beside getting sponsorships and how-tos like all that John (nightshade) said, you may ask around your local shops. Some shops will give you free labor as a part of sponsorship too.
BTW, my pay checks sponsor me.
I like the idea of sponsorship but I rather spend my money and Modding thing the way I like it. Moreover, Sponsor = sticker = :ghey: + Ruining my paints, so I'll skip the part.
Though I've learned many things the hard way but I don't want to do things against my own will just because my sponsors said so.