My own tip I mentioned elsewhere: so-called “burnishing fluid” 
for metal tracks is nothing more than gun blue.
I use Birchwood-Casey. Perma Blue is dark gray and Super Blue is black.
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I’ve also used Elmer’s PVA glue as a masking fluid.
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Stop while you still can!!! 
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Dirty thinner - rain effects.
Dirty thinner - wash,
Dirty thinner - “filter”
Ground up pigments from art supply store - pigments
One pound box of Concrete pigment - pigments
For kits - buy three at a time from eBay vendors or even places like Sprue Bothers. The third kit is virtually free in many cases.
And finally, the number one money saving tip - stop buying kits you’ll never build.
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Your major savings are in consumables, like paints, weathering products, knife blades, sandpaper, glues and adhesives, etc. Lean to use classic, “old school” modeling supplies rather than relying on “brand name” re-packaged supplies that are basically the same “old school” stuff, just in 1/4 oz bottles rather than 2-3 oz bottles and sold for 2-3 times the price by your favorite modeling “guru.” Next comes savings in expendable-durables like paint brushes. So…
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Learn to mix colors. Record your color mixes for future reference. Save and clean your empty paint bottles to hold your custom mixes.
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Master whatever paints you already have rather than switch brands looking for “greener grass.” Learn how to reduce it properly for spraying, then stop playing “science fair” with your thinners and reducers. Use the proprietary thinner-reducer until you learn what is REALLY contained in it, and if you switch to a “generic” product, make sure it’s the same stuff.
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Take care of your airbrush, keep it clean and master its potential before you consider buying another one. If you can’t spray a tight line with an airbrush that should hold it, buying a new one won’t make you any better.
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Have 2 to 3 ExActo #1 handles. When you need a really sharp new #11 blade, only switch a new #11 blade into the handle with the dullest blade and use the other blades for heavier “scutt” work. (I have different colored “dots” on the ends of the handles so I can quickly tell which handle has the newest, sharpest blade in it.) Buy your blades in bulk packs which significantly reduces the per-blade cost.
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Learn to clean your paint brushes properly, then clean them well after each session. Use a purpose formulated brush cleaner and preserver sold for artists. Store them correctly. You’ll find that quality brushes last a VERY long time if you keep them clean and don’t abuse them. Taking care of your best brushes means that you don’t need to replace them very often, which can make them more economical than constantly buying cheap brushes.
Bonus tip: Buy and use a cordless paint stirrer and use it. Keep the threads of the paint jars and caps clean by not having to “shake” up your paints (which is horribly inefficient anyway). The paints will last much, much longer and be easier to use and reproduce color more consistently. Also, you won’t find clumps of dried paint in your mixes if the cap threads are kept clean. All of this means that you don’t have to buy new bottles of paint to replace bottles that have dried out.
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Heresy!!
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I was thinking blasphemy!..
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As I gaze at my shelf of tanks and figures, many of which have been sitting around for over a decade…
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Yeah, I’m not sure what the deal is with the gun truck I’m currently working on; but I’m actually starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It will be the first one I’ve completed since before COVID. 
I guess (for me at least) it’s just a matter of dedicated certain days of the week to model building.
I still have to live to be 100 at this point to build everything on shelf! 
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Some of the guys need to live well beyond 100!
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I have found that many of the “money saving” tips over the years are a false economy. Yes, they are cheaper, but they also produce inconsistent and visibly crappier results. You go cheap, and it looks like it.
A better strategy is to just use appropriate products appropriately. For example, the video suggests using lacquer thinner instead of Tamiya Extra Thin (TET) cement. My thought was, “How much TET does this guy use?” A bottle for me will last two years, because I don’t use it for everything. If you don’t have a tight, well-fitted joint TET is the wrong cement to use. I use regular Testors Liquid cement for most things. It evaporates less quickly so it makes the surfaces tackier and better able to stick together. Did you ever notice that a lot of models built online have shiny borders all-around every joint? That’s because the modeler has to apply multiple coats of TET to make sure the joint sticks. (It’s also because modelers use that mop on the inside of the lid to apply the cement.) If you really want to save money on cement (and avoid the extra precautions and annoyance that the substitutes bring) try:
- Use a cement appropriate for the application. You may need two, or even three.
