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 TrojanArt Painting wrote:

BTP posted this in the Kickstarter comments 4 hours ago:

"We had some old employees go onto a lot of forums and say some pretty negative stuff, which hampered the momentum a lot. We have actually increased 1-4 pledgers every day, but a lot of the people who had high pledges in the 1-3,000 range have switched down. We would have passed our goal long ago if everything had stayed, but it just means we'll need to find more people! We'll just have to see what happens!"

I guess he does not think that people will bother to go to kicktraq.com and look for themselves. Check it out. The stats are very detailed and do not reflect what he said.

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/751320573/blue-table-paintings-turbo-army-kickstarter/#chart-daily

Shawn's latest video, "Positive Note," is painful to watch, but I just cannot bring myself to unsubscribe and miss the remainder of this train wreck.

Yeah, I noticed that. Shawn is outright lying about the Kickstarter backers, they have been between 97 and 99 for at least a week.

That $2000 drop yesterday looks painful.

Either way, it's somewhat rude to be cheering the stumbling of a Kickstarter. That's the point of crowd-funding. If there is no interest, then this is a very low-cost way of finding out.

 Absolutionis wrote:
That $2000 drop yesterday looks painful.

Either way, it's somewhat rude to be cheering the stumbling of a Kickstarter. That's the point of crowd-funding. If there is no interest, then this is a very low-cost way of finding out.

The guy steps all over his employees and solo painters in order to get a leg up, all the while spouting how great he is.

Well, we've got a peek now and I for one am not going to ignore the man behind the curtain.

He has caused me harm in more ways than one and I am not going to apologize for not turning the other cheek.

And by train wreck I was not referring to the Kickstarter.

Ok so perusing through all of the thread... which I really did not want to - I now come up to this. ]

I sent out two models that I wanted painted for Christmas (two D&D models (reaper mini's) that my wife and I used in the first D&D game we have ever played) to BTP. Now I got a little higher level of a paint job because I am scratchbuilding a scenery background for the two models (using the extra bases as spots where they would go) to build this really cute scene of our first encounter together.

Now what I got out of this thread was two things

1) Shawn is cheery but unlikable and has a dark side
2) the paint job?

The problem is that you guys have spent to much time arguing about Shawn and not enough about the paint job. So my question to you all would be this SIMPLE question:

If I payed for a higher level service for those two miniatures (lets say for arguments sake level 5-6), will they come out well or have I wasted my money? By the way I recently sent out the package, so an immediate response would be best as then I can figure out whether to cancel the order or not.

 TrojanArt Painting wrote:

BTP posted this in the Kickstarter comments 4 hours ago:

"We had some old employees go onto a lot of forums and say some pretty negative stuff, which hampered the momentum a lot. We have actually increased 1-4 pledgers every day, but a lot of the people who had high pledges in the 1-3,000 range have switched down. We would have passed our goal long ago if everything had stayed, but it just means we'll need to find more people! We'll just have to see what happens!"

You notice he said "negative stuff" NOT "untrue" or lies.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

fidel wrote:
Ok so perusing through all of the thread... which I really did not want to - I now come up to this. ]

I sent out two models that I wanted painted for Christmas (two D&D models (reaper mini's) that my wife and I used in the first D&D game we have ever played) to BTP. Now I got a little higher level of a paint job because I am scratchbuilding a scenery background for the two models (using the extra bases as spots where they would go) to build this really cute scene of our first encounter together.

Now what I got out of this thread was two things

1) Shawn is cheery but unlikable and has a dark side
2) the paint job?

The problem is that you guys have spent to much time arguing about Shawn and not enough about the paint job. So my question to you all would be this SIMPLE question:

If I payed for a higher level service for those two miniatures (lets say for arguments sake level 5-6), will they come out well or have I wasted my money? By the way I recently sent out the package, so an immediate response would be best as then I can figure out whether to cancel the order or not.

If you paid for a lvl 6, they will probably come out OK, though they don't have the painting talent they had a few months ago. Keep in mind, the artists are only getting paid less than 30% of your cost, at $11 an hour.
IMPORTANT!: If the pics are bad, request better ones. If you're not happy with the paint jobs, COMPLAIN! Shawn will normally do what it takes to make you happy, EXCEPT refund your money. He has a personal policy to NEVER return money.

fidel wrote:
Ok so perusing through all of the thread... which I really did not want to - I now come up to this. ]

I sent out two models that I wanted painted for Christmas (two D&D models (reaper mini's) that my wife and I used in the first D&D game we have ever played) to BTP. Now I got a little higher level of a paint job because I am scratchbuilding a scenery background for the two models (using the extra bases as spots where they would go) to build this really cute scene of our first encounter together.

