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Hey guys, I just recently finished vocational school. I graduated from IT courses, got my A+ certification and my diploma. I've been having a hard time finding a job, I actually got an email back from a company that posted an entry level position that said I didn't have enough experience. I'm thinking of falling back on the only thing I can do really well other than computer work, and that's painting minis.

So, I want to ask Dakka what their thoughts are on armies that would most likely sell when fully painted. I'm guessing Space Marines and Orks, I'm not certain on Fantasy armies, though.

To the Space Marine players: What is the typical load-out for a Captain with power armor as far as wargear is concerned? How many marines fit in a drop pod?

That's all, and thanks to anyone that replies.

I think you need to start marketing yourself and seeing what interest there is in your product. Are you going to go Ebay, your own store, your FLGS, people you already know are asking?

Before you jump into this and start buying new marines I'd say you do some research to figure out your target market. That and see what the people are asking for, not what are the most popular.

A little research will take you a long, long way I think. Post some pictures of your stuff here and on other forums too.

Right now I don't have a camera to take pictures. I have a friend that does, it's just the trouble of getting in touch with him. Before long I will have pictures to post, but until then I'm working on painting up my O&G army to sell on Ebay. I have to sell the things I have first to get the money to actually start painting Marines.

If you don't have a camera and take good pictures, you will *not* make money selling painted minis or painting minis. That said, painting minis is not going to pay rent until you get a solid customer base, with your own commerical website and such. Painting minis is a nice supplement, but shouldn't be your income.

Based on your actual training and A+ certification, you should be looking for a Novice IT position or even tie into an IT network like OnForce. This won't pay much, but it's better than painting and will get you the necessary experience to eventually land a better position.

It seems you didn't read much of the initial post. I've been putting in resumes since I got out of class two months ago, I have had no luck as of yet and I have no money at all, right now I'm looking for something that I can get to bring in some, any, money and all I have to fall back on is painting. I may not have a camera, but I do have a friend that is a professional photographer, he will be more than happy to take pictures of the things I paint. I really wish you would have read the thread before posting.

My decision to do this doesn't mean I'm going to stop looking for an IT job, right now I just need some sort of income.

Oh, I read your initial post, and I completely get that you're getting totally screwed by the economy.

I'm just telling you that minis painting won't do you as much good as you might think. You would probably do better with shift work, because at least it'd be somewhat steady.

If experience really is what your recruiters are saying (and I don't doubt that at all), can you get even an unpaid internship through your vocational school?

Sorry, dude.

I've been putting in 30 resumes a day for 2 months and I've gotten a total of 4 callbacks and no interviews so far. I have 14 years of relevant work experience and my degree. I can't even get entry level jobs. Just keep trying.

And if you have a friend who'll take pictures for you, you have a start. Just see what people are looking for... Hell, start taking bids and just be a painter for hire. Then you won't be putting in any money of your own. For you that might be the best way unless, like you said, you already have a ton of stuff to work on.

Currently I have an O&G army, a Wood Elf army, a 40k Ork army and a 40k Chaos army I can paint. I'm hoping these will sell, which is why I was asking the questions I had posted. Would really like an answer on those.

I honestly think that you ask people what they want individually. The market is flooded with orks and marines and you'd be competing with very established guys. And because they're so common you wouldn't be able to get much for them either I think. Start slapping the paint on the chaos and wood elves though. They seem to be relatively popular. Just remember that on ebay you're shortchanging yourself and, like John said, would probably end up being in a much more profitable position if you worked shifts for a temp agency.

That's the biggest problem, there are absolutely no jobs around here. The temp agencies haven't even given me a call back.

I know it's something you probably don't want to consider (as it isn't something I'd want to consider), but have you thought about moving to the next town? Maybe not on a permanent basis, but just to get by?

The surrounding cities are the places I've been looking for jobs, I live in a small town on the Northern border of TN that doesn't offer anything other than fast food jobs. The area I'm looking in is East TN around Knoxville and Oak Ridge. There's absolutely nothing here.

man burna, i'm in about the same area, and your right, there is squat around here

And that's the reason I want to get off of the subject of finding myself a job and would like to get my actual questions answered instead. There's yet to be any input on my actual questions.

you could perhaps advertise your service at the hobbytown in johnson city, they have a big gaming night, and i've met a lot of people in that area what can't/won't paint things themselves

That's a little too far South for me, you're probably going to ETSU, since you're down there. I was thinking about going to the one in Turkey Creek to try that out.

I think it really depends on your painting skills. If you're an exceptionally above average painter, you can probably concentrate on cranking out typically command/hero figures that everyone can use. If you're an average painter, then you'll be relegated to painting units, which gets tougher because people will want armies to blend together, though Guard and Orks may care less.

I was planning on doing mostly HQ/Hero/Lord models until I made some sort of a name for myself, then go on to small units, like marine squads with rhinos/drop pods, which is why I wanted to know the typical load-out of a captain and how many marines could fit in a pod.

12 figures can fit into a drop pod. For typical load outs, visit the army list forums. Other pieces you could work on would be commissars and regimental advisors (don't necessarily need to fit into an army scheme and lots of people need them, ratling snipers, techmarines, inquisitor retinues, Ork specialists, Deffkoptas, etc. How are you at vehicles, probably a high level of demand for Valkyries.

The only vehicles I've painted thus far are Eldar tanks, I only got the top part of a Wave Serpent finished before I sold off the army for need of cash. However, due to a stroke of luck it seems I'm about to get my old Eldar army back in trade for my chaos marine army (Great trade-off, the chaos is around 1750 points, the Eldar are around 2500). So I'll probably be painting them up first.