Building Services?

[Valkyrion]

What's the going rate for building (but not painting) a box of minis?  It's a difficult to find part of the market, or at least I've found it difficult. Plenty of commission painters, which includes building, but not just the build.  

I've not commissioned anyone to do it, so it's not a beat down kinda thread, but more out of curiosity. 

[DemonGSides]

5 minutes ago, Valkyrion said:

What's the going rate for building (but not painting) a box of minis?  It's a difficult to find part of the market, or at least I've found it difficult. Plenty of commission painters, which includes building, but not just the build.  

I've not commissioned anyone to do it, so it's not a beat down kinda thread, but more out of curiosity. 

If I thought there was a market for just being the person to kitbash and builkd models, I'd do that all day every day.  That's my favorite part of the hobby, it's the painting that gives me pause.

Let us know if you find anything out.  I would gladly start buying boxes and selling on the mini's if I thought there was a profit to be made doing it.

[Valkyrion]

Lately I've found myself trawling ebay for unpainted squads of whatever it is I want (e.g, Sons of Horus) and I happened upon a 10 man squad of MKVI Heavy Plasma Guns, all built and sprayed black for £29.95.  It was an instant buy, for me. I know it's £40 for 20 MKVI, but it's also £20 for the plasma guns, so to have them built and ready to paint was great.

But I've also had bad pre built squads delivered that were full of lines and sprayed with something that GW paints wouldn't adhere to. 

 

But I'd quite like 20 or 40 MKVI bodies being built up to the legs, body, back pack and base stage. So no arms, weapons, heads. 

Or if I wanted to commit to an Astra Militarum/Ork Horde/Hormagaunt project I simply don't have the time to build 100+ bodies, it'd be nice to know '100 boyz? 100 pounds please!' etc 

 

 

[Grotsmasha]

I do it, I have a few tiers of work, I charge in AUD. I don't know how this compares to what others charge, this where I'm comfortable, hopefully it gives a guide of what to expect

 

Infantry models in plastic (Plastic Glue)

$4 - Basic: Cut from sprue, mould attachment points cleaned, assembled and glued to base

$5 - Standard: Basic Assembly, plus moldlines removed from assembled model.

$8 - Advanced: Basic Assembly, plus moldlines removed pre-assembled, and gun barrels drilled.

 

Infantry in Metal/Resin/3D prints (Super Glue)

$12 - Basic: Single Piece model – Burrs, Flash, Supports Removed, Weapons Straightened.

$15 - Standard: Multi Piece model – Burrs, Flash, Supports Removed, Weapons Straightened.

$20 - Advanced: Standard Assembly + Drilled Gun Barrels + Joint Pinning

 

Small / Large Vehicle models: Plastic

$10/18 - Basic: Model clipped from sprue, mould burrs/attachment points cleaned, model assembled onto base.

$20/30 - Advanced: Basic Assembly + Advanced Mold Line Removal + Drilled Gun Barrels.

[Domhnall]

7 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

I do it, I have a few tiers of work, I charge in AUD. I don't know how this compares to what others charge, this where I'm comfortable, hopefully it gives a guide of what to expect

 

Infantry models in plastic (Plastic Glue)

$4 - Basic: Cut from sprue, mould attachment points cleaned, assembled and glued to base

$5 - Standard: Basic Assembly, plus moldlines removed from assembled model.

$8 - Advanced: Basic Assembly, plus moldlines removed pre-assembled, and gun barrels drilled.

 

Infantry in Metal/Resin/3D prints (Super Glue)

$12 - Basic: Single Piece model – Burrs, Flash, Supports Removed, Weapons Straightened.

$15 - Standard: Multi Piece model – Burrs, Flash, Supports Removed, Weapons Straightened.

$20 - Advanced: Standard Assembly + Drilled Gun Barrels + Joint Pinning

 

Small / Large Vehicle models: Plastic

$10/18 - Basic: Model clipped from sprue, mould burrs/attachment points cleaned, model assembled onto base.

$20/30 - Advanced: Basic Assembly + Advanced Mold Line Removal + Drilled Gun Barrels.

 

Just to clarify, would those prices be per figure including characters and troops, or would troops be counted as a squad for the price? 

 

 

7 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

I do it, I have a few tiers of work, I charge in AUD. I don't know how this compares to what others charge, this where I'm comfortable, hopefully it gives a guide of what to expect

 

Infantry models in plastic (Plastic Glue)

$4 - Basic: Cut from sprue, mould attachment points cleaned, assembled and glued to base

$5 - Standard: Basic Assembly, plus moldlines removed from assembled model.

$8 - Advanced: Basic Assembly, plus moldlines removed pre-assembled, and gun barrels drilled.

 

Infantry in Metal/Resin/3D prints (Super Glue)

$12 - Basic: Single Piece model – Burrs, Flash, Supports Removed, Weapons Straightened.

$15 - Standard: Multi Piece model – Burrs, Flash, Supports Removed, Weapons Straightened.

$20 - Advanced: Standard Assembly + Drilled Gun Barrels + Joint Pinning

 

Small / Large Vehicle models: Plastic

$10/18 - Basic: Model clipped from sprue, mould burrs/attachment points cleaned, model assembled onto base.

$20/30 - Advanced: Basic Assembly + Advanced Mold Line Removal + Drilled Gun Barrels.

 

Just to clarify, would those prices be per figure including characters and troops, or would troops be counted as a squad for the price? 

 

 

[Grotsmasha]

3 minutes ago, Domhnall said:

 

Just to clarify, would those prices be per figure including characters and troops, or would troops be counted as a squad for the price? 

 

 

It's all per model, troops and characters generally are all they same when it comes to building, for example an Intercessor vs. Azrael. I would / do recommend the Basic Tier for Intercessors, and the Advanced Tier for Characters, but I've had commissions where Advanced was selected for every model, and it really shows in the finished quality.  There are of course exceptions, for example I charged $35 to build Be'lakor when I was commissioned to build and paint him.