hey Veeky Forums, i'm in a bit of a predicament
the owner of my local comic shop wants me to assemble, prime, and paint the death guard half of the dark imperium box we split. Here's the problem, i don't know what to charge him, and i don't think i'm good enough to do this for money (pic related, it's my most recent model, sorry for camera orientation)
any advice?
Looks decent enough mate. Of course, Death Guard are a bit trickier than Ultrasmurfs, so yeah. I'm sure you can do it, though. I dunno about payment though.
try to paint one normal infantry miniature then one hero. Time yourself while painting and charge him whatever the minimum hourly wage in your state.
>minimum hourly wage in your state.
>minimum hourly wage
>for a skilled artisan
user agree's he's not skilled though
Minimum hourly wage? He could flip burgers for that shit.
Op: Do some research. There are plenty of pay-to-paint sites out there. That pic is a decent tabletop quality. Charge on the lower end of what those sites charge. If he bitches, say "I understand,", walk away and keep painting your own shit.
You're saving him probably $100.00 in shipping or so to Sri Lanka if you do it for him; its still a bargain.
i never say it has to be the best quality.
that is why you paint 2 first and show him when to expect if he is paid minimum wage.
Personally I would just prime them white and paint using only washes. Working on your own army is one thing but obligated to complete a certain amount of model within a time frame is another, it takes to joy out of painting
>for a skilled artisan
lol
I do commissions from time to time. I charged about 15/h for pic related, came out in about 13-14h for 200 bucks. Client was happy to pay for it.
Generally, if you find someone willing to pay you for your work they will be ready to pay reasonably well. What I usually do is talk to my client and ask them what kind of money they were looking to spend. if it's good, then it's all good. If it's not enough then I clearly tell them. If I think I may have them save some money I just offer to charge them my hourly rate of 15 bucks.
It's not uber-serious business, I do it for fun in my spare time: talk to the guy and see for yourself. I only ever had good experiences doing so.
hey OP as someone who just started doing commissions myself I've realized that when starting out there is not a good way to make money without overcharging. You aren't going to be fast enough because you've never had to be before. If you're just doing this as a one off make sure to charge enough to make it worth your and communicate that to your friend, otherwise you'll just resent the fact that you did a ton of work for very little gain. I would recommend charging at least what you make at your day job, unless you make like 20+ an hour
thanks, user
I think that looks very good. Besides, if someone is paying you to do something, you are good enough to do it for money.
>implying artists should make more than the minimum for their worthless hobby.
painting is supposed to be for fun. If you're depending on getting paid to do it then you screwed up somewhere in you life.
if you're being serious that's the nicest thing I've heard in weeks
I'm being completely serious. I wish you the best of luck, friend.
A person can do something well.
Another person wants something done well but cannot do it well.
He pays a person who can do it well to do it.
What do you find confusing about the motivations here?
>implying someone providing a service there is a demand for shouldn't make whatever the market will bear
I know its bait, but here's a (You)
You will need to make sure to clean up the models better though, the gouged plastic on that shoulder is pretty nasty. The paintjob is not bad, however.
OP, you need to charge what is going to feel like a lot (especially if that pic is your work).
Go online and pick out some models that look like they're painted at a similar skill level--that should be a guideline of what you should charge per piece. It can't be said enough, you're doing this for money and not for fun.
Overcharge. You have the skills to do something and what feels like too much isn't--you don't value your skills as much as people who don't have them do, and people are happy to pay for quality if they have the money. Hell, I would drop a bunch of cash on something like that except I'm
>>poor
If you don't want money, just ask for a trade: work for minis you like or materials for your hobby(paints, brush, etc.)
If you're good at something, never do it for free.
Do you think artists, writers, actors, etc. should also be paid the bare minimum? And that a "real job" has to be something you hate?
For just the death guard dark imperium set? 250 bucks. Tell him you are willing to do it for less than you would normally because it sounds like a fun project.