- Yank out the cap mop an apply cement using a cheap 0 or 00 synthetic paint brush. You’ll use the cement you need with out wasting two-thirds of it.
- Open the bottle, get cement on the brush, drop the lid on the bottle, cement the model. (This highlights another problem with using the cap mop: The bottle stays open the whole time you are playing with the joint.)
I think if modelers simply dumped the mop and used a paint brush they would save enough of the cement wasted through overuse and evaporation that they wouldn’t need to even consider alternatives.
With regard to masking fluid, again, how much do you use in a given period? If it takes you 4 years to go through a $7/oz bottle of brand name stuff, is it a meaningful savings to buy an 8 oz bottle at $2/oz? (This is why I buy superglue in tiny squeeze tubes. Larger amounts are cheaper per ounce but would set up before I had used a quarter of the bottle.)
Finally, I think it says something about the guy making this video, and his audience, that he thinks telling people to shop around before buying is noteworthy.
KL
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I’m that a single instance of metallic specks or a substance incompatible with the rest of the finish of a nearly complete model would wipe out the savings over mixing a bit of artist’s oils and clean mineral spirits in a bottle cap.
KL
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My method is to have tight joints (untight joints = sloppy model building),
hold parts together, apply solvent (ethyl acetate for me, xylene/xylol or toluene/toluol works too but are more harmful) from the reverse side of the joint if possible or at least where it is hidden.
The tackyness issue is not and shall not be a consideration, I don’t need a tackyness time since the parts are already pressed together when capillary action draws in the solvent and makes the surfaces tacky. I can spend as much time as needed to get the parts in the perfect position before reaching for the glue or solvent instead of do a rush job to smack the parts together before the glue/solvent dries.
Absolutely. Couldn’t agree more
I can play with the joint the whole evening and open the bottle for the last 10 seconds.
I can unscrew the cap with thumb, index and middle finger while holding the brush (cheap syntetic 0 or 00) with the two remaining fingers, rotate hand and dip brush, place the cap on the bottle and apply brush to joint. Using a bottle with a narrow neck / small opening reduces the evaporation.
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That’s why metallics get their own bottle of thinner to ruin.
The other thinner usually contains a mixture of the paints I have used on the model so they work well enough for a wash/filter to blend in the camouflage colours and/or take away some of the stark contrasts.
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Has anyone reported this to the moderators yet?
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Indeed. Hence my post from two months ago:
By the way, dirty thinner -
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It’s a matter of dwell time and penetration into the plastic.
I am a scrupulous joint fitter, but realize some fitted joints are better than others. Also, for larger faying surfaces, a lower volatility works better even for perfect fits. I’m not talking about TET vs. tube glue but TET vs. Testors Liquid.
KL
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I do this as well, but the mere risk of something going wrong using what is a waste product with inconsistent constituents far outweighs the infinitesimal cost of using an eydropper of clean mineral spirits and a fraction of a gram of Winsor & Newton oils. What is the cost per model for making your own washes and glazes? (I’m not talking about pre-mixed commercial washes, mind you.) Twenty-five cents? Forty cents? A whole dollar? I will waste more money than that on the paint I flush out of the airbrush and clean off the bottle threads over the course of a build.
KL
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My priority is the capillary action so I need low viscosity.
A thumbprint sized joint is no problem whatsoever, a 00 sized dab of ethyl acetate will soften the styrene under whole thumbprint and create a perfect moulding of my thumb, modelling scars and all in the styrene. Ask me how I know 
It took quite some time to get it polished out …
Dwell time: when the solvent is inside the joint (capillary action so we are talking capillary sized cavities) it will evaporate slowly. Joint can be handled after 20 - 30 seconds unless I had to press it together (warped upper hull of a Pz IV for instance) and then it takes maybe 5 minutes at the most.
Penetration: I only need the bindings between the styrene molecules in the mating surfaces to losen up long enough for them to eastablish/reestablish molecule bindings across the joint.
Penetration only needs to be a few molecules deep.
When I have a stubborn joint I may apply the solvent a few times while pressing the joint. This will allow the polystyrene to become “liquid” and ooze into cavities in the joint or get squeezed out on both sides.
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Even that is probably on the high side …
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