Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

There are so many better painting studios than BTP.


BTP charges out the ass for their lower level quality and it looks horrible. Their level 5 and over is nice, but who's higher quality, expensive stuff isn't, really?

Examples : Nukearts( dealt with him), redmodelling( dealt with him as well), golem painting studio, worthy painting, battleworthy arts, battle brush studios, next level studio, GMM studios, winterdyne commissions, Ifalna's painting studio and so many others I'm forgetting.

A painting company I currently see a lott of on the internet is WorthyPainting.
I dont know their prices but the models they produce are all shown on their facebook page and their own site, which are quite something. It also helps them that they have a golden demon winner in the team who got into the main 40k rulebook.

But this is just a suggestion to check them out and perhaps ask them for their prices and see what you think about them.

I wish you the best of luck getting the right service

Master Sheriff wrote:

Examples : Nukearts( dealt with him), redmodelling( dealt with him as well), golem painting studio, worthy painting, battleworthy arts, battle brush studios, next level studio, GMM studios, winterdyne commissions, Ifalna's painting studio and so many others I'm forgetting.

This is a great list! Thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking through their webpages right now and their galleries are really nice!

I know that there is no reason for you to know this, but do you happen to know if any of these are based in the United States or Canada (besides GMM, I know hey are Indiana)?

Btp have worked hard to get where they are, i respect that and they inspire me really.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsMAlCM7dUo

BTP customer who did an in depth review of his army

Also, the problem with almost all of the companies listed above that offer commission services are over seas for US customers and that is a real turn off because shipping our miniatures over seas is a rather large extra expense.

furbyballer wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsMAlCM7dUo

BTP customer who did an in depth review of his army

Also, the problem with almost all of the companies listed above that offer commission services are over seas for US customers and that is a real turn off because shipping our miniatures over seas is a rather large extra expense.

This youtube video is actually extremely impressive. BTP needs to hire a professional photographer immediately, or invest in a better camera.

There's still a chance that I might end up sending my minis to BTP. Does anybody have any suggestions for how I can ensure my greatest chance of getting a good paint job, and not ending up with one of the horror stories I've been hearing about?

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.

Sure,


No way are these "prime over them". Tried cleaning up a test sample with the Detol and the modellers clay, which I was unaware of, used on some of the bases turned into gloops screwing up the model I was working on. Meh, my fault regarding the clay, but bad service regarding "We sold em to you but we didn't know about their quality" and the time took to reply.

One thing I was impressed with these models was the packaging quality though. They managed to ship 40 odd models in what seemed to be brilliant packaging, more than I would have ever used.
They were cheap and this is a hobby though, just something I weren't expecting.

furbyballer wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsMAlCM7dUo

BTP customer who did an in depth review of his army

Also, the problem with almost all of the companies listed above that offer commission services are over seas for US customers and that is a real turn off because shipping our miniatures over seas is a rather large extra expense.

First thing I noticed mold lines and then the basing, sprinkled static grass...

That army looks like it goes pretty well with the plain grass of that table, Poipo32. I'm guessing that it was a client request, or even suggested by BTP as an option to save money.

Here are pics of some demons they did at Level 2.

Looks fairly awesome. Simple, with the main features of the claws and hair picked out. $3 to paint that model. Compare that anywhere else.

http://www.bluetablepainting.com/gallery_images/1218849238.jpg " border="0" />

 Tauownz wrote:
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.

sorry to quote a post from last page, but this kind of sums up my problem with BTP. <$10 per model for basic troops is an absolute crime. When i do commission work i charge about 1/3 of that, and produce work of equal or greater quality.

BTP were the first channel i started really watching and following on youtube, and i thought there stuff was great. but the moment i started painting for real, and then started doing commissions, i realised how over-priced there stuff is. Having priced up a few 1000pt armies on their site, the cheapest i could manage to calculate was $900, and that was for a tiny army.

As professional as they seem, they really don't provide the service they advertise; which is a shame, because Shawn seems like a really great guy

Most of the people I see posting disparaging remarks seem to be commission painters themselves or promoting other painters from dakka.

What about their professionalism is lacking? How fast could you respond to inquiries? Do you offer to buy secondhand models and use it as credit towards painting?

Sounds like your pricing was about right - 50 cents to a dollar per point of the army is what you can expect to pay with most armies, with most painting services. How much would you charge to paint 100 Termagants? If you said more than around $300 you're full of it. BTP gets that done with a base, highlight and shade on each of the 3 colors base on a model, if not more.

Derr wrote:

What about their professionalism is lacking? How fast could you respond to inquiries?

I don't think BTP lacks anything in the way of professionalism. These guys are top notch in terms of responding to you, organizing your order and having everything shipped back to you in a timely manner. The problem is that you are paying for professionalism and now quality painted models. Their painting is really hit or miss, and even when it hits, its hard to justify the amount that they charge. You can see where their money is going. They've got an enormous office space with tons of employees. Their fees go to their overhead. But it is their overhead which allows them to be so professional.

