Bartertown.com

Hey everyone, somewhat new guy here!

I am an avid 40ker who plays way too many armies than my hobby time really supports. So as you can imagine, I roll with the bare plastic/metal look on the vast majority of my stuff all the time, i'm living the dream when i'm rolling primer white!

I've been kicking around the idea of having some of my stuff painted for me but i'm afraid the army will lose a bit of identity for me. I always intend to paint all my armies but it just hasn't worked out thus far with how I either jump from army to army or my time gets allocated elsewhere (I have an almost 2 year old and 1 due on 6/7!)

Does anyone have any thoughts on having their army painted for them? did you lose a little bit of the "connection" you had to the army when you didn't do it yourself? I know everyone is going to have differing viewpoints and I don't expect to come out of this thread with the ONE answer but i'm just interested to see others thoughts!

If you can afford to do it, it is very nice to just have it done and out of the way. I never lost any connection to the figures that were painted, and I also have a tendency to jump to different games and armies. Something that I found out very quickly though, is that you will never get the amount of cash out of a mini that you put in. No matter how well it is painted, it will be very rare that it fits into someone else's army perfectly (or at least that is what they will tell you) and you will get much less back. That is the only issue I have with the idea as a whole.

If you decide to do it, I would very much suggest researching the services and checking around with others you know who may have used a painting service as well. In the past I have used Garden Ninja (an advertiser here on Bartertown) and always been very pleased with the results. Drew (the Ninja himself) is very detail oriented, and one of the quickest high quality painters I have encountered. When he gives you a time quote he will hit it. The return time is a HUGE issue that a lot of small time studios have a problem with.

Good info from aurak.

I have a TON of commission painted models. Nearly my whole Dark Eldar army is commision painted, in fact. All I did to (most of) them is pop off the standard bases & put them on resin bases I bought from Dragon Forge and painted myself. Even the models I have yet to give this treatment, though, I don't feel any sort of disconnect with. They're mine, so... yeah. They're mine. LOL
If you're REALLY concerned about a personal connection with your models, you do have a few options;
Assemble them yourself. Especially if you're converting or kitbashing, this is a great way to get a personal touch in on them. Just speak with your painter first. They might want you to leave the arms off, etc., so they can get in the crevices.

Buy and paint resin bases for them. You will still have part of YOUR painting on every model.

Have the painter leave the bases blank, and base the models yourself. Personally, I don't suggets this option... but I'm not you. It might be perfect for you.

The last option is to say "to Hell with the painting" and save your money. Some people just don't care if their models are all painted (I don't mind rocking bare gray plastic!) and, if you're one of them, more power to you.

If you choose to use a commission painter, I would suggest you look at Bartertown painters first. With the site being 100% reputation based, we feel that we owe it to our members that they be able to trust anyone advertising here. We do have a vetting process for advertisers, and not everyone who wants to advertise here is approved. While this is no guarantee of safety, it sure isa lot better than some random guy who posted on a forum.
Not only that, but the advertisers here PAY to advertise with us. That money keeps Bartertown free for you to use. What a better way is there to thank them than to throw wads of your cash at them? LOL

Eric

thanks for the replies!

and to your point Eric, this site is the best thing I've stumbled upon since I started playing 40k! So if I was going to throw a wad of loot at someone, it would be here!

and I hear you about rocking the gray, I don't mind it as long as in my mind I will eventually paint it, even if it never seems to happen!

There is almost a badge of courage that you have when you painted your army yourself, even if it's only tabletop quality. so I think that's what I mean more than the connection. i'm thinking i'll do one myself and really try to grow as a paint and when the $$ permits, perhaps farm the other 3 (who needs a life right?!) out on commission.

That for the chat dudes! I hope to see more responses tomorrow.

I would also like to add to what MM said by saying check out the advertisers painting blogs in the Btown Advertisers section of the forum, they usually put up progress logs of the models they are working on and you can get an idea at their style, techniques, etc that way.

I have used several guys here for painting commissions, Ohioguy, Bitzjunkie and CMSheats (not retired though I think). Everyone has always been reasonable in price. As a busy professional who has NO time to paint EVER, this is a great alternative, if you can afford it. Some guys are a lot better than others. You have to be careful with the quality you are looking for. BT painters are great for grunt troops I think. Best to do characters yourself. But the three guys I named, did excellent jobs on my Flames of War, Epic 40K and Warmaster Armies! Average market price for average quality ranges from anywhere between $2 to $5 per "stand".

BT painters are great for grunt troops I think.

Was there a typo in that? We have commission advertisers who have won painting competitions and who do wonderful work. Definitely beyond your average "grunt troops."

Eric