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Post Deleted because the users whom looked are hypocritical dopes.

Have a nice day!

I don't want to be a doubting Thomas, but don't count on making money from painting models to that standard. I'm sorry, but you're just not going to be able to compete if you intend to do this for work.

Sorry you feel that way.

I'm also sorry you had to see a negative in something I've been selling for two years.

My advice, life is like a book-

Don't like it. Don't read.

To be fair, it's the details that are missed that spring out, like the bottom of the pistol grip being plain red and the helm eyes looking unpainted to me.

I could see that level passing on a local level where most players don't paint anything at all. I don't think there would be much of a market on the wider scale.

What do you charge for that level of painting?

Oh, and you put yourself out there, don't get upset if you don't hear what you want.

I don't see a big issue in the level of the painting. I'm not an amazing painter but people have bartered with me to do their painting to a standard not far from this.

My issue is the poor photography. All you have to represent yourself over the internet is your photography, so it should be as good as possible. Spend the small amount of cash it takes to get a small lightbox or DIY one. Find a good camera that won't break the bank. Learn to use it. There is humongous body of literature about taking decent photos, not just of miniatures. Hit the library, google, whatever. Get your pictures in focus, the right depth of field, and well-lit.

If you really want to have a business doing this, do what smart business people do and invest some cash. You will make it back if you can put a good foot forward.

Can we see a reference to past costumers?

Unless the photography is hiding something, you'll have a hard time competing on Dakka.

Im going to have to agree here... a few things to consider,

1. The photography is terrible...the best miniatures can look horrible with improper shooting. Try using a soft blue background, not only will it help, but it will look professional instead of seeing all that in the background.
2. Your minis are not even based...dont throw up models until they are complete remember that you need to put your best foot forward.
3. Chaos marine looks like red, gold, silver and some army painter dip (or some variation there-of)
4. I agree, no highlights look to be present and little things like the eyes are not done...
5. Some areas of the models look "rough" like your primer was sprayed in a humid environment or it was low quality.
6. As one reader stated, you claim you have been doing this for two years....where are your customer testimonials? Im sorry, I am just not seeing two years worth of skill in these mini's from a supposed commission painter.
7. Checked your link out....dont advertise until you have some finished product to show, you have two orks up on there still bare plastic (and no I dont consider the marine or the ork here finsihed product)
8. Finally, I am going to agree with the last poster...you will have a hard time selling your service here if this is the standard you paint to. Unless you only plan on charging like a dollar a figure...people might pay that just cause they hate to paint, but your skill level as shown is not at "pro" level sorry..
9. And finally I am curious why a "pro" painter limits what armies they paint, you basically list a few ork factions and some red marines (blood angels, word bearers etc)...i dont get that...what if I want Tau...you cant paint a tau?

I only speak as somebody who would LOVE to paint models in a self-employed capacity but after a lot of research and a couple of failed ebay auctions I've come to realise that I need to get to near Golden Demon standard AND be able to replicate that in a profitable speed.

It's a REALLY hard area to break into. If I was commenting on your models in a beginners P&M blog, I'd say your painting is pretty neat but try working on those wonky chequers. If you're trying to sell them to me, I'll concentrate on the flaws. You haven't even painted the CSM's eyes...

Oh, another 'lolzors, I do commision' thread of the type I grow tired of advising on.

Bluntly, not good enough for commission work. Aim for a 6 on CMON consistently before attempting 'tabletop level' work. 7 or 8 before 'high end tabletop' (which is where the money starts being passable for the time taken to assemble/paint) and 8.5 to 9 before 'competition' (which is where the money starts being passable as a living, if you can get the volume of work in).

Commission painting is tough, because it's a balance of how much effort it takes you to paint, vs how much people are willing to pay you for it.

For one thing, I haven't seen any pricing information from the OP, but from the two examples shown above, I'd have to ask can you paint 3-4 of those an hour? Because that's the volume you'd need to be putting out in order for what I'd pay for them to be worth your time. They'd look adequate from a table top distance, but as the close up picture show, overall quality is low. Unfortunately, since those are the only pictures we've been given there's nothing else to base an evaluation on.

Payment terms are undefined, and apparently if you're not happy with the results, tough gak. That's hardly a good way for a completely unproven painter to get people interested in what he can offer.

Dude, nobody's going to buy those on the open market. Pricing at that level of quality is moot.

Want proof? Paint a squad and put it on ebay. If you're good enough, you should make money on top of the model cost. If you're not, you're burning your own money.

Donroxs wrote:
Post Deleted because the users whom looked are hypocritical dopes.

Have a nice day!

Charming fellow. In this case, the community wins.

winterdyne wrote:
Dude, nobody's going to buy those on the open market. Pricing at that level of quality is moot.

Want proof? Paint a squad and put it on ebay. If you're good enough, you should make money on top of the model cost. If you're not, you're burning your own money.

It seems he tried Ebay, but alas, they rejected him too. Even Ebay feels seven bucks for single poorly painted model isn't a bargain.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item3a75e914b0&item=251086312624&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=8OXKYjzn7nA53RgQxP81TOrLRYE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_2305wt_1344

You need to focus on the "blind gamer with no friends who can see or talk" market. It's a tough niche to break in to but I think you'd be in your element there.

Rule Number One of this website is be polite. Criticism needs to be constructive and polite. Please make sure that all comments posted meet both of these requirements.

Thanks!

I never got to see the models in the OP, but going off of that eBay item (the CSM), I echo the above in that more work is needed on your painting before you should try to sell it. If you do get to that stage, then good luck, it does sound like its a tough market to break into.

Another piece of advice: Being rude to a large segment of your potential customer base isn't good business.

Reading your site your terms of sale and quality are too harsh. It will scare off most people interested. Without pictures of work in progress if the work and it being accepted before shipment you will find that you will be out of business before you even started. Plus the two miniatures your site is not anything that will attract customers. Not trying to be harsh just honest.

I can see what happened...another painter who has bought into the whole "dip it in army painter and you are a pro" syndrom. That ebay auction is proof....looks like 2 color with a dip.

The base of that eBay Marine looks like he had a bad day after eating Taco Bell. At least the base was "done" on that one unlike the ones the OP originally had.

Donroxs wrote:
Post Deleted because the users whom looked are hypocritical dopes.

Have a nice day!

If you don't like the crowd at Dakka, you might want to try over at Frothers. A much more happy friendly crowd.

He went onto the-waaagh website bashing dakka. Here is a link to the posting:

http://www.the-waaagh.com/forums/?showtopic=52040

There's not really anything to be gained here by everybody piling on...