Yes, but he's grown into that building over 9 years of consistently providing good results. Many of the clients, myself included, are repeats because we don't feel it is hit and miss. Only hit. Overhead on a building that they renovated for the city I bet is fairly low, considering. Besides, BTP seems to bee about sustainability- growing at just the right rate to avoid problems like this.

I've yet to see anyone post anything "bad" by BTP. There is really only the "not as clear as other pics" to even assume a bad paintjob over since you can't really say "this is a mistake". Especially on levels 4+. If you paid for a level 2 tank, they warn you about mold lines and such - because they want t to look good, but need you to pay for that.

With Blue Table you're paying for the name and the reliable service. Personally I find their paintjobs to be subpar, and bordering on heinous for the price. Here are some:

Seriously, look at this:

The paint is splotchy and uneven:

Barrels aren't even drilled and that powerfist is still unpainted black primer:


They do have some good work; this looks downright good for instance:


But I generally find their work to be far inferior to most commission services. When I was doing commission work, it bummed me out that they were charging far higher prices for poorer work than I was.

Heres the thing though: Post your "level two" at full pic size like that.

Small details that jump out as "wrong" may look fine as a squad across the table, or at arms length. All of those examples are lvl 2, ecvept for the hero, which is 3. Neither level should be looked at for defects that closely.

Seriously. Take your best painted model, and shoot a pic of it from all angles and post it. Defects aplenty, I assure you.

You can't pay for lvl 2 work, the quickest, cheapest lvl 2 anywhere to be found, and expect it to be flawless under a microscope. Level 4s and 5s can, but the person those minis belong to did not pay for that.

PRICE is going to be the same for any paint studio. Low budget = low quality. At least with BTP low budget does not ALSO mean that it takes 4 months.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Edit - that ork is a "5", and so... looks great up close!

I charged half their "level two" price for this a few years back:



I've posted pictures of my best painted models and I'm aware that extremely blown up photos will bring out any and all flaws there are in the mini. The thing is - those pictures aren't even at full size! Their images are downright puny. I'll give them credit that they can paint stuff quickly though, and while I'm fast I was just one guy doing the commissions thing.

Well, I can tell you why you're no longer selling those at $1.50.

Because that is a an insane return for your time spent painting.

I do see some faults with your blown up models though, no offense meant. Mold line on the heavy bolter ammo belt, etc. Models look great, but at that close, nobody is perfect unless they spend an insane amount of time on it. like 700 hours+ for a whole army. When will you do it? Slowly, bit by bit? Or will you leverage a team of 20 painters to have it done within the week? That second option is not widely available, unless you're BTP.

Just saying, they do some really great work on models for the time you pay for. Standard is about $10 =an hour of work= about 3 models just cranked out. $20 gets you double time on those same 3 or 6 done just basic.

It's what you'd pay a local game shop commission guy, internet forum guy, or neighbor kid to do in his free time over the next few months, but why not just invest the money and have it done right?

No offense taken! They're far from my best paintjobs, and the low rates are why I'm out of the commissions biz - people expect a whole lot for nothing at all!

So isn't there something to be said for that? For being around almost ten years?

Isn't that just inherently more trustworthy than a 16 year old in another country who has some spare time between classes to paint your models? Also, have to admit that 6000 completed projects is impressive.
How many armies or portions of armies did you paint when you did commissions?

Edit: If you're like me, that number is like 20.

The OP might want to check this out!
Apologies if you've already seen it...

Pooo, those are mostly unverified or inactive Dakka users. If they are verified, or stlll active on the site, what recourse do you really have for getting your models back if they end up being a fly-by-night kind of operation? If you send them to a minor that lives overseas(there are three that I noticed on the list) , do you know what INTERPOL will tell you? They will make condescending crying gestures as they make no attempt to hide the fact that they are laughing at you.

Sending something inside your own country is a great idea for many, many reasons.

Every trade has one critical moment. The moment right before you pay, before you send the package, before the deal is done. If you at all during that moment think "well this is a pretty big risk, where I can't recover anything from it" don't do that deal. Don't send $1500 packages to people you met online, who other people online said were cool. Just..dont. Don't do that.

I know I'd trust BTP with my models, even if I was just sending them in to say "appraise these and give me store credit".. Because I know if he says an amount that I don't ike, I can say no with no real penalties. If BTP paints an army, they take pics of it when they're done and send them to you. If you don't like it, they'll work with you to repaint it. They can do a pretty amazing job on color matching previous work, as well.

