Hey all quick question. I a new painter but have been painting IA since about 6 months after release. I have improved i think and enjoy it and want a way to support a Legion habit that i will be investing in as well. I have painted everything except the last wave that i currently working on. I snapped a few pics of some older and more recent models tell me what you guys think.

First thought is if someone wanted me to do a core box i would want one in exchange.

Or is this quality worth more?

Wave expansions might be a bit different more like a 1.5 to one. So if someone wanted 2 blisters painted i would get 3 meaning they buy 5.

Thanks all

I think most painting services charge X per model, and that depends on the model type. Basic troops are less than HQ/Leader types. Vehicles are more and so on.

But based on your pictures, I'd guess you could charge $2 or maybe more per troop model. So a core set worth of painted models would be $56, with another $20 or so for the speeders, AT-RT, Luke and Vader. So 80ish for a painted core set.

Are you saying you would trade a painted set or expansion for an unpainted one? Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

VanorDM's price suggestion seem a bit low to me. Look at what sets or individual painted figures go for on ebay and you can match those prices or price them lower if you think they'd sell better by doing so.

Your painting skills are very good, so you should do really well!

2 minutes ago, Force Majeure said:

Are you saying you would trade a painted set or expansion for an unpainted one? Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

I think that was his idea. Someone buys two core sets and he paints one and sends it to that person, but keeps the other one. So he's paying for his by painting yours.

2 minutes ago, Force Majeure said:

VanorDM's price suggestion seem a bit low to me.

I was intentionally low balling it, because I paint myself and so I can't really judge what the value of a painted mini is very well

The general rule of thumb for nonprofessional level commision work is the retail cost of the models in question for tabletop quality.

A Core Set is generally priced lower to get people intetested so I'd say to get a painter to do the Legion Core for you would cost north of $120 due the number of models and the various poses and different models.

Just now, ScottieATF said:

The general rule of thumb for nonprofessional level commision work is the retail cost of the models in question for tabletop quality.

So, as someone who'd actually consider getting paid to paint... If a pack of 7 Stormtroopers cost $20, you'd charge $20 for the painting service?

7 minutes ago, VanorDM said:

So, as someone who'd actually consider getting paid to paint... If a pack of 7 Stormtroopers cost $20, you'd charge $20 for the painting service?

That's roughly what I'd pay for basic tabletop quality, yeah. Any better than that and it goes to being based on the time and complexity involved, which is where the costs start to really mount up.

11 minutes ago, VanorDM said:

So, as someone who'd actually consider getting paid to paint... If a pack of 7 Stormtroopers cost $20, you'd charge $20 for the painting service?

That's the general rule of thumb, but it's a rule that tends to get bent most in regards to unit such as that. With single figures it makes most sense

How long would it take you to paint 7 Stormtroopers? I'd probably consider a base cost of $4-5 a model minimum.

I wouldn't paint 7 for $20, that's for sure. On the rare occasions I have time to do commission work I charge about £10-£15 an hour, but I don't do armies (Obviously, it'd be insanely expensive for people and I find quick painting boring, so don't do it....it's a hobby, not my job so I get to pick!).

In miniature games, I value single characters pro-painted over squad pro-painted. Stormtroopers are so hard to paint. If you ever let someone else paint some for you, your hooked for life unless you develop the skills to replicate, or strip them, or let your army look weird.

Actually, that's a good point to bear in mind. Most good and repurable commission painters will try to do your stuff in as generic a style as possible so that you can use other painters or add to it yourself. But everyone has favourite techniques and methods of doing things, and there will inevitably be mismatches.

Espcially with all that white.....

7 minutes ago, Extropia said:

Actually, that's a good point to bear in mind. Most good and repurable commission painters will try to do your stuff in as generic a style as possible so that you can use other painters or add to it yourself. But everyone has favourite techniques and methods of doing things, and there will inevitably be mismatches.

Espcially with all that white.....

Just so, but on the other hand if I was playing Rebels, I’d be much more sanguine about scattering different styles and paint jobs amount the troops. They are supposed to be rag-tag, and a misfit collection of types.

7 minutes ago, Extropia said:

Espcially with all that white.....

In which case, may I suggest that if someone were to commission an artist to paint their Stormies, that they ask them to provide you with a list of the paints they used. That would be useful for touch-ups, among other things.

