Quality of paint job. What's it worth? pic heavy.

[kturock]

Here are some pics of some Emperor's Children Chaos Marines that I'll soon me listing.

What do you think they're worth? They are better painted than anything I'm now capable of doing. I'm tempted to keep them, just because of the paint job. I'll probably never field them in 40k, since I'm getting out of it. [again]
There's vehicles and marines. Heres a sample of them.

[oaflord]

Looking at these photos, if I were interested in these models I would be willing to pay retail value for them, but not more. This is so subjective though. Everyone's hobby is different, I build and paint MUCH more than I play, when the next person may say they would pay more because they don't really paint but value the paintjob enough to have a well-painted army on the field because they play more than they paint.

Tough question, much input would be needed and take an average of the comments, but as I stated, I would pay retail. If I were interested. Hope that helps???

oAF

[Ironhide]

The lighting and glare in the photos really doesn't give me a good idea of the paint job. They may look good in the photos, but may look differently in person. From the pics though, looks like a good paint job; but wouldn't be willing to go more than say 70%-80% of retail.

[iPAINTminis]

Okay thought I'd chime in here. This isn't to say the models aren't painted pretty well, however you're questioning "value" which is an opinion based question.

First and foremost the pictures don't come anywhere near being clear enough to really judge the paint job, but from what I can tell...

1) many of the models are not based, hence looses much of the aesthetics of a model, also causes the army to look "unfinished" which detracts from the perceived value.

2) All of the metallics look really flat and there's a lot of detail lost when large portions of a model are painted in metallics and then not shaded and highlighted well.

3) From my perspective - Lots of dry-brushing does not a above table top quality army make... Doesn't mean it won't look good, but will not put an army beyond basic table top quality.

4) Vehicles just don't look like they are highlighted other than the last couple shots of the land raider. I can see the "wear and tear" affects around the doors, but no real highlights are present.

That being said, and the fact that the pics are not real clear, I'd say no more than 45-50%. If everything was based well and the basing all followed the same theme then maybe you could push 60%.

This is personal opinion only.

-BJC

[aurak_merc]

More personal opinion here:

From what you have shown, if I were in the market, I would pay 60-80% of retail. I am trying to picture these as if they were for an army I collect at the same quality. Personally, I dislike most conversions on ANY models unless they are truly well done and fit the theme I am going for perfectly. I can deal with the texturing on the tank, but the impaled eagle is not appealling in the least and would detract from the value I would place on it if buying. The same goes for the ribbon-guy. I like the other infantry just fine, but ribbon-guy would not add value to an offer I would make.

Overall it is a nice paint job though.

[kturock]

well, since I trust all of the opinions posted, and know they look alot better in person than my photography skills demonstrate; I'll keep them.
I've just took about 20 pics, that all bounced, moved. very blurry.

I usually sell all minis as either bare, primed or as table top or worse. I never asked for compensation for the paint jobs. [no, I didn't paint these, but bought them as an army. Yes the entire army isn't completely painted or as noted completely based.]

In person they look as good as the ones 2 local professional painters paint. They get $3-5 a mini and more for larger.

[osloco]

Unless you are desperate to sell them, you could always put an ad up asking what you think they are worth and see if you get any bites. Some people are willing to pay to not have to paint. I have a similar opinion to Oaflord and would much rather paint things myself.

[Ironhide]

@kturock: A little off-topic, but if you're using a regular camera, and not cell camera; I'd suggest investing in a mini-tripod. I bought one at Officemax (or was it Walmart?) for less than $10.

[kturock]

Ipaintminis brought up something that I agree with.

Aged, weathered paint jobs on minis. Where are they?
I've never seen any minis, except for 1 painter locally, who's minis looked 'real'. I've never seen, even from the GW pros, minis that looked like true military FIGHTING units, not at parade rest.

I work inside an air conditioned building on machinery, that in a couple weeks gets caked with dirt, dust, grime and grease. I've talked to people who've been 'in country' from WW2 to the current engagement, and all have said nothing stayed shiney clean for long.

I started into GW games because I built models, especially military models when I was in middle school and later, long before GW.

The last time I saw a truely well painted military model, was in the military model building & painting magazines.

[kturock]

@kturock: A little off-topic, but if you're using a regular camera, and not cell camera; I'd suggest investing in a mini-tripod. I bought one at Officemax (or was it Walmart?) for less than $10.

I'm using an Olympus C-4000 zoom...WITH a tripod. Yes..my hands are that unsteady..another reason I've stopped painting. My hands were never steady, even when I was a kid. But now, with tendonitis & arthritis in my hand, fingers, wrist, elbows and shoulders, steady is out..Gentle is out. Squeezing a trigger is out. [sometimes even having feeling in them is out.]

[kturock]

Unless you are desperate to sell them, you could always put an ad up asking what you think they are worth and see if you get any bites. Some people are willing to pay to not have to paint. I have a similar opinion to Oaflord and would much rather paint things myself.

I'm working on putting up an ad, but wasn't sure if it's worth my time to photo these or not.

Most of the ad has bare, or primed minis...or with paint jobs that are poor thru tabletop.

[Ironhide]

@kturock: A little off-topic, but if you're using a regular camera, and not cell camera; I'd suggest investing in a mini-tripod. I bought one at Officemax (or was it Walmart?) for less than $10.

I'm using an Olympus C-4000 zoom...WITH a tripod. Yes..my hands are that unsteady..another reason I've stopped painting. My hands were never steady, even when I was a kid. But now, with tendonitis & arthritis in my hand, fingers, wrist, elbows and shoulders, steady is out..Gentle is out. Squeezing a trigger is out. [sometimes even having feeling in them is out.]

No timer option? That might help. Or a remote.

As I said, 70-80% tops; and that is only if I bought the entire lot. Selling piecemeal would drop it back down to 50% of retail.

[kturock]

The camera is a couple years old and it didn't come with either.

[TheRhino]

Paint work is very fickle. If you can find the perfect buyer who loves the shots to death, they might pay a lot for them. As a painter myself, I actually subract value from a lot of minis if they're painted, because I buy to paint, then field in my army in my own colors.
You could try to sell me a limited edition UK White Dwarf Subscription Marine Sergeant painted by Todd Swanson, but if it's in Crimson Fists colors, it's worth only as much as the base model, to me. I play Ultramarines, and don't need a single Crimson Fist in my force. He'd see the inside of a jar of Simple Green

One thing that could potentially boost the sale value of the lot as a whole is including a written list of all paints used in their manufacture. That way a prospective buyer trying to start up an army from scratch can replicte it at least in tone and color. Of course, that's a lot easier to do when you're the one who painted them originally.

[norsehawk]

Looking at the models, if I were in a mood to buy them, I wouldn't pay more than 50-70% retail on those models. most of them would be immediately be going into simple green, while 4 of them total would be taken in for touchups, and I like the Landraider.