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Does anybody have any experience with this painting service? They aren't the cheapest by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems that they are very professional/reliable. I'm wondering how good the quality is. To be honest, the pictures on their website are so low resolution that it's very hard to tell what their products look like. Also, a lot of their models look very... splotchy or pasty or chalky - but it's hard to tell because their pictures are very very low res.

http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_image.php?imgID=125903

They've got some videos on youtube, and some of the models they use in their videos look... not so impressive. The Ultramarines in this video are apparently for sale, but they look like they just went over them with a can of blue spray paint basically:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO9UACXR0RY&feature=relmfu

I kinda get the feeling that they pump out so many models that they might not really be paying attention to what they are doing. They have these different "levels" of painting, and I think that the standard level is level 3. For most of my models, I'd be getting them painted at a 3.

Can I get any opinions from people on this forum about BTP?

They are a great company doing great things for the game and the industry but they fill a niche. If you have the money and not the time they will do good work for you. Good not great. They have some really good youtube videos where they go over exactly what you would get at the different levels of painting. If you go back maybe 3 weeks of videos you will find them.

BTW, most of those models, the ultra marine models, were traded to BTP and they touched them up a little bit and then put them up for sale.

furbyballer wrote:
BTW, most of those models, the ultra marine models, were traded to BTP and they touched them up a little bit and then put them up for sale.

Thank you, this is very good info to know.


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furbyballer wrote:
If you have the money and not the time they will do good work for you. Good not great.

Can you recommend any services around the same price range that you would consider great? heh heh. I'm looking for a painting service that I can get into a long term business relationship with and constantly have models being painted for years to come. I'm not looking for somebody who just started because they might not be in the business in a year. Also, I'm not looking for anybody who is doing this part-time and might not be able to paint for 9 months when life gets in the way.

They're pretty good actually. I've used them a couple of times for level 3 work, and have 2 of their level 5s that I'm very happy with.

What you're paying for with BlueTablePainting really is all about service. They respond quickly to any inquiries about assembling and painting your minis, and will even buy them for you. They've got fast turnaround time (I think the shortest?) due to multiple people working on your project at a time on well organized painting recipes picked out by you.

You can pay extra for insane levels of detail, but if you need volume painted fast, BTP can definitely bring consistency to the table to tie units together at various levels of scrutiny. Many other companies have "levels" of painting, BTP also adds "levels" of scrutiny - that is, how close a model can be looked at before you notice defects in the paintjob. Thier Level 2 is a basic tabletop 3 color Tabletop quality mini and costs about $3 per mini if you have 60 done.

As with everything else, you'll get what you pay for if you want to up the levels of detail applied.

All in all, I'd say a good company and a safe bet.

Derr wrote:

What you're paying for with BlueTablePainting really is all about service. They respond quickly to any inquiries about assembling and painting your minis, and will even buy them for you. They've got fast turnaround time (I think the shortest?) due to multiple people working on your project at a time on well organized painting recipes picked out by you.

Yeah I can already tell that they are extremely professional and well run, which honestly is the biggest selling point for me.

Can anybody recommend any other alternatives that I might wanna consider? Also, I'd rather deal with somebody in America just due to shipping (which rules out a few amazing companies in the UK.

let me offer this, READ their entire site. sure they can paint, and they do it quickly. But you do pay Alot. Thier low level grunts are not that good at all, and yes i have seen them, repainted them in person. I have a friend who paid them 1900$ to get his entire army done up and is in a mess as the painter left mid army, the next kid came in and nothing matches now (long story) Over all it is your money and do as you wish with it. I have my opinion of them but it is my own, Alot of their policies i do not like at all, but again that's me. Just my 2 cents is all.

Your local game store might be able to help you. Sometimes there are local reputable painters, usually also workers in the store, who just sit around painting all day.

BTP also posts videos of their painting atmosphere, which is like a game store. Many people use it as painting background noise and if so are subjected to subliminal messaging to buy the limited edition BTP measuring device. Basically, they've got their game/business model down pretty hardcore, which fills me with confidence about their ability to take care of my minis.

