Reasons Why You’d Hire a Minis Painter.
- Are you unhappy with the way you paint or think you’re a bad painter?
- Don’t have the time to paint your models?
- Want to focus on other aspects of the hobby?
- You could be helping a friend out with their new venture.
- Maybe you have lots of spare money.
5 Tips for Hiring a Miniatures Painter
1) Have a clear vision of your project
2) Word of Mouth can be the best way to find a painter to hire
3) Communicate your needs, desires, and wants to the painter
4) Have a written agreement with the painter.
5) Understand what you’re getting into and how the painter works
1) Have a clear vision of your project Know what you want done.
Don’t think “I want some of these guys and maybe some of those” painted. Without knowing exactly what you want to happen you may be doomed to suffer disappointment.
2) Word of Mouth can be the best way to find a painter to hire
You may not personally know any miniatures painters but perhaps your friends do. Converse with your friends and with people you trust online to discern who they used. Ask them to share their experiences with you including the bad ones. Discover what they liked and disliked about a given miniatures painter. Learn what the person painted. You may be successful hiring a painter out of the blue without any foreknowledge of them but don’t bet on it.
3) Communicate your needs, desires, and wants to the painter
Be up front with the entire scope of the project including your expected timetable. Saying “I’m in no hurry” tells the painter they can put your project on the back burner whenever they want, be truthful with your expectations but also realistic. It takes longer and costs more to paint Napoleonic soldiers than it does a bunch of unclothed Zulu warriors.
4) Have a written agreement with the painter.
Be sure it protects BOTH of you. It should state the scope of the project, terms of payment, and deadlines. Don’t expect the project to go sour. But, sometimes things come up and sometimes people are dishonest. The contract or agreement can offer recourse to you if the painter fails to achieve the project. It also gives the painter options if you fail to follow through.
5) Understand what you’re getting into and how the painter works
If the painter has never painted an entire army of 100+ models before maybe you shouldn’t be their first. If you want someone to paint WW2 models, then it might not be a good idea to hire someone who predominantly paints Napoleonics. In other words know the painter’s style. Also realize that the project may cost slightly more than your quote. Making a lot of modifications or requiring more work to be done after the project begins can increase cost, It can be very expensive to hire someone to paint your models. Don’t spend more than you can afford. Even if you have buckets of money only spend what you can.
Future Episodes
I’ll look at this topic down the road from the point of view of minis painters and that of customers. You can be sure that I’ll have more tips to share with you in those episodes.
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