one at eight, both to the same value.
I have no issue elevating kits if the base model is designed well and fits, those like Gladiator and David Andrews are good examples, bread and butter models with the odd legacy error here and there. Those you can work with and with a little effort detail them nicely. What I abhor is spending hours correcting junk etches that will never fit and castings that are better used for traction weights, that cost's me time and the customer ££££
Cheap kits are really expensive to build and I'm afraid to say it's heart breaking when you tell people that the box of bits they have will never come close to a level they've set their sights on, even if you threw a lot of money at it. As a builder I feel you have a duty of care to warn clients of the projected cost before you start and in some cases does mean/has meant, the loss of work; but I'd rather have that than disagreements later on in the build or over the final cost.
.....note to self.....check the bleedin machine more often....
