Professional figure painters - how fast are they?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.miniatures.historical (More info?)

I've just finished painting two DBA armies (about 100 figures in total)
that were raw metal four days ago. This has been one of my more intense
painting experiences and it got me thinking about a couple of things:

- it's much more pleasant if I keep telling myself that I love painting

- it seems to take me about 12 minutes to finish a single 15mm figure,
including cleaning and basing. This is 5 figures per hour, so if I were
a pro I wouldn't be making a lot of money if I charged the same as the
other painting services.

So how fast are they really?


/Snebjørn

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.miniatures.historical (More info?)

Hi
This is an interesting topic, I can do 2-3 25mm figures in an hour depending
on the level of detail. I consider this to be not bad but still well short
of what must be required of a pro.

I assume the speed must be in the technique and the fact they will be doing
dozens of figures at a time which must increase the productivity.

How fast can others paint figures of the varying scales?

What technique can be employed to cut down the time?

Anyone have any idea??

Later
Coco

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.miniatures.historical (More info?)

"Coco" <lamberton@btinernet.com> wrote in message
news:c6e9vu$62i$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
> Hi
> This is an interesting topic, I can do 2-3 25mm figures in an hour
depending
> on the level of detail. I consider this to be not bad but still well
short
> of what must be required of a pro.

Kind of depends on what you charge too. Price versus Volume, I suppose.

>
> I assume the speed must be in the technique and the fact they will be
doing
> dozens of figures at a time which must increase the productivity.

I've been making my living doing it for ten years now. And I've detailed my
methods on my website. Feel free to visit the painting tips section if
you're interested.

>
> How fast can others paint figures of the varying scales?

Fast enough to make a living for the last ten years.

<grin>

I guess the other question is what do you mean by 'fast'. Do you mean how
long 'per figure' or how long 'per order'? Since I paint hundreds of
figures per month, I can't tell how how long it takes to do a single figure.
Everything goes into the production line and two or three weeks later it
emerges completed and is mailed-out.

If you mean 'fast' as in turnaround time (ie, the time it takes for the
package with unpainted figures to leave your hand to the time the finished
product returns), that's pretty much dependant upon the price versus volumn
equation. My turnaround time is 'usually' between four and six weeks - but
my prices are higher because of it. Fortunately my customers would rather
get new finished work every month than once or twice a year, so are willing
to pay more for the the service.

>
> What technique can be employed to cut down the time?

See above for my suggestion.

>
> Anyone have any idea??

Yes.

--
MJB

Mr. Tin's Painting Workshop:
http://web.newsguy.com/Mrtinsworkshop/

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.miniatures.historical (More info?)

Snebjørn Andersen wrote:
> I've just finished painting two DBA armies (about 100 figures in total)
> that were raw metal four days ago. This has been one of my more intense
> painting experiences and it got me thinking about a couple of things:
>
> - it's much more pleasant if I keep telling myself that I love painting
>
> - it seems to take me about 12 minutes to finish a single 15mm figure,
> including cleaning and basing. This is 5 figures per hour, so if I were
> a pro I wouldn't be making a lot of money if I charged the same as the
> other painting services.
>
> So how fast are they really?
>
>
> /Snebjørn
>

I need about 6 hours to paint 8 15mm miniatures =)
But I'm probably painting too much details & lightning