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Who would you recommend for army painting services?

I need a few armies from different systems finished/ started, and haven't really in the past ever considered using a painting service.

Long story short- What are we looking at for quality, a decent price, and a serious work ethic with consistancy.


Pros and cons for the company, and Please don't badmouth anyone. ( You can steer me clear, but for the sake of the conversation, please keep your vitrol to a minimum, partially because I'd like a good discussion on this subject, and secondly, because I don't need a three page argument between different companies services about how great they are. My issue is too many minis, too little time.)

thanks in advance.

Blue Table Painting is one to steer clear of given recent discussions, mostly due to inconsistency of work for the high price they charge.

I'd look to someone locally first. Talk to your FLGS they might know a few in town that are good.

http://i.imgur.com/NrhKa.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/UvSN2.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EFAyv.jpg

Feel free to check out some of my stuff. So far Ive always been painting for max quality but id also like to start offering a faster more economical option.

I would like to endorse CMS Painting (Chris Sheats).. he is an advertiser on BT and a poster here on Dakka..

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/487144.page

He has done several projects for me for different systems, and has provided frequent updates and photos, and worked with me on fiddly details.

Plus, his price was very reasonable.

-Porkuslime

From what I've read some of the problems folk get from bigger comissions is the work being spread around multiple painters in a studio (especially better than TT quality)

You see the samples done by one painter (who's work looks great, maybe better than you expected), but not all involved in the project manage to reach the same standard (even if they do reach the benchmark for the service you pay for)

so it can pay to accept slower turn around but ask to stick with a single painter, or do things a unit at a time where you'll probably get a single painter anyway

Check out your local area for highschool kids looking to make a buck, most of the early armies I painted were for 200-300$ for something I would charge 600-800$ for now

I'm open to work some work. What do you have in mind?
Check my Gallery here on Dakka to get a sense of my work.

GardenNinja (odinsgrandson on Dakka) is skilled, having won a number of painting competitions and has a turn around as promised. I've used him before and will again.
Like CMSheats above, he's a Bartertown advertiser and Dakka member.

There is also GMMStudios. He's a former advertiser and member here. His reputation as a painter speaks for itself. He does have QUITE the waiting list, however, and only does whole armies, IIRC.

Personally, though it's been a number of years, I've used Blue Table Painting and I was happy with the quality of work they delivered.
They even magnetized a larger model that I was leaving in pieces just because they thought it needed it to stay together better when assembled - at no fee. They have a fast turn around and professional demeanor.
They, too, are a trusted Bartertown Advertiser.

Eric

I don't envy your position Grot. I've been looking for a commission painter for a very long time. The biggest issue for me was reliability folowed by a compromise on quality, cost and turnaround. Obviously, the better jobs cost more and take longer than barely table top...

For some reason, the studios/ painters that really stick out to me are on the other side of the pond, which is another issue altogether...

Garden Ninja- I don't know how to explain his style, but it's different from what you regularly see and I like it. He posts pretty regularly here and has some examples of returning customers (Praetorian IG).

GMM- The Emporer of Airbrush (not a bad thing). This guy cranks out armies like some people do individual minis. Numbers of minis don't phase him. He's got some examples of sigificantly large armies posted here. His personal armies have taken best painted or players choice at Adepticon the past few years. I've contacted him in the past and decided not to use him because of a long ass wait list.

Golem Studios- UK based- I like their stuff alot. I love the way they do white. See their PH World Eaters... I'll be contacting them in the new years for a few squads. I think this studio has been commissioned to do paint for game companies as well.

Winterdyne- UK based- My all-time favorite. My money's where my mouth is on this one as I've set up a commission with him and sent the deposit. Time is the only factor as it won't be done for a long long long time... Not sure if that's down to project que or level of detail, but I don't care because his team is that good.

Does spiralingcadaver do commissions? I remember loving some of his work...

I am a small time commissioner that mainly does it for fun so I dont charge a lot. If you, or any one, is interested in seeing some of my work just shoot me a PM. I mainly do 40k but have done some fantasy and am more than willing to do any system.

Id help you out but I'm booked through next August my personal recommendation would be GMM as stated the wait is long but worth it. I do have a list of a few demon winning friends who take commissions at decent rates if you want. Just PM me if you would like.

Yes, SpiralingCadaver is also a painter who I have had a small commission done by, and enjoyed his work.

And, yes.. he ALSO is a Barterown Advertiser..

It may sound like MM and I are throwing that around a lot, but, all these guys we do have experience with and have verifiable track records..

we are not just shilling for these guys..

Don't overlook BTP. Their communication is excellent, and they take smaller commissions then most other painters I'm aware of. They also tend to be reasonably negotiable on pricing. Having said that, I've drooled over GMM's work for years. If time is not much of an object he would be an excellent choice.