 Arrathon wrote:
let me offer this, READ their entire site. sure they can paint, and they do it quickly. But you do pay Alot. Thier low level grunts are not that good at all, and yes i have seen them, repainted them in person. I have a friend who paid them 1900$ to get his entire army done up and is in a mess as the painter left mid army, the next kid came in and nothing matches now (long story) Over all it is your money and do as you wish with it. I have my opinion of them but it is my own, Alot of their policies i do not like at all, but again that's me. Just my 2 cents is all.

Sigh. who else should I be considering?

And in terms of hiring a local... I just get the feeling I might end up finding somebody who is far less than professional, doing it in his spare time and taking a year and a half to finish a squad.

Derr wrote:
Your local game store might be able to help you. Sometimes there are local reputable painters, usually also workers in the store, who just sit around painting all day. .

This.. I am one of the local only commission painters, ask around..i guarentee you'll find one..who possibly has better prices/quality then BTP.

Possibly.

Not 6000 projects completed though, or anywhere near the same speed. because of the sheer amount of manhours that they can crank into a project.

You may be good, you may be fast, but you're not ten people working 8 hours a day fast/ attentive to detail.

Derr wrote:
They're pretty good actually. I've used them a couple of times for level 3 work, and have 2 of their level 5s that I'm very happy with.

Pics please.

 CT GAMER wrote:

Derr wrote:
They're pretty good actually. I've used them a couple of times for level 3 work, and have 2 of their level 5s that I'm very happy with.

Pics please.

Yea, maybe you could link us to the a gallery on their site that has your pics of your minis.

The only problem is that the pics on their site are such low resolution....

bowloflostcells wrote:

 CT GAMER wrote:

Derr wrote:
They're pretty good actually. I've used them a couple of times for level 3 work, and have 2 of their level 5s that I'm very happy with.

Pics please.

Yea, maybe you could link us to the a gallery on their site that has your pics of your minis.

The only problem is that the pics on their site are such low resolution....

One of the resons I have never used BTP is all their own pics and so forth are not good and everythign seems so elusive and hard to pinpoint as far as quality/prices/etc.


What I want to see are customer pics of actual BTP painted models with a description of what level they are and what was payed to have them painted.

I don't have pics of my buddies models, But i can offer this small tidbit. The Blood angel army he had them do was a mech army. The tanks were bland airbrushing, without painting the bottom of the tanks, nor the back sides of the weapons (sides that would be hidden from sight) The basic troops were horrible The yellow heads were GOOPED with what looked like a blob of yellow paint that was washed with Sephia afterwards. I will give them this, The 2 hq's they did were top notch, very beautiful models. but everything else, that he paid 1900$ for..was horrible, My small time painting service here in town (just me, not even close to BTP amount of painters) with my lowest quality versus their lowest 10 to 1 any day. The worse part of this whole thing, my buddy had to send the entire army back into them, because they painted the army 2 different schemes, So they took his models and are selling them, buying new ones and redoing it all over again. And he hasn't heard from them in Weeks.

Again..my opinion of them is from seeing thier work in hand, knowing what he paid for it, reading their policies and seeing this muck up. Everyone's experience is different overall. I just wish to warn the OP about small possibilities of what could happen. If you have a large pool of cash for this commission painting, i would recommend GMM studios..lord does that guy do beautiful work.


http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_gallery.php?galleryID=5510 Found my bud's army on their gallery (hope he doesn't get pissed at me for posting this lol)

 CT GAMER wrote:


One of the resons I have never used BTP is all their own pics and so forth are not good and everythign seems so elusive and hard to pinpoint as far as quality/prices/etc.


What I want to see are customer pics of actual BTP painted models with a description of what level they are and what was payed to have them painted.

Well to be fair, it is hard to pinpoint a price unless you can specify to them exactly what you want painted and how much you want to spend on customizations.