This, I'd consider that a steal
nigga that's like half a paycheck, i cant charge that
You need to charge at least that. That is easily 50% less than any professional is going to charge. If you are half what he would pay otherwise, he's getting a super good deal.
>250 ameridollars I assume
31 models in death guard side, 20 zombies, 7 plague marines, 3 heroes, 1 bloat drone
1.5 hours per poxwalker, 2.5 hours per plague marine, 4 hours per hero, 5 for the drone
65 hours of work
7.25 usd minimum wage
470 dollars for work
Add cost of paints and brushes
We're looking more at 500 dollars here, and while user is having fun, he's working at minimum wage. So 250 is a bit off.
Hombre, the fact that you are poor doesn't mean that you should charge less money than the value of your work.
Is that the mini tank from Dominion: Tank Police?
>implying the value of his mini-paining is more than zero
lmfao, its painting, not work. He shouldn't be expecting to get money from it.
Professional painting is an actual job that people receive full paychecks for though? Don't drag down the entire profession just because you don't want to seem an asshole, he came to YOU asking if you wanted to paint the set, so you're not trying to break into the industry by whoring yourself out, you're being given a job.
>He shouldn't be expecting to get money from it.
You're right. That's why Warhammer is such an inexpensive hobby--it's a hobby, so the the makers don't expect to be profitable and the models are basically free
...
I did say "50% off" didn't I?
No, that's the tank from Metal Slug
Get the fuck outta here Mr. Goldberg I thought it was Mr. Ackbar who was into "free child labor"
>GW makes money so therefore I should make money painting the stuff GW sells
you realize that's retarded logic right?
Fuck off Schlomo
Don't charge him. You're already getting half of the box for free.
we split the pricetag
Steinberg please
Charging money to paint stuff is a wonderful way to ruin the hobby for yourself.
>I demand free skilled labor
Nah.
Ignore the single person who hates the idea of you making money from your skills.
As people have pointed out, you have a valuable skill. That thing you do for fun happens to pay much better than your minimum wage job and there's nothing wrong with profiting from that.
OP, do this:
Look up 3 other decent painters who do commissions. If you feel like going the distance, ask them what they would charge for this particular deal.
You got half the set, and if you do indeed like the game, I'd be game for knocking a percentage off. But do realize that painters are NOT cheap to hire, and don't be afraid to show him other painters' prices and tell him exactly what it's all about.
Fucking this. Most of us WISH we could get paid to do something we actually enjoy. You have an opportunity. Take it.
I'm in the same boat op. Local hobby shop wants me to paint the entirety of the Silver Tower set, but that's 51 miniatures of varying size and difficulty and I have no idea what to charge.
Recent-ish work (about a year ago) no current pictures unfortunately.
300 bucks
dude that gold is fucking gnarly, whats your process?
>i don't think i'm good enough to do this for money
Just ask him for whatever paints you'd use to do the death guard. He gets his models painted, you get some free paints for doing so.
That was my "price" for doing models for friends. Worked out well enough.
>painting little plastic toys is skilled labor
I guess we have wildly different opinions on what we think is a valuable skill.
Don't get me wrong, I think painting minis is a really fun hobby that I personally enjoy but it seems extremely stupid to claim that its a valuable skill that you should be getting paid money for.
If anything you should argue that its your time, not your skill, that you're charging money for. Since pretty much any retard can paint minis (yes I know that's an exaggeration but it really isn't that hard) you're "skill" isn't what has value.
No, this is. No doubt it was really influential on Metal Slug.
RABBI ABRAHAM PLEASE GO
Nigga anyone can learn to be a lawyer, too. That doesn't mean they're cheap.
He DOES have the skill, that's why he should be paid a skilled labor rate
>painting little plastic toys is just as valuable as a license to practice law
you realize you're retarded right?
Nothing special, this one was Vallejo Glorious Gold covered in Devlan Mud to darken it, then followed by Vallejo Chainmail Silver.