I run a painting studio too:

www.lazuli-miniatures.com

We do put multiple painters on one project, but the result is always consistent (look up our 40,000 point Necron Army which 8 of us worked on).

If our style isn't what you prefer there is always Blue Table Painting, Painted Figs, Nuke Arts, and Worthy Painting.

You might wanna give BlackDog Painting Studio a gander...It's my baby, and it's growing, fast. I've recently added airbrushing to my list of skills, so that's managed to cut way down on turnaround.
Plus, if I say so myself, for the quality you get, I charge the least. And I offer themed monthly discounts as well...

Check me out on Facebook > http://www.facebook.com/BlackDogPaintingStudio
And my website > http://blackdogpaintingstudio.webs.com/

Alternately, I'd recommend Grey Matter Musings. It's by far and above the best place to go for stunningly done, bright and eyecatching models. The prices are pretty steep, though, about double what I charge.

_Tim?

 Chronepsis wrote:
Golem Studios- UK based- I like their stuff alot. I love the way they do white. See their PH World Eaters... I'll be contacting them in the new years for a few squads. I think this studio has been commissioned to do paint for game companies as well.

Golem work with Mantic at the very least.

Is that who's offering their painting as a KS pledge?

I think Mantic may have offered work by Golem as a KS level. Thinking about it, Sedition Wars may have also offered some Golem-painted sets.

I think they may have been involved with Dropzone Commander as well, but I'm not certain about that.

So far, so good.

Keep them coming, I'm getting the stuff ready to go for the work, seeing as I have a few metric gak tons of miniatures that I am going through and getting ready for thier futures.

My first and foremost is going to be some trolls for the Merc faction of Warmachine. Boomhowler and company. THEN the rest of the trolls, based on what comes next. My stuff wont be going out for another month or so, seeing as work and the undertaking of going through my collections is rather extensive.

Spring cleaning is coming early this year, and based on my aquisitions I am like it or not probibly getting into the sales/ trades line of the hobby.

I have been getting several PM's. Please keep them coming, but if you could please send along a pic or two of the work you do.

Thanks again, in advance.

Another piece of advice Grot, figure out exactlywhat you want, the quality you want, how fast you want it back and how much you're willing to pay. They all impact each other.

Another issue I've come across is that prices posted on websites are "out of date". I've gotten many quotes that were over $500 more than what was listed. Everytime I asked why, "price increase".

As always, the devil's in the details. Make sure you explicitly detail what you want and get a price on it.

Maybe if you're doing different armies, you can hire different painters for each army depending on their style and the quality you want. It might save you a lot of time since not only one person will do everything, while it keeps consistency.

 Chronepsis wrote:
Another piece of advice Grot, figure out exactlywhat you want, the quality you want, how fast you want it back and how much you're willing to pay. They all impact each other.

Another issue I've come across is that prices posted on websites are "out of date". I've gotten many quotes that were over $500 more than what was listed. Everytime I asked why, "price increase".

As always, the devil's in the details. Make sure you explicitly detail what you want and get a price on it.

Just to let you in on a little industry secret (shh, don't tell! ) prices quoted on commission websites are subject to the complexity of the model and the paintjob requested. Say someone has it on their site that they'll charge $10 to paint a Terminator to tabletop level. Well, if you ask them to paint, say, a complicated and insanely intricate Terminator such as a Space Wolf Terminator, they'll have to charge you more in compensate for the extra time spent on the model. It's just madness to charge the same amount of money it would cost to paint a vanilla SM Termi (taking about 2 hours) to paint a SW Termi (taking about 4-5 hours).

Anyways, most commission painters paint at or near a loss as-is.

_Tim?

Thanks for the inside scoop, but it doesn't apply to my experiences. I completely understand the difference between models and why some would be more expensive then others.

Unfortunately, you're talking about something else. Another example for your comment could be resin bases that require a paint job too. Much more time consuming then some flock... I get it and don't begrudge anyone expecting compensation for their time and supplies.

As an example of what I'm talking about, getting a baseline for a squad off the website, adding in cost for cleaning, assembly and drilling as needed. My calculation is X and the quote is Y, Y being $50 more than X. That adds up considerably over an army. Saying the price difference is due to rates going up/ charges not updated on website, is completely different to saying charges are increased for complex minis.

This is why I put that all pricing on my site is estimates. I can accurately give a quote without knowing what exactly the customer wants. This should be way most commission painters work. There is a problem if a painter can give a fixed price no matter what miniature is being painted. To most solo painters updating a website tends to be something to do if there is spare time.

Before trying to get a estimate the potential client needs to have a paint scheme in mind, what type of time frame they want the commission done in, and how much they are willing to spend. The more details the client can give the better the results will be when the project is completed.

Finally if you have a commission painter that has given you want don't switch unless you have to. Nothing is a larger pain for a commission painter then to try and copy a paint style/scheme of another painter.