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didnt saxon have an actual space marine biker on the cover of one of their albums? think the music industry nowadays needs more dakka/grimdark...

I am still looking for this 2 hour you tube tutorial that can tell me how to paint almost as good as Winterdyne !

It's a Bob Ross impressionist saying 'practice for 20 years'. On loop. For two hours. True*.




*: may not actually be true.

Edit: Joke aside, it's not rocket science, but it does take practice. There's no shortcut for persistence.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

moodster95 wrote:
didnt saxon have an actual space marine biker on the cover of one of their albums? think the music industry nowadays needs more dakka/grimdark...

Yeah, it was an alternate cover art for 'Forever Free'.

Being a amateur painter means I'm never going to paint for commission at any point in my life. Painting miniatures is my adult coloring book and it allows me to get into my happy place after horrible days at work. I absolutely respect and admire those who do paint for a commission, especially since most of them have amazing talent and dedication to their craft. However I will judge two things very negatively on the professionalism of the commissioned painter:

1. Being realistic with their abilities both in terms of timetable and talent/commitment to complete the commission. There are reasonable expectations for being a little late on a project but to be that overdue is ridiculous.

2. Being offended by comments(I would say facts) about the timeliness of the project and how long it took. If they told you it would be done within two months and it was well over a year they either don't know what they're doing or they took you for granted and decided to focus their attention and energy on other projects at the expense of your commission. Sounds like you should have voiced those facts a little earlier.

I've used a variety of commission painters over the years, from big companies to local dudes.

My experience, the price OP paid for that model is pretty damn fair. The timeliness, yeah that's a total bust. I've never had a project go longer then 3 months, and that was for several dozen models. I'd never go back to the guy.

But quality of work, he more then got his moneys worth.

winterdyne wrote:
It's a Bob Ross impressionist saying 'practice for 20 years'. On loop. For two hours. True*.




*: may not actually be true.

Edit: Joke aside, it's not rocket science, but it does take practice. There's no shortcut for persistence.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

moodster95 wrote:
didnt saxon have an actual space marine biker on the cover of one of their albums? think the music industry nowadays needs more dakka/grimdark...

Yeah, it was an alternate cover art for 'Forever Free'.

Cool! I've always wanted to learn how to paint happy little trees!

I really do not understand folks that think that everyone should always paint their own minis, and that spending the money is never worth it.

Personally, I will never spend the money that I would need to spend to have Winterdyne do one of his best paint jobs on one of my miniatures.

But, and this is important, I will also never spend the money to buy a Lamborghini. (Heck, my wife is trying to talk me into buying a used PT Cruiser, and is having a hard time of it. But then she only taught me to drive last year - owning a car is not high on my list of priorities.)

My own paint jobs are, well, not Fords or Chevies, but maybe Volvos or Cadillacs. ::

When people hire me to paint, they are not hiring me to produce a Golden Daemon winner - they are hiring me to paint better or faster than they can.

Looking at the OP's model... I would say that the biggest problem isn't the money or the quality - it is how long it took. He paid Chevy prices, and got a Chevy paint job.

The painter should have either turned down the job because they did not have the time or made some time to paint.

Or even returned the model with a partial paint job and a refund when it became obvious that they were not going to finish in a timely fashion.

My good lady wife is an artist - and there have been years where I have made more money painting toy soldiers than she has off of actual paintings - because peole look at how much it will cost, and either try to argue her down to lower than minimum wage, or decide that having Aunt Sally take a photo is good enough after all. (Or, worse, she will complete the painting, and then they will try to argue her down from the agreed upon price - 'cause what is she gonna do. sell it to somebody else?

The answer is 'No, I'll paint over it and use the canvas for something else. Odds are, I can still use the background and put somebody else's face over your ugly mug'.

Mind you, she said this to me, not the patron, and only when the ugly mug in question was no longer in the room. Which is how her grandfather ended up getting a painting last Christmas.

The Auld Grump

Ahh yeah thats the one, think it was a UK exclusive album cover, so cool!

Gotta say, firstly for this OP paint job I'd have charged maybe £15-20.

It is a WEAK job done of an AMAZING model. I'd have enjoyed every minute of painting such a cool conversion.


Secondly... the timescale?

JESUS! I spent nearly 10 years working full time as a commission painter and never had a project overstretch by more than a couple of weeks. That was for projects of up to a couple hundred models. Over a year late for a single model?

Little known fact, worth bearing in mind;
In the UK, unless agreed up front, you are not allowed to take payment for something you cannot deliver within 30 days.

Oh Jesus. My moron sense is tingling.

PossumCraft wrote:
Gotta say, firstly for this OP paint job I'd have charged maybe £15-20.

It is a WEAK job done of an AMAZING model. I'd have enjoyed every minute of painting such a cool conversion.


Secondly... the timescale?

JESUS! I spent nearly 10 years working full time as a commission painter and never had a project overstretch by more than a couple of weeks. That was for projects of up to a couple hundred models. Over a year late for a single model?

So assuming a minimum wage of £8 per hour you're putting this at a 2 - 2.5 hour job. Don't be an idiot. Yes, the OP's job took a stupidly, inappropriately long time to turnaround. Still looks like more than a couple of hours work though.

Little known fact, worth bearing in mind;
In the UK, unless agreed up front, you are not allowed to take payment for something you cannot deliver within 30 days.

Current law specifies a 'reasonable length of time' is appropriate for services, typically with a term specified in the contract. There's no reference to a 30 day limit that I can find in the 2015 Consumer Rights Act. Source?

Sorry, but I think you're talking bollocks here.

I appreciate the comments and feedback. Special thanks to the commission artists who have commented. While I am able to paint (to table top at least), it's not a relaxing thing for me. So I don't mind paying for a quality paint job on center piece models.

My warlord painter did not respond to my texts. Will have to check around to see if they are still active. Sorry guys and gals, all I can confirm on the warlord is what I was charged for its paint job and that it was completed on its due date.

He probably couldnt afford to keep his phoneline with rates like that.