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"Sadly, I find I have more money than time."
i wish i had that problem!

take another job....and 35 models well you must have some time to paint them, you could have painted 2 in the time you wrote this message

actually not. It takes me on average 7-8 hours for every mini I paint. I know this because I used to paint professionally for a short time, before I got burnt out.

When you assembly line paint, you need to know exactly how long it takes to remove flash, primer drying time, etc...

Head over to "Cool mini or not". Check the minis you like and youll find plenty of professional painters. But you propably allready know the site do you?

Hellfury is too busy raising furious hell to do something as sedate as "painting minis."

Now if "painting minis" were a euphemism, he'd have plenty of time to do it.

Why not ask around at your local store?

http://Paintedfigs.com is the Sri-lanka based company that has a few members on this board.

Their prices are incredibly affordable and their quality seems tolerable (I mean that in the nicest possible way).

Check 'em out.

 

Outsourced painting? Neat!

Thats the problem Malf. My local store consists of me as the best area painter. Anybody else here is quite laughable to be brutally honest. the only other person I would consider is a lawyer buddy of mine in Great falls, but he has a full plate of commissions already.

Not to blow my own horn but, I have been told by many people in this state that I am the best painter, or one of the best painters this state has to offer. But then again, this state has less than a million people in total population too...

That said, I cant abide by the outsourced painted figs.com. I saw thier stuff, and to be brutally honest, they over charge for what they produce, even if the price is good. If I wanted that, I think I will just give my minis to the kids here to struggle over. I know I sound like a paint snob, but when you know what goes into doing a good job you cannot abide for less. the truth is the truth.

I am searching all over the net for people, and they are either full with commissions or charge $600 for ten painted figs, whose paint jobs arent worthy of the price. I am sorry Tom Schadle, you may have more golden demons than any other person alive but your work is not worth the price, dude. I would easily pay the price if I thought it was worth it.

I hate this. If I could buy time, I would. Thats all I need. (spoken like a man about to die of cancer or something...lol)

You would think that money talks in these situations (situations of someone with cash to burn on quality work), but gods be damned if they dont want it.

"$600 for ten painted figs, I am sorry Tom Schadle, you may have more golden demons than any other person alive but your work is not worth the price, dude. "

Dude? If he takes 6 hours each, that's 60 hours of work, so 10 $ an hour. Say he only needs 3h per model, that's still only 20 bucks an hour for one of the best American painters.

So you're making a bid deal about you having more money than time and then you think 10-20$ bucks an hour is too big a salary for very rare level of skills. How did you ever get more money than time?

Well said, migsula. In Hellfury's defence, paying someone to paint your minis is like paying someone to cuddle your wife; any price seems too much.

The root of problem is that most of the market simply cannot bear the high costs of painting. This is a sad problem for both patrons and painters alike.

As Migsula pointed out, Schadle may well be paying himself as little as $10 an hour -- and he has to use that fee to pay for his materials too. it is a sad, sad, world we live in if a master mini painter is only good for $10 an hour, less expenses.

I thought about posting earlier but I figured pretty quick this was a "I-need-a-high-end-painter-sort" thread, not a "I-need-a-whole-army-painted-affordably" thread (and so I didn't spam my two cents worth until I became a topic of discussion ).

To address the need of a good painter -- I'm a fan of Jakob Nielsen, and our very own Migsula. Migsula, My staff have been following your Necromunda updates by the way, and they think you're a god .

Hellfury, have you a target budget in mind? Bartertown.com has a pretty competitive painting service board, you could try posting there and see who comes forward. I'd suggest posting your budget for the job -- that way anyone who will paint 35 minis for that rate, will come forward, and anyone who won't, will not.

Good luck searching,

Navin

that's still only 20 bucks an hour for one of the best American painters.

Thats avery subjective opinion, of which I dont share. I do admit he is a good painter, just not my style or flavor. Hence, why I remark that I dont believe his painting is worth as much as he asks. I am very sure others feel that he is very much worth it, and a steal at that price though.

No problem though, as I have found someone to finally do the job. he charges $85 for each model, but from the quality he portrays, I feel that he is worth every penny and a steal at that price.

In other words, if I am going to pay for models to be painted, I want to feel that I like the style and am comfortable with what he is doing.

And Migsula, I get more money than time by being thoughtfully discerning about quality. Not by accepting just because so-and-so has so-and-so awards, he MUST be good. If such were the case, then you wouldnt be considered a good painter or modeller, which most obviously, isnt true in the least.

Posted By pnweerar on 04/11/2006 5:52 AM

The root of problem is that most of the market simply cannot bear the high costs of painting. This is a sad problem for both patrons and painters alike.

As Migsula pointed out, Schadle may well be paying himself as little as $10 an hour -- and he has to use that fee to pay for his materials too. it is a sad, sad, world we live in if a master mini painter is only good for $10 an hour, less expenses.

