Albion GIant

Just a quick one today as I'm about to go on Holiday. This will probably be the last post for about a week or so, but I'll still be able to answer emails every other day or so. I'm very much relieved. It's been a frantic few days.

Anyway, on to the mini: An old GW Albion giant from the late 90's. Look closely and you might spot the Squirrel. And the birds nest.

June Pricing Review

Nobody likes price changes. Especially not me. I've been putting off making the changes for months but I can't really delay any longer. In the eighteen months I've been in business, living costs have increased, I've moved to Kent (increasing living costs even more) and the good lady and I have decided to think seriously about adding a little fella to our household.

When I first started Lead Legion Painting Service some eighteen months ago, friends in the industry were already telling me I was under-pricing my services. Since then my painting has improved considerably. I still paint the same number of models in any given day, but the quality of the painted miniatures has considerably improved. If I was under-pricing then, I'm certainly under-pricing now.

Now

Back in January 2012, under-pricing wasn't such a huge deal. I was just starting out and I was convinced that lower prices would bring me more customers. They did, but at the cost of working ten-twelve hour days, six and a half days a week to bring in my share of the rent and other household costs. It didn't matter though, because I was my own boss, doing work I loved, and not battering my head against a brick wall throwing the same old villains into the same old cells day in day out, working shifts, and having at least a third of my day's off cancelled so I could testify in court. Best of all, I got to see the woman I loved every single day, as opposed to just two weeks out of every four.

Then

My prices were worked out based on the daily income we needed to survive divided by the number of miniatures I could paint in a single day.  A nice, fair method until you take into account the fact I was building the models for free, and charging the same price regardless of whether a customers miniatures needed building or not. It hasn't exactly been fair to charge Paul, who wanted me to paint twenty miniatures he'd already built, the same as I was charging, Bob, who was getting his built by me. I can think of other examples as well: such as the fact that I was basing miniatures for some customers as part of the normal cost, while other customers who specifically asked me not to paint the bases were being charged the same. Likewise, a customer paying me to airbrush a vehicle was being charged the same as a customer who's vehicle had to be hand-painted. That's not exactly fair either, given that hand-painting a vehicle often takes two or three times as long, meaning I might make just £25 (for one vehicle) for a full days work.

All in all, it's probably well past the time that I should review the way I charge customers. Unfortunately, it's true that this means some customers will wind up paying a little bit more for my services from June. Quite a few will actually wind up paying considerably less. 

But everyone will be paying a fairer price and we can't say fairer than that.

Thank you all for understanding, and for your custom and comments. They're all appreciated.

Best Wishes,

Brian

Heldrake and Some Hard Decisions

One Chaos Heldrake, newly painted. It's for a Slaaneshi army so it's supposed to make your eyes bleed. If it doesn't then I've not done my job and I'll need to re-paint it.

Heldrake

Hellrake

On a somewhat more serious note, happy as I am with how this beastie looks, it really does highlight a huge problem with my pricing system. I charge £25 to paint a vehicle this size, under the assumption that I'll  be able to airbrush it, or at least, airbrush most if it. That's a reasonable enough sum for three or four hours work (five if you include building it). It's still only hovering around the UK minimum wage mind you, but reasonable enough compensation for doing a job I love.

This guy took a total of eleven and a half hours. That's nine and a half hours yesterday, and two hours today. Mostly because the miniature is so detailed, it was impossible to do much work on it with the airbrush. Meaning it took much longer to paint it to the standard I offer. So, in effect, I got paid £25.00 for a day's work. Not the customers fault. The customer in question knew it would be a big job to begin with and offered to pay me more than my asking price, but I wouldn't have it.

It's not the first time a problem like this has come up either. At the end of the day, in trying to keep my prices simple, I've kept them too simple. Basically, I need to seriously re-evaluate the way I charge for my services.

Shasvaastii Expeditionary Force

The Infinity order is now finished, pending final approval from the customer and a quick lick of black paint around the base rims.

Every now and then, I paint some miniatures that it'll be a wrench to part with. These fellows definitely count. While I despise the seemingly pointless way every single miniature comes in a half-dozen separate bits, Infinity miniatures really are a joy to paint.

Malignos

Malignos

Malignos

The Shrouded

Gwailos

Gwailos

Speculo Killer

Speculo Killer

Speculo Killer

Shasvaastii Seed Soldiers

Shasvaastii Seed Soldiers

Regiment Schomberg

The Regiment Schomberg was a mercenary unit in service to the Duchy of Savoy. Unlike the Duke's line regiments, mercenary regiments (often formed around a core of Protestants, many exiled French Huguenots) were named for their Colonel. In this case Duke Charles of Schomberg, son of the famous Duke Frederick  Schomberg who died in service to Stadtholder/King William at the battle of the Boyne.

Schomberg, had been serving in with the army of Savoy since 1691 commanding three regiments (Montbrun, Miremont and Montauban) all of whom, like himself, were in English pay.

 

Regiment Schomberg NYW Savoy

Prior to 1692, this Schomberg  regiment was in fact the Regiment de Saint-Julian. However in that year the Sieour de Saint-Julian converted to Catholicism and returned to French service. Schomberg was then appointed Colonel of the Regiment.

Schomberg died of wounds following the Battle of Marsaglia in October 1963 [edit; that should be 1693], at which point the regiment was re-named for his successor, Galloway.

Squigs!

Just finished a regiment of eighteen squigs for a regular customer. Not one of them red, for the simple reason that this gamer has dozens of red squigs already and wants a bit of variety to intersperse with his existing units. I also have a few Squig Hopper cavalry and the actual Squig Herders to paint, but they're in a seperate batch.

Squigs

Squigs

Squigs

Squigs

There's no static grass on these guys just yet. I'll be seeing the customer in person in just over a week. I want to make sure the drybrushing on these bases matches that of previous orders before I go sticking on any extra bits.

Shasvastii Seed Soldier Test Miniature

Finishing up early (for once) so I can take my beloved better half out to a well deserved dinner. So here's a photograph of a test miniature I sent to the customer earlier today.

I have a real love-hate relationship with Infinity miniatures at times. I love painting them. I hate putting them together. They have so many unneccessary fiddly bits. Can anyone tell me why the master mould-maker had to cast the head on this model separately? Nope? Didn't think so.

Had to strip and re-paint this guy four times over the last few days until I was satisfied with him. All worth it in the end though.

Shasvastii Seed Soldier Test Miniature

Shasvastii Seed Soldier Test Miniature