Miniature Painting Commission Rates

Everyone has different needs, requirements and budgets. There is no one-size fits all approach to costing painting work. 

For an estimate of costs, feel free to get in touch

Painting Standards

Probably the biggest influence on the cost of commission work is the standard of the paint.  

Primer undercoat

Basic cleaning and assembly

Base coat using a few colours

Basic shading and basic highlights

Varnish to protect the paintwork

Use of more colours

Build up more layers

More shading and outlining

More highlighting

Edge highlighting

Fine details

Weathering, rust and battle damage

Example Costs

Here are some examples of how much commission work might cost.

Other Cost Considerations

See below for information on other considerations that affect cost

Basing

The appearance of a model is greatly affected by the base that it is on. A simple “rock” base is often enough, especially if the rock colour contrasts with the miniature’s paint scheme.

People often build an army or miniature collection with a common theme for their bases, for example, they all have snowy base representing the environment of the planet Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back

Varnishing

By default, models get a single coat of a matt varnish to protect the paintwork. It may be that more varnish is required, say if you expect models to get handled more than usual.

You may also want a satin or gloss varnish on parts of the model (say, on bright white Stormtrooper armour), or all over the model.

Painting techniques

There are often a number of different ways to approach painting a miniature . Some methods are quicker than others. This especially applies to large models.

Cleaning

Most models have some kind of production defect – for example – mould lines.

If your models have a non-trivial amount of cleaning required, this may add to the time to the project.

Not all defects have to be removed, however.

Pre-assembled models

Pre-assembled models typically take longer to paint and may result in painting defects due to hard-to-reach areas.

Large models (eg, vehicles)

Usually larger models take more time and paint, but this is not always the case.

Batching-up

Painting many of the same type of miniature at once can often reduce the cost of painting them slightly.

Complex models

 Some models are naturally more time-consuming to paint. For example, models with faces take longer than models that have helmets or hats that cover the face.

Games Workshop’s models, for example, are often superbly details. This comes with the downside that they can take longer to paint than say, a 3D printed Stormtrooper.

Extra Photography

One miniatures are finished, you’ll be sent some photos for your approval. Additional photos can be arranged.