Now what I got out of this thread was two things

1) Shawn is cheery but unlikable and has a dark side
2) the paint job?

The problem is that you guys have spent to much time arguing about Shawn and not enough about the paint job. So my question to you all would be this SIMPLE question:

If I payed for a higher level service for those two miniatures (lets say for arguments sake level 5-6), will they come out well or have I wasted my money? By the way I recently sent out the package, so an immediate response would be best as then I can figure out whether to cancel the order or not.

In my opinion you would've been better off sending them to other painting services who will give you equal or better quality for a fraction of the price BTP's asking. As a consumer, you have better options. But I'm hazarding a guess that your minis will turn out fine, it's just that you can achieve it for a cheaper price.

fidel wrote:
If I payed for a higher level service for those two miniatures (lets say for arguments sake level 5-6), will they come out well or have I wasted my money? By the way I recently sent out the package, so an immediate response would be best as then I can figure out whether to cancel the order or not.

I have not commented specifically about BTP's painting quality because so much depends on to whom the figures are assigned. They have also had alot of turnover, so chances are not as good as they were six months ago that your figures will be painted by an experienced, talented painter.

I also have not commented specifically about quality because it is hard to do so without seeming to pick on the painters, which I do not want to do. They are young and inexperienced and that is that and not their fault.

I can tell you this, however. I am going to say that for Reaper foot figures that you supplied - so no charge for figures or assembly - at painting level 5/6 you probably paid about $35 each. At that price the artist gets 1/3 or say $12 and gets paid $11/hour. So they can only spend about one hour on each figure.

I think you can determine, if those numbers are close, what your miniatures will end up looking like.

I can tell you that if I only had one hour to spend on a Reaper miniature, of which I have painted hundreds, they would end up looking like I spent an hour on them . . . like crap, in other words.

Those are the facts as I know them.

Hope that helps.

Renfro wrote:

 TrojanArt Painting wrote:

BTP posted this in the Kickstarter comments 4 hours ago:

"We had some old employees go onto a lot of forums and say some pretty negative stuff, which hampered the momentum a lot. We have actually increased 1-4 pledgers every day, but a lot of the people who had high pledges in the 1-3,000 range have switched down. We would have passed our goal long ago if everything had stayed, but it just means we'll need to find more people! We'll just have to see what happens!"

You notice he said "negative stuff" NOT "untrue" or lies.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

fidel wrote:
Ok so perusing through all of the thread... which I really did not want to - I now come up to this. ]

I sent out two models that I wanted painted for Christmas (two D&D models (reaper mini's) that my wife and I used in the first D&D game we have ever played) to BTP. Now I got a little higher level of a paint job because I am scratchbuilding a scenery background for the two models (using the extra bases as spots where they would go) to build this really cute scene of our first encounter together.

Now what I got out of this thread was two things

1) Shawn is cheery but unlikable and has a dark side
2) the paint job?

The problem is that you guys have spent to much time arguing about Shawn and not enough about the paint job. So my question to you all would be this SIMPLE question:

If I payed for a higher level service for those two miniatures (lets say for arguments sake level 5-6), will they come out well or have I wasted my money? By the way I recently sent out the package, so an immediate response would be best as then I can figure out whether to cancel the order or not.

If you paid for a lvl 6, they will probably come out OK, though they don't have the painting talent they had a few months ago. Keep in mind, the artists are only getting paid less than 30% of your cost, at $11 an hour.
IMPORTANT!: If the pics are bad, request better ones. If you're not happy with the paint jobs, COMPLAIN! Shawn will normally do what it takes to make you happy, EXCEPT refund your money. He has a personal policy to NEVER return money.

Ok now you see that worries me. Since this gift is supposed to be a personal gift between me and her. At level 6 I would be hoping that they would be... exactly what a level 6 out of 7 levels would be - character display model that would be great to look at and be an awesome little display for the home commemorating a really cool date we had (some of ya'll have noooooo idea how hard it was to make a non-geek to go to a D&D thing).

So I am left with a dilemma:

1) If more people respond to my question above I will have them paint it, as level 6 should be a level 6.
2) I send an email as quickly as possible telling him to resend my package immediately when he receives it and cancel the commission. Please respond quickly as I sent it out yesterday

Tell Shawn to mail them to me and I will paint them for free!

