For a while now I have really wanted to get my minitures painted so that they would really come to life. Unfortunatly I don't have the materials or the artistic skill to do this without huge fear of completely messing them up. That said, I am wondering if there is anyone out there (or knows of anyone) that does thing as a hobby and would be willing to paint some up for me or others for a small fee? Any insight would be appreciated.
Painting Minis
I don't paint minis... no skill at it either. But it is a long delicate process to do, and nobody' is going to do it for a small fee. Average cost on commissions I've seen ranges from 40 to 100 USD on an human sized figure in a casting size equal to or smaller than Talisman figures. You may have already found some sites on line... here are few from fast search... other people here may have better ones.
www.stormthecastle.com/miniatures/painting-miniatures.htm
Yeah, custom work is usually expensive.
I never painted minis before and I completed the entire line of Talisman figs over the summer, including the reaper and Dungeon expansions. I started with what I considered the easier figs and worked my way to the more elaborate ones. It's funny the way you could see my skill improving as I went along. In the end, I was happy with the results.
I say, take the plunge and try to do them yourself. You will save money, appreciate them more, and will have the skill to use on future expansions and other games, not to mention, it's fun!
I think my girlfriend got me Frostmarch for Christmas so, looks like I will be busting out the paints again this winter.
You should show off your work here. Others have, and it might inspire more people to take the plunge and be more artsy.
BLUEMOONMINIATURES.COM,my friend!
In my experience painting miniatures is not half as hard as a lot of people think it is. Try a few single minis from some random game first to get the hang of it if you're really worried about results, but once you get into it, it's a breeze. The first few minis I ever painted are still comparable to my best work so far. In fact I've been considering slacking a bit (just a bit!) on the quality in order to improve time spent on the process in order that I might actually ever get done. =P
Base coating, basic colour sense and drybrushing are the only three skills I've bothered to master (I've experimented with inkwashing but generally don't like the results) and my friends are always telling me how impressive my figs look. So don't go out and spend an arm and a leg on someone else's custom work - just buy a few basic colours, a brush and a test fig and dive in yourself! I think you'll love it. You'll save money and have the satisfaction of a job well done.
Edit: flocking the bases is a whole other process though, and one which I've never bothered looking into. If you want to flock your bases (like the guy in the other painting thread did) then you might have a bit more work ahead of you.