I thought about posting earlier but I figured pretty quick this was a "I-need-a-high-end-painter-sort" thread, not a "I-need-a-whole-army-painted-affordably" thread (and so I didn't spam my two cents worth until I became a topic of discussion ).

To address the need of a good painter -- I'm a fan of Jakob Nielsen, and our very own Migsula. Migsula, My staff have been following your Necromunda updates by the way, and they think you're a god .

Hellfury, have you a target budget in mind? Bartertown.com has a pretty competitive painting service board, you could try posting there and see who comes forward. I'd suggest posting your budget for the job -- that way anyone who will paint 35 minis for that rate, will come forward, and anyone who won't, will not.

Good luck searching,

Navin

You have it nailed on the head. The market is in a sad state for both commisioners and commissionees. Thats why 5th paradox paint studios isnt open any longer. people arent willing to pay for the quality they want. As a pretty damned good painter, I am intimately aware of this and pay for what the job is worth.

Worth is always subjective.

I don't like the style of any profilic American painter to be honest. That doesn't mean I rate their cost/value the same as you average MickeyD's employee. Worth can be subjective, but some common sense on the skill factor/price never goes amiss.

Wow, that's 2.5k Hellfury. Nice problems you got!

You have a problem also because the painters price themselves out so that
they don't get mired in work, I'm guessing. By making their prices premium
they can get to stuff that they want.

I think your right, Malf. From all the searcging I have done, I have found tht most are busy with the incoming GD seasons that they wont even bother with you, unless you really make it worth their time.

just to add my 2 cents on this topic. As someone like hellfury who admits to having more money than time i exclusively commission both armies and display pieces. I'm also picky so I only work with Golden Demon winners whose style i really like and this is where I agree with Hellfury as well -- some of the winners, as acclaimed as they are just dont cut it for me in style and quality. While others I think are amazing and i work with them But to make this worth their while it is a very expensive proposition because they either have other jobs or in some cases because this is their sole source of income they are charging upwards of $175 to $200 a mini for a basic trooper and over $1000 for a commission piece they are taking to a GD. So at those prices I have to love it and they have to be inspired. So far I have been more than pleased with the commissions i have. I use 4 different winners for different armies and the rapport with these individuals have actually made me enjoy the hobby even more. But i have been burned. As you can tell i dont mention names, but i will say one person asked for money upfront which i did based on her reputation, took more money after showing me one picture and never sent me anything. A real horror story so beware. Check the reputation thoroughly and just dont go by the fact that they won a GD or worked at GW. And some are more proffessional than others (one person consistenly invoices me on time and knocks out quality work on a timely basis). Others are more creative and will take a year to do one piece...but when they do it...its really worth it.

he charges $85 for each model, but from the quality he portrays, I feel that he is worth every penny and a steal at that price.

Wow... and to think there is even starving children in our world when there is so much wealth.

Hope they look nice.

I Struggled with the idea of a prof. painting service too (same situation, 50-60hrs a week working & 1 kid soon to be 2 kids + wife = me painting from 9pm until midnight and waking up at 5:30am every day)

I spent a while looking around too and it pretty much seems like you are SOL if you want really good quality painting (up to your own quality) and cheap prices. I found this site along the way: http://www.deep-strike.com.previewyoursite.com/

Which has pretty decent pricing for the quality.

I am not as much of a painting snob as you (no insult intended) so I have decided to half @$$ it and use spray paint, I spray on my first base color (rust-oleum works well if you use a few light coats) Then do my secondary color (black) then ink, drybrush, and detail.

My first 12 firewarriors and 10 gun drones took me about 2 hours not including assembly (which was about the same time)

I figure if I line up enough mini's to prime/basecoat I can get it down to about 5 min per model after assembly. Of course the quality is not what you are looking for.

"Not to blow my own horn but, I have been told by many people in this state that I am the best painter, or one of the best painters this state has to offer. But then again, this state has less than a million people in total population too..."

dude, blow that horn! you're one in a million!
one thing to remember, the more you do it, the easier it'll become.
assembly and painting.

There are other factors to consider when painting for a living.  $10 per hour is actually pretty nice when you realize that you don't have a boss and can listen to music and get drunk at work.  Plus, with all these tax preparation services flooding television with ways you can get work deductions, imagine how much money you would save by claiming GW products on your taxes!

If I had the talent and creative energy to not burn out, I would easily prefer to paint at $10 an hour than work in a lab for $18 an hour like I do now.  Tip:  Don't give the cute mice names, no one may have told you this, but they're probably going to be killed soon.. by you.

- Oaka

Thanks for the recommendation Yak...I'm glad Navin (Pneewer) jumped in on this...saves me the trouble as he and I are the board-members of which you spoke.

Thanks for the mention.

Never name the farm animals Oaka.

And never dress up the miniatures like members of your family. It
all goes south from there.