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Hello,

I would like to discuss with some members who do comissions on the possibility of them doing an army for me. I was hoping this was the correct location to post such a request, if not please let me know what threat is and I will post there.

Details of the job are basically:

110 Cadian OR Valhallan Retro/OOP metal models desired to be purchased and painted. Of the 110 total models, 3 are lieutenants, 1 is captain, 10 are meltaguns and 9 are plasma guns. Leaving 87 models as normal guardsman,

3 x hellhounds (any model type from 1995 - present)

3 x leman russ hulls (any model type from 1995 - present)

2 x 2nd edition (1995) demolisher turrets
2 x 2nd edition (1995) Leman russ battle tank turrets
1 x forge world gyphonne or stygs vanquisher turret

4 x armageddon (metal) commissars

person undertaking it would need to acquire models and paint them. I will pay - naturally

looking forward to hearing from ya'll

PS i am a SLOW replying (read multiple days) I am not meaning to be rude, its just that I am unwell and with minimum internet (3GB a month)

Mod move this thread to swap shop?

I've commission painted 40~ armies during college. You're looking at from a cheaper studio or solo artist:

$800-1200usd to acquire models
$200usd assembly
$500-1500usd to paint depending on quality

Good luck!

I'd highly recommend if you want the $3000-5000 area:

http://www.gmmstudios.net/
http://www.denofimagination.com/

or if you want sub $2000
https://www.frontlinegaming.org/paint-service/
http://www.golempaintingstudio.co.uk/
http://awakenrealms.com/commisions/

I would avoid Blue Table Painting

Try and acquire the models and hire a local guy to paint it!

Most commissions would require you to provide models beforehand if they are rare/special. Also 30-60% upfront cost or payments.

Good luck!

I think I understand why you have limited internet. It's because you're living in a cave surviving on nothing but ramen noodles eaten raw with water from a nearby stream. No mod cons apart from a steam suit-press to ensure you're properly dressed for your high-flying career in finance. It's about the only way a job like this can be funded. :-p


Levity aside, this is a massive ask for a commission place on two fronts:

First, the scale of it. The only guy I know of who can turn out armies of this size to a decent consistent standard (AND has been around as long as I'd be comfortable with) is Brandon at GMM. Some of the newer Eastern European guys certainly seem to be turning out consistently good standard big-batch jobs though, so they may be worth considering (but again, I'd look at the more established ones first).

Second, the time involved - this isn't just down to the paintwork (of which there is a lot), but the acquisition time. OOP metal guard don't come easy, never mind cheap in these sort of quantities.

For your end of things, at a rough guess, you'll be looking at between £600 and £800 in just the guardsmen and then I'd think you're looking at the best part of £5000 in work for decent standard (I wouldn't suggest wasting oldschool models that are likely to need skilled cleanup on a rough '3 colours and a dip' job.

I've no idea what the total collecting time would be - some stuff like the 2nd edition turrets are not easy to find at all, and in decent condition harder still. Months, at a guess.

This means you should ONLY look at long-term established studios / painters. Nobody that's been in the business less than 3 years should even be considered. I kinda touched on that above a bit - bit it bears repeating as you need a painter/studio that will be around for the duration of the time it takes to put a batch together, and be able to schedule the work on batches they get in.

This means your work will not be the only work that the painter/studio does while your stuff is being gathered.

The job should probably be split up because of this.

You should probably pay for each chunk that can be acquired just before the painter/studio get it - so have the cash ready for the model cost and whatever deposit / up front payment the studio requires.

You should probably wait on delivery for at least one chunk 'lead' - so the studio holds models for reference to keep things consistent. Partial delivery in chunks to Australia is likely to be safer, and spread the cost. It's a lot of metal you're talking about, and heavy packages get kicked around by couriers a lot.

Expect to wait a very, very long time to complete the list, unless you're exceptionally lucky and a large amount of what's needed can be gotten at once.

I'm not sure I'd want to take on something of this ilk again.

Good luck.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Stevefamine wrote:
Mod move this thread to swap shop?

I've commission painted 40~ armies during college. You're looking at from a cheaper studio or solo artist:

$800-1200usd to acquire models
$200usd assembly
$500-1500usd to paint depending on quality

Good luck!

Less than $15 a model (not even taking the tanks into account)? I wouldn't expect much for that.

winterdyne - great post! We guess the cost for finding the metal IG around the same.

Small studios and new commission painters make 8-10$/hr. I've painted at least 20-30 armies for the 400-600$ range + assembly in the local area until I had a small portfolio. Even my latest work only nets $10-12/hr. I can't charge more than 3-10$ / model until I have a rep.

The majority of painters would not take this job - a studio will however!

Not to get sidetracked with a topic that regularly surfaces over in the P&M forums when a new commission guy surfaces, but it's the quality that should dictate the price - unfortunately dropping the price 'to get business in the door' is a surefire way (for most) of making so little for your time or having to do so much in so little time, that the business becomes unviable.

I actually actively warn people away from anyone charging below about $10 per hour because there's no guarantee someone can survive long enough to finish a job at that rate, never mind if something more time-demanding and necessary comes along.

I was tempted to take this to PM with a bit more painter-centric advice, but as the OP is looking into getting a commission, I think the warning is fair:

Expect to pay living wage for either the location your painter is in, at least.

Ask for a working time estimate - reputable places will be able to tell you roughly how long work will take (for example it takes me about 25 hours to paint 10 guard to a decent standard, for which I charge around £250). If they can't or won't tell you, avoid them.

winterdyne wrote:
The job should probably be split up because of this.

You should probably pay for each chunk that can be acquired just before the painter/studio get it - so have the cash ready for the model cost and whatever deposit / up front payment the studio requires.

Some great information offered in this thread, but I wanted to focus on this bit specifically.

When I started commission painting my metal Praetorian guard army I did it in chunks mainly due to the acquisition lead time for OOP models. It would take months at times to obtain enough Praetorians for an addition to the army and that was hitting all the major trading sites and places like eBay. I don't know many painters who would be willing to do that leg work for you.

Since Valhallans are on your list, I'd recommend going after them instead of the metal Cadians.

GW still offers a 10-man squad for sale, which would make your overall hunt easier since you'd only have to find the HQs and special weapons along with the OOP tanks.

Good luck! The project sounds like a neat one.

Hi Guys,

Thank you all for your replies and sharing your wealth of knowledge. I have decided upon a frontline gaming studio and I have a much better idea of what to expect and what is safe to do and pay - thank you all so much

Frontline has a solid reputation! Love their work! Good luck