Yep. Rebels are easy, and painters can really go to town with them. I'm planning to do mine pretty much as individuals, but with a unifying colour tying them together worked onto each one.

Just now, Force Majeure said:

In which case, may I suggest that if someone were to commission an artist to paint their Stormies, that they ask them to provide you with a list of the paints they used. That would be useful for touch-ups, among other things.

Definitely do this. No painter should have an issue providing that in my experience, and if they do....try to find somebody else, since eh are quite probably trying to lock you into future business.

1 hour ago, VanorDM said:

I think most painting services charge X per model, and that depends on the model type. Basic troops are less than HQ/Leader types. Vehicles are more and so on.

But based on your pictures, I'd guess you could charge $2 or maybe more per troop model. So a core set worth of painted models would be $56, with another $20 or so for the speeders, AT-RT, Luke and Vader. So 80ish for a painted core set.

This is a crazy low estimate. You need to look at how long it takes to paint a model versus what your time is worth. It's going to take a fair amount of time to paint 33 models. Estimate the number of hours it's going to take and work from there. At $80 for 33 models, you're looking at having to fully complete a model every 20 minutes just to hit minimum wage ($7.25/hr). I don't know about you, but I value my time and skill as being worth more than minimum wage. I also think it'll take more than 20 minutes to paint Luke, Vader and the AT-RT/Bikes. The basic troops might knock out that fast with batch painting.

At a minimum, I'd want retail value for the models... and NOT bundle pricing. As a guess...

• Stormtrooper Expansion Pack (7 Dudes) x2 ~$25 each, so ~$50
• Rebel Trooper Expansion Pack (7 Dudes) x2 ~$25 each, so ~$50
• 74-Z Speeder Bike Expansion Pack (2 Dudes) ~$25
• AT-RT Expansion Pack (1 Dude) ~$25
• Vader and Luke ~$20 each, so ~40
• 8x Barricades... I'm going to ballpark as $20

My guesstimate for the retail price for the individual components is $210. I'd probably charge $200 to paint a full core set or $100 to paint half (with 4 barricades). Even at that price, I'm not really making a very good per hour wage.

Thanks all for the input.

Yes the idea is to get some to buy 2 core sets I paint both but get to keep one as a fee. My hope is to get at least 2 copies this way.

Ya 7 troopers for 20$ seems like a no go. If the price for a group of 7 was 20$ then i would charge 40$ so that I get a copy in exchange for my time and paint.

1 minute ago, MrMustang said:

If the price for a group of 7 was 20$ then i would charge 40$ so that I get a copy in exchange for my time and paint.

That's what was suggested... $20 for the package, and $20 for the painting. I was assuming someone would buy the pack and ship it to the painter, rather than the person painting it buying it and then charging for the models and the painting.

12 minutes ago, KrisWall said:

This is a crazy low estimate. You need to look at how long it takes to paint a model versus what your time is worth. It's going to take a fair amount of time to paint 33 models. Estimate the number of hours it's going to take and work from there. At $80 for 33 models, you're looking at having to fully complete a model every 20 minutes just to hit minimum wage ($7.25/hr). I don't know about you, but I value my time and skill as being worth more than minimum wage. I also think it'll take more than 20 minutes to paint Luke, Vader and the AT-RT/Bikes. The basic troops might knock out that fast with batch painting.

At a minimum, I'd want retail value for the models... and NOT bundle pricing. As a guess...

• Stormtrooper Expansion Pack (7 Dudes) x2 ~$25 each, so ~$50
• Rebel Trooper Expansion Pack (7 Dudes) x2 ~$25 each, so ~$50
• 74-Z Speeder Bike Expansion Pack (2 Dudes) ~$25
• AT-RT Expansion Pack (1 Dude) ~$25
• Vader and Luke ~$20 each, so ~40
• 8x Barricades... I'm going to ballpark as $20

My guesstimate for the retail price for the individual components is $210. I'd probably charge $200 to paint a full core set or $100 to paint half (with 4 barricades). Even at that price, I'm not really making a very good per hour wage.

I agree 100% I would only be doing this for a limited number of people. Basically just to get what I want not as a way to make money. I am sure by time I cut glue paint I would probably have 30-45min per basic model. Maybe faster but I am fussy and still new so it takes me longer then guys doing this for a long time.