Painting Services

[NinjaBoy]

Hey I was thinking of sending my malifaux crew to a painting service since, well I'm shite at painting.

What's the going rate per miniature? I'd rather keep it local if possible. Any recommendations?

[Ryan]

That depend of your level of goodness you want. Can vary from $5 per guy to $30 or more depending on who you go to. For instance I frequently use Chad's services but the cost is quite high for the excellent quality of his work. He is also swamped from what I understand. There are some people on the VGG that paint and there may be some others here that will do it. Nick has painted for me in the past but I'm not sure if he is painting for anyone currently. He charges less and his work is a good table quality. When dealing with Painting services be precise about what you want done and do your best to make sure the other person understands exactly what you want. I had a model painted for me and while I was pleased with its appearance it was not exactly what I asked for. That is a favorable example and I have yet to have unfavorable one, I've been luck.

[Kelly Kim]

Speaking as an ex-professional painter myself, I have to say that there's a HUGE difference in service when it comes to full-time painters and part-time painters.  Full time painters need your money to pay their rent, so they will bend over backwards for you, and make sure you get your models in a timely manner.  Part time painters are only doing this on the side, and paint when they can find the time.

I've been both, and with some guilt (but honesty), I can say that I would never have hired myself as a painter after I stopped doing it full time.  No one was going to pay me what I made at my "normal" jobs (and I had 3 of them at the same time), so I only did it when I could squeeze the time in, and if I wasn't already burnt out from working.

Even the best painters in the world don't make THAT much money from painting.  You might gasp at what prices a competition-worthy paintjob might cost, but if you consider that a quality paintjob for a single Golden Demon entry takes about 40 hours to build and paint, it breaks down to a lousy hourly wage.  Even a decently (in my mind, at least) painted rank and file model should take at least 2 hours if you include build time.

Ways to save money on a pro-paintjob?  I'd say that if you can build it yourself, and then at least give it a decent basecoat, you've done a good chunk of the pro-painter's job for him.  If you offer to base it yourself afterwards, you'll save him even more time, and yourself alot of money.  Why pay him his going rate for the easy stuff, when it's the really skilled stuff that's really worth your money?

[NinjaBoy]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. A friend of mine is currently having his 15 000 point 40k army being painted by someone, and the rate he's quoted is great so I think I found my painter.

Either that, or like Kelly Kim suggests, I'll basecoat and work it myself.

[Chad]

I agree with pretty much all of it except for :

and then at least give it a decent basecoat

I(and many other painters I know) do not want *any* paint on the models when we get them.  This is because I don't know what paint you used, the condition of the primer under the model, I'll have to waste time matching the paint colours I use to the colours you used, cleaning off parting/mould lines and repaint, etc. In the end this would end up costing you more at many of the higher end services, if they would even accept the models at all.  I know some painters who won't even accept stripped models as it mucks with the chemical composition of the miniature surface, thus making certain paints/washes react differently and unpredictably. 

When I get models with paint on them I simply charge by the hour as opposed to the per model rate and it almost always costs more than if they we bare metal/plastic.

My two cents.

-- Chad

[Kelly Kim]

I can see that... I do remember one or two instances where we got sent some odd models with mystery paints on them and really bad primer jobs.  In a perfect situation, you'd get models that were perfectly cleaned of flash and mould lines, given a perfectly smooth and thin primer coat, and painted with the exact paints you would have used, but we all know that it's not a perfect world.

That being said, I would communicate well with the professional painter and see what arrangements could be made to minimize the amount of work he needs to do.  Time equals money, and your relationship with your painter should be like a client's relationship with his architect, or interior designer.  Each should know where the other stands before any real work is done or money exchanged.  Respect your artist and appreciate that this is his livelihood and reputation at stake, and they should respect you back.

[Kelly Kim]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. A friend of mine is currently having his 15 000 point 40k army being painted by someone, and the rate he's quoted is great so I think I found my painter.

I might wait and see what your friend's finished product looks like first.  There are some shady characters out there that have heavily photoshopped examples of their paintjobs on their websites, which don't accurately portray what their real work is like.

Plus, if the studio is painting 15,000 points of models at the moment, it MAY be some time before they have time to get to yours.

Just like any contractor / client relationship, buyer beware.  However, I would compare them with Chad... I know from personal experience that he's super professional and reliable, and a pretty damn good painter as well.  You get what you pay for sometimes...