But yeah, the pictures on their site are not impressive. There are a ton of very low res pictures that are impossible to slog through. The pictures are all taken with a very very short depth of focus, so one model is sorta in focus and the others around it are just blurs. The model that is in focus can't really be studied because it's so low res and pixelated.

If anybody has any pictures of work that they received from BTP, please please please post them up here. Also, tell us what "level" they were painted at.



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 Arrathon wrote:

http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_gallery.php?galleryID=5510 Found my bud's army on their gallery (hope he doesn't get pissed at me for posting this lol)

See what I mean about blurry pics where nearly everything is out of focus? I can't help but feel like they are hiding something....



I can almost tell that some of the models, esp the ones with the yellow helmets, were painted by somebody else. It kinda blows me away that they had such a hard time matching their own paint job.

Oh btw, I checked out GMM studios Their stuff is stunning. Is it much more expensive than BTP?

Thier blurry on purpose i assure you. Those Marines with yellow heads are atrocious! There is so so much paint gouped on them.. We've all just stopped talking about it at the shop cause it upsets my friend. Don't like to rub salt into his open wounds ya know. Also, BTP will keep everything you send them..that you do not literally say Hey i want that back (bits and such) Also..god forbid something happen, and you need that down payment back.. Wont happen.. AND they keep your models.

As far as GMM studios, i would suggest contacting him for sure i think he might be around the same price i am not sure. Also one more commission painter whom is well known that does insane work is Nuclerasuar here on dakka (i might have his name spelt wrong) he is a god with OSL painting.

GMM, IE Brandon Palmer does some of the very best work in the commission business. However, his waiting list is very long but his prices are comparable to BTP but at a much higher and consistent quality.

As for Nuke Arts (nucleosaur) he does great work as well but if you are in the states it sucks to send your army over seas. The shipping alone is killer and adds an even longer wait time for your finished product.

 Arrathon wrote:
. Also one more commission painter whom is well known that does insane work is Nuclerasuar here on dakka (i might have his name spelt wrong) he is a god with OSL painting.

holy crap......

nuclealosaur's facebook............

It sucks that he's overseas, but if he has a good rep on dakka then a lot of my qualms are alleviated. Honestly, there are no pictures on BTP that look as good as his. None.


This:Blue Table Salamander Land Raider



Or This: Nuclealosaur DA Land Raider

Nuclealosaur DA Rhino



Wow, Nuclealosaur and GMM are in a different league than BTP honestly:

GMM Salamander Rhino

I am in possession of the eldar on BTP site listed as craftworkd korriban, the one with the Jedi style jetbikes. BTP is completely a mixed bag, very professional, very good building quality, great availability of options, but you pay out the nose for anything above basic level. Also the guy I bought that army from paid around 2500$ to have tem buy/build/paint everything, and as said above, he received 0 bits from all 3k points worth of them(incl. 6 waveserpents) not even all the guns, he only got BL,star cannons and shrunken cannons. No lasers or missiles!! Level 3 is not worth it IMO, it literally is one main color, 2 highlight colors and a major wash. Now, they level 5 models, the converted autarch and farseer holding double ended lightsabers and the avatar are just plain amazing. Great detail, and conversion on the bikes. Basically having extensive work done is worth it , basic stuff is not at all.

They did a birthday baneblade for me. Magnetized all weapons and a fantastic Steel Legion scheme on the tank and threw in the commander assembled and painted. They pride themselves on communication but I think it could have been a little better. They didn't contact me when they received the tank (I shipped), they didn't really contact me to tell me it was done, just sent an invoice. But I am satisfied and will consider them in the future for something that might need to be done.

There ya go:

http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_gallery.php?galleryID=5471

 Zygrot24 wrote:
They did a birthday baneblade for me. Magnetized all weapons and a fantastic Steel Legion scheme on the tank and threw in the commander assembled and painted. They pride themselves on communication but I think it could have been a little better. They didn't contact me when they received the tank (I shipped), they didn't really contact me to tell me it was done, just sent an invoice. But I am satisfied and will consider them in the future for something that might need to be done.