I've since switched to Citadel metallics because Vallejo's is FUCKING SHIT
agreed, but that effect right there was fucking worth
*Your
For fuck's sake Ariel Sharon get the fuck out of here will you?
Saying two professions are both skilled labor doesn't mean they charge the same.
Are you illiterate, or just fucking stupid?
as in, you're retarded
Don't listen to this guy. He's being a prick for no reason.
*Your retarded
Stop replying. You're giving him what he wants.
>implying painting minis is a skill with enough value to charge money for.
are people who tie their own shoes professional skilled labor too?
If you find tying your shoes to be a skilled labour comparable in difficulty to painting miniatures to a high standard, you might seriously consider going to a doctor.
...
>valuable skill
"valuable" means different things in different contexts. Living in soviet russia? Valuable means it grows food or produces guns. Capitalist first world? Valuable means you have a skill to do something that other people want doing. Whether it's wanking fish, playing football, flipping burgers or painting miniatures if it's doing stuff for somebody else it's work, and all work has worth.
Time for you to post your amazingly painted models and then give them away, because it was just for fun.
Please, Moses, prophet of the great and powerful, begone from this thread.
>implying I would use my free time to paint things for other people.
I like to paint my minis, but I wouldn't waste my time doing so for someone else.
If I was going to pay someone to paint minis for me I would be paying them for their time, not their skill, because its not a high skill job.
But in the end the amount you can charge is the amount that your customer will pay.
Charge an arbitrary number of $ per hour of work, it's not about the quality.
That's one of the most ignorant opinions I have ever read in this site, and I have been in /b/ and /pol/.
>because its not a high skill job.
>because its not a high skill job.
Pictured: a miniature worth $10,000, literally.
dunning-kruger at work
>because its not a high skill job.
>because its not a high skill job
Is that Daniel Craig
>because its not a high skill job.
Aaand that's all the (You)s I am willing to give you.
Pffth, that's bullshit user and you know it! OP could easily pull that of given enough time. Its not about skill, its about being given the time it takes to produce nothing more, fucking nailed it!
I'm wondering the same. Is that a normal model or some up-sized statuette or something?
It's a 15cm scratchbuilt model. So about 5 marines one on top of another.
Ah, ok, that makes it marginally less impressive I guess.
thin your paints
should you be shitting up /i/?
Why charge 15/h ? I make 30/h computer programming and could never do something like that. You should really be paid more.
>Maybe if I keep posting the same shitty bait someone will take it and the flood of (you)s will fill that void left by having no friends or meaning in my life
Why the fuck did someone use a sickle in that image rather than a fucking fish hook?
This could have been incredible but is totally fucking ruined by having Daniel Craig's head, what on Earth possessed the person to do this? Like has that marine been to the marine hair dressers for an ancient terran haircut?
I charge 10$ for non-marine, and 14 per marine rank and file.
Do you know how I know you don't paint?
What chapter is this? It's not clear.
crimson fists, same as OP's
are you an idiot?
it's clearly a dark angel
>retarded shit about X hobby
Huh, those people are indeed everywhere.
Well, I dont regret dropping video games for tabletop rpgs and 40k either way. At least I can into writing now.
because I'm an amateur doing this for fun and 1) I don't feel like charging people more than this for something that I like so much and that is not my job and 2) I don't think I'm good enough to charge double my current rate for what I'm able to do as of now.
so basically a mix of pragmatics as in not wanting to scare away clients and not being really confident on my abilities. I mean, pic related is one of my best works, took about 12-13h. I wouldn't say it's worth 350 bucks.
Worth is subjective. That looks like rubbish to me.
Russian hackers.
(You)
I appreciate the time and skill level required to produce that, I find it unpleasant to look at and it doesn't suit my sense of aesthetics.
Maybe $10 an hour, and don't charge for materials? What's minimum wage near you? Do like 2 dollars over.