 TrojanArt Painting wrote:

fidel wrote:
If I payed for a higher level service for those two miniatures (lets say for arguments sake level 5-6), will they come out well or have I wasted my money? By the way I recently sent out the package, so an immediate response would be best as then I can figure out whether to cancel the order or not.

I have not commented specifically about BTP's painting quality because so much depends on to whom the figures are assigned. They have also had alot of turnover, so chances are not as good as they were six months ago that your figures will be painted by an experienced, talented painter.

I also have not commented specifically about quality because it is hard to do so without seeming to pick on the painters, which I do not want to do. They are young and inexperienced and that is that and not their fault.

I can tell you this, however. I am going to say that for Reaper foot figures that you supplied - so no charge for figures or assembly - at painting level 5/6 you probably paid about $35 each. At that price the artist gets 1/3 or say $12 and gets paid $11/hour. So they can only spend about one hour on each figure.

I think you can determine, if those numbers are close, what your miniatures will end up looking like.

I can tell you that if I only had one hour to spend on a Reaper miniature, of which I have painted hundreds, they would end up looking like I spent an hour on them . . . like crap, in other words.

Those are the facts as I know them.

Hope that helps.

Before I send the email - I would like to hear a bit more from people who have had their figures painted on a higher level from BTP. Thank you though for your input as it does shed light into some of the - worries - I have the commission.

I will update on my project. As it goes though now I am somewhat peeved the gift will not be ready for christmas as I originally hoped. Nuke Arts seems like a great commission artist so I will see if I can get in contact with him if this commission does not go through.

So... please if people can chime in about the PAINT JOBS on the higher level miniatures so I can finalize my decision. Thank you.

fidel wrote:


Ok now you see that worries me. Since this gift is supposed to be a personal gift between me and her. At level 6 I would be hoping that they would be... exactly what a level 6 out of 7 levels would be - character display model that would be great to look at and be an awesome little display for the home commemorating a really cool date we had (some of ya'll have noooooo idea how hard it was to make a non-geek to go to a D&D thing).

So I am left with a dilemma:

1) If more people respond to my question above I will have them paint it, as level 6 should be a level 6.
2) I send an email as quickly as possible telling him to resend my package immediately when he receives it and cancel the commission. Please respond quickly as I sent it out yesterday

I would recommend option 2, since this project is so important to you. If Shawn refuses to refund your money at this point I'm sure we'd all be very interested to hear about it.

Renfro wrote:

fidel wrote:


Ok now you see that worries me. Since this gift is supposed to be a personal gift between me and her. At level 6 I would be hoping that they would be... exactly what a level 6 out of 7 levels would be - character display model that would be great to look at and be an awesome little display for the home commemorating a really cool date we had (some of ya'll have noooooo idea how hard it was to make a non-geek to go to a D&D thing).

So I am left with a dilemma:

1) If more people respond to my question above I will have them paint it, as level 6 should be a level 6.
2) I send an email as quickly as possible telling him to resend my package immediately when he receives it and cancel the commission. Please respond quickly as I sent it out yesterday

I would recommend option 2, since this project is so important to you. If Shawn refuses to refund your money at this point I'm sure we'd all be very interested to hear about it.

Welp email sent. It went something like this:

Hello Shawn,

My name is [redacted], and I am emailing you to indicate that I am canceling my commission that involved the Reaper Miniatures. I sent out the package yesterday, however, being that you have not received it, I am giving you notice that the package/commission will be cancelled. Upon arrival of package, please resend back to the return address [redacted]. I would also like to be notified on the arrival date of said package, and date that package will be returned.

Thank you and enjoy your week,

[redacted]



I would like to at least express gratitude on you Dakkites part of at least saving me the trouble and stress of losing/not having something done to my satisfaction on something that means a lot to me. I will keep you updated.

I guess this gift will have to wait sadly. I primarily wanted Ilfana to do it (I LOVE her work), but NukeArts seems to be a very good commissioner as well. If anyone can give me a short blurb on either of those two commissioners it would be much appreciated. Hell, maybe I still have time to have it as a christmas present if I explain my story and they fall in love with it... sympathy/romanticism points?

This was a lvl 7 done as an example to the other artists by the best artist at BTP a few months ago. I would not expect near that lvl now. That should give you some idea of what to expect.
http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_image.php?imgID=117759

Wait... and lvl 7 costs how much?

and irrelevant to the above

 LunaHound wrote:
Wait... and lvl 7 costs how much?

and irrelevant to the above

Not sure on current price, they pulled the online spreadsheets, but it would have been over $50. The artist would have made around $16.