The recourse you have is the actions of the MODs here on dakka. I have seen many of the transaction reports for the scam deals that have happened (and they do happen everywhere, not just dakka), and most people got their stuff/money back because of the weight of several people hassling the scammer over the course of weeks. there are many people who know the exact legal action that you can take, and at least one of them will always pipe up and help out when a problem does occur.

And while i am one of those overseas 'minors', i still make the best effort to get people to trust me, because people such as yourself see us as scams waiting to happen. I even have to sell myself short to get clients because of the bad wrap people under the age of 18 get when it comes to commissions. but if the law tells me i am responsible enough to raise a family, you can be sure i will be responsible when it comes to your models that you are paying me to paint.

BTP has fantastic customer care, i can't deny that. but the actual quality of the service they are providing leaves a lot to be desired. As shown by the pictures shown earlier, their low level paintjobs are aweful at their worst, and mediocre at their very best. Even when charging full price to people who trust me, i can beat their rates, quality, and usually their turnaround time.

IMHO their great people doing a great service, just it costs a little too much for what you get (I guess they do it MUCH faster for the same quality though, so there is that)

Some of their work is alright I guess, a few around that could be said about.
But, the thing about trusting companies around as long as them and almost instantly dismissing companies that haven't is simply that if no one bothered to take that chance with them in the first place they wouldn't be around to appear more trustworthy later.

The level two daemonette above looks like it'd take maybe 5 minutes a model at most. Something to aim for for lower levels I suppose and go by bulk rather than quality. One of the things they do have going for them is the seeming lack of an obnoxious watermark. Sure you should let everyone know who painted it for advertising, but the ones that draw away from the model and seem to take almost a quarter of the image just detract more often. Make it catchy, but remember you still want to show off the model.

Oh, I'm not instantly dismissing any new up and comers or anything like that.
Far from it - different people have different styles of painting and sometimes the boutique feel that those models have is something really special.

BTP is trying to set an industry standard though. If you look at a lot of their models, you will notice a constant uniform quality to the armies. They follow a pretty rigid pattern of base, highlights and wash over all three of the colors used, so nine paint steps total. Just like you can look at a brown foam gaming table with green flock and instantly recognize it as a classic industry standard, BTP wants to do that with models.

I'm not sure that I follow you WAAAGH. Mods are not police, and cannot force anyone to pay. Liam Neeson is not going to help find your models. Peer pressure to do the right thing is kind of a really terrible insurance policy. Thieves are kind of unscrupulous and not caring of what you think, and if they take any kind of "you're going to have to find me and take them" stance, you're kind of boned. Especially internationally, and especially with minors like yourself. Oh, kids. < That's what the police would tell me, not my thoughts. I respect your tenacity and go getter spirit.

Not_me, you make an excellent point about the watermark. I think a reason for this is that they've put so much work into developing their style. You can definitely tell that a model is painted by BTP.

Interesting thread. I do enjoy their YouTube videos, although I doubt I'll do any business with them, or any commission painter, as I enjoy the painting myself. I am considering trading some stuff I don't want for other trade stock, but depends on the deal I could get from him.

The pics on their site do suck though, and it's hard to really see exactly what you would be getting. That's pretty big money for a full army...the price of a fast brand new gaming PC, quality tools, a mountain bike etc. sucks to hear about the bits, since that guy presumably had them buy all the kits and build and paint them for him. I'd want every last bit, myself.

Derr wrote:
I'm not sure that I follow you WAAAGH. Mods are not police, and cannot force anyone to pay. Liam Neeson is not going to help find your models. Peer pressure to do the right thing is kind of a really terrible insurance policy. Thieves are kind of unscrupulous and not caring of what you think, and if they take any kind of "you're going to have to find me and take them" stance, you're kind of boned. Especially internationally, and especially with minors like yourself. Oh, kids. < That's what the police would tell me, not my thoughts. I respect your tenacity and go getter spirit.

You are right, the mods aren't police, however they do tend to know their way around the law, and how to make sure you do get your stuff back. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good considering how many people would simply say "you should have been more careful"

As for your point about minors, it tends to be just as easy, if not easier to deal with them, due to the fact that they are under the authority of their parents. It's just as easy to find out the email address of someone's parents as it is to find out their address if you contact the authorities. Any parent in that situation would be pretty quick about forcing their kid to give back everything they stole, along with a little bit more if you are lucky (even if that is just the satisfaction of hearing what their punishment was).

This is their level three "Wargamer Standard".
Daaaaaaang. That is well above what I could do at this price.

10,000 points painted in ten days.
Whaaaaaaat? I dare you to find anyone else that comes close.

Comes with explanation of what you get at that level, with suggestions to improve to a higher level? In HD?
Ok, What more do you want?

wow I never knew their quality was so low. I was charging $10 a model for character commissions.

None of those models are even based.. Even if it's only sand and green flock, every BTP model at least gets that love.

I'm not sure I'd pay $10 for any of those models except the first one.