There ya go:

http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_gallery.php?galleryID=5471

That tank looks really great. What level was that?

bowloflostcells wrote:
That tank looks really great. What level was that?

I honestly don't remember. I believe it was level 4. I know it wasn't 3.

@ bowloflostcells: If you're going to compare those three vehicles, we need a price tag for how much each would cost.... s&h included...

Nuke arts has great painting, but would be more of a boutique thing probably. That salamanders land raider, has highlights on the paint dents... clearly a lot of fiddly time was spent on it. The GMM paintjobs, for what I assume is intermediate level, is pretty simple airbrushing + sponge and not on par with Nuke arts, but what is the cost?

 Zygrot24 wrote:

I honestly don't remember. I believe it was level 4. I know it wasn't 3.

Would you be willing to share how much you spent? Was it just the forgeworld tank and the commander?

 Meade wrote:
@ bowloflostcells: If you're going to compare those three vehicles, we need a price tag for how much each would cost.... s&h included...

Nuke arts has great painting, but would be more of a boutique thing probably. That salamanders land raider, has highlights on the paint dents... clearly a lot of fiddly time was spent on it. The GMM paintjobs, for what I assume is intermediate level, is pretty simple airbrushing + sponge and not on par with Nuke arts, but what is the cost?

Yeah I would love to compare the cost!

I don't know how much S&H is, but labor Nuke arts labor costs is actually much much much cheaper than BTP.

The only thing I'm saying is that I don't see anything in BTP galleries that even compare to the pictures from GMM and Nuke.

I'm not trying to bash BTP here, I'm legitimately trying to find the best place to send my minis.

They have so much stuff up, it's hard to find, but I think this army is better than GMM's tank posted there and at least the lower level Nuke Arts stuff. Nuke Arts... also that guy really knows how to photograph a miniature which seems to be something BTP has yet to master.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZhoYk9L6uE

I guess it depends what you are after with a commission. I would have a good look around other companies' websites and email them for quotes and make sure you know what quality you are getting and for how much!

From what I've seen BTP can do some good work, but I'm not sure I like their policies. I was watching their Terrorgheist video on YouTube...the artist was clearly excited to show off his work and explain what he did. Every time he tried to name paint colors, the camera guy would awkwardly cut him off. They are very secretive which has turned me off.

I've used BTP three times, once a couple years ago for some Tau xv9 suits, they did up my salamanders last year, and recently they finished off about 60 or so marines for my Blood Ravens army. They get a little pricey for tanks and things that size but for standard troops like marines it's a little under ten dollars a model for level 3 which is plenty good. Their turn around for my marines was about 3-4 weeks but it was a lot of models. You can go to their site and check all their projects they completed for the past few years. They require roughly 50% down and the other 50% upon completion. Shipping was fast and packaged well. I spoke to James when I dealt with them and he was beyond helpful. I'd highly recommend them.

For my baneblade, assembled (plastic GW kit), magnetized and painted I spent about $300. That's upgraded paint level, btw. I felt I got my money's worth because the tank is beautiful and the magnetization is top knotch.

 Meade wrote:
They have so much stuff up, it's hard to find, but I think this army is better than GMM's tank posted there and at least the lower level Nuke Arts stuff. Nuke Arts... also that guy really knows how to photograph a miniature which seems to be something BTP has yet to master.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZhoYk9L6uE

These are not bad but they are not characteristic of 95% of the stuff they have up in their gallery.

It seems the words "hit or miss" really describe BTP's work. You're playing the lottery. You spend over a $1000 on the models, the assembly and the painting, and you pray that they might come back looking like the 5% that they end up making videos with. Most of the time your models get sent through their assembly line and come out looking mediocre at best. At worst you're gonna have to fight them for a refund.

I've pretty much decided against blue table painting, but has anybody written a review on their work? If there are any good reviews up it might help me change my mind.