Edit: I'm not being constructive so I'm just going to leave it and go to bed. Fidel, just saw what you wrote now. I wish I could help out but I am totally booked till new year :( If I took them on for you I would end up making other people wait or not be able to get them done in time so I have to try and be logical about it :( Nuke is freaking awesome though, deffo worth contacting them.

Night night.

Part of me just want to point and laugh at how Shawn suffers from Delusion of Grandeur, but half of me felt bad for the painters that slaved for him.

Im confused in how to feel at the moment >.<

 Ifalna wrote:

Renfro wrote:

 LunaHound wrote:
Wait... and lvl 7 costs how much?

and irrelevant to the above

Not sure on current price, they pulled the online spreadsheets, but it would have been over $50. The artist would have made around $16.

Oh come on. Come on. Jesus I am slow to anger but this kind of thing really enrages me.

That fig isn't even to what I consider tabletop standard. Yes yes, they put a fancy glow effect with a quick airbrush spray but thats only to try and mask the fact that the mini itself has no highlights, no blending, no contrast, no blacklining, and has been coloured with some drybrushing. That's fine for a €3 fig. I wouldn't even charge €3 for that or I would feel like I was ripping off the customer.

God I am so angry. I've never gotten angry on Dakka before.

Time to make myself "famous" and start charging $50 for gak.

Sorry to piss ya off, but those are the facts. Oh, no airbrush was used though, BTP doesn't use airbrushes except on a rare occasion by customer request.

There are no airbrush used Ifalna, that is brought to you by the magic of.... blurry photography ( still to be determined whether it comes with the how to paint DVD combo )

Most noticeably the dark red area by the power generator on sword, just before the blur, and the tip of the sword, more blurr, but still noticeable )

Eagle Eyes xD

 LunaHound wrote:
There are no airbrush used Ifalna, that is brought to you by the magic of.... blurry photography ( still to be determined whether it comes with the how to paint DVD combo )

Most noticeably the dark red area by the power generator on sword, just before the blur, and the tip of the sword, more blurr, but still noticeable )

Eagle Eyes xD

Hey Luna, are you an ex or current BTP employee? Sorry if I missed it elsewhere.

Renfro wrote:

 LunaHound wrote:
There are no airbrush used Ifalna, that is brought to you by the magic of.... blurry photography ( still to be determined whether it comes with the how to paint DVD combo )

Most noticeably the dark red area by the power generator on sword, just before the blur, and the tip of the sword, more blurr, but still noticeable )

Eagle Eyes xD

Hey Luna, are you an ex or current BTP employee? Sorry if I missed it elsewhere.

No! Im owned by no one... ok other than who I owe credit card payment to ;_;

Im just so tired of people asking me to commission , and when I ask them to provide visual samples, they show me BTP.
Which is actually good for me... higher price for lower quality.

But honestly, even I feel bad accepting that type of payment

I noticed a copyright so I removed the image.

Thanks Trojan. ah I see the top role now

Ifalna, you already are famous.

 TrojanArt Painting wrote:


Tell Shawn to mail them to me and I will paint them for free!

This is one of the coolest things I have ever read.

Renfro wrote:
This was a lvl 7 done as an example to the other artists by the best artist at BTP a few months ago. I would not expect near that lvl now. That should give you some idea of what to expect.
http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_image.php?imgID=117759

Maybe it's just me, but the weapon looks .. strange. It's like parts of the model are in focus, and the weapon isn't in focus? It seems fuzzy to me.

They did that on purpose, as they mentioned and the subsequent raging showed.

 Iron Dragon wrote:

Renfro wrote:
This was a lvl 7 done as an example to the other artists by the best artist at BTP a few months ago. I would not expect near that lvl now. That should give you some idea of what to expect.
http://www.bluetablepainting.com/view_image.php?imgID=117759

Maybe it's just me, but the weapon looks .. strange. It's like parts of the model are in focus, and the weapon isn't in focus? It seems fuzzy to me.

You mean the miniature equivalent of a beer goggle?

Yep xD

Yikes.

Reminds me of a used car salesman who casually leans against a car while trying to sell it to customer. Of course, he's leaning on the part of the car that has a big dent or scratch, to hide it. Hehe.

 LunaHound wrote:

You mean the miniature equivalent of a beer goggle?

Yep xD

uhh... beer goggles have other effects... notably on the opposite sex.