About commissioning your own miniature line

[Juxt]

I've decided that there are some miniatures I want that don't exist, and have come to the conclusion that I want them badly enough to have them sculpted and then moulded and cast by second parties.  Not with the intention of making a profit since they'll be pretty niche, more of a vanity project with the possibility of selling a few dozen casts here and there to help mitigate a small amount of the costs.

Can anyone who has gone down this road offer me any advice, share their stories, give me recommendations of people they've used etc?

[Reed]

There is the possibility of producing a one-time batch if there are enough people interested.

[jambo1]

I will be interested to see where this goes, an interest of mine too, more than likely in the future though.

[Duncan McDane]

Ask Brian Kirkell from the "Zombies of Karr-Keel" Facebookpage. He had the legendary Kev Adams sculpt some classic Citadel-style Zombies and sold them on Facebook. He's done very well with them and I'm sure he can tell you how he did it...

[v_lazy_dragon]

Maybe talk to Akula and Whiteknight on this page? They have both done similar ventures

[Johnno]

Try Malamute as well....he was kind enough to help me when i was researching it

[tin shed gamer]

As this is what I do(and many others on the forum)
I'll proffer some musings.

Firstly commissioning for casting is considerably more involved than commissioning one off figure.(its both time consuming and can require considerable outlay beforehand.)
For example if you commission six figures all with rifles and webbing. You need to know which is more cost effective. To have a rifle and a set of webbing pouches sculpted then moulded and cast and returned to the sculptor to build into the figures.or have the sculptor sculpt six rifles ,and six sets of webbing.
Or opt for one rifle with hands attached and reuse with six figures with limited poses to accommodate the hand positions. Then have a master mould,to produce enough parts to then make a production mould.
And So.
Then there's questions such as do you opt for six figures with heads built on, Or the more cost effective six figures with the six heads(all different) not attached.which gives you 36 figures for the price of six(don't let anyone charge you more for this option than they would for six one piece figures as the time difference is negligible.)
There are options like buying premade weapons and paying the sculptor to use them.A lot of sculptors would be uncomfortable doing so(myself included) but we all like to eat.
As your not intent on a commercial venture then you're not infringing on copyright and are firmly in the' fan art' category So its still a reasonable option.
Expect to pay a deposit, Don't sign off on figures until you've seen them ask for photography two or three minor changes at this stage would be a reasonable request. Move the goal posts any more than that. If want more changes than that expect to have some additional costs.
But the two biggest rules are.
No your financial limits ,don't get caught up in the excitement of commissioning( its fun but it is easy to get carried away with ideas.)

The design brief is important. NEVER assume that the sculptor knows what your talking about.If you say you want a .303 ,and a shako then you provide images of both,even if they say they know what they look like.The sculptor is still going to want paying if he's made the figure and its not what you thought  you'd. Ordered.(I still insist on this with people I've been working with for years and so should you .because  one day either party will have the wrong name or something completely different in mind).
personally I will not send any figure out until I receive an ok in black and white. Because its my reputation and no one can honestly say that didn't make what they asked for.

If you any questions which are less generic,then please feel free to drop me a PM.
This forum is full of skilled sculptors,and I'd be more than happy to help you structure a design brief to help you avoid the pitfalls, and get you the right person and a fair price.

Mark.

[Andrew May]

Hey, full time freelance sculptor here: http://meridianminiatures.blogspot.co.uk

Feel free to email me andrew@meridianminiatures.com this is what I do day in day out, I can give you all the info you need, just drop me a line.

Cheers
Andrew

[traveller]

Lots of good info here! Thanks for sharing! Would it be possible to give a rough number for having 6 miniatures ready for casting by a quality sculptor(loose heads and hands)? 1000 GBP?

[tin shed gamer]

For Six figures,(depending on scale and detailing,and which clay pusher you use. ) I'd be expecting bag of castings on my table,and holding out my hand for the change.
Never open with I've a £1000 is that enough? Because you'll be surprised how often that's is just enough!
Always ask for a quote,and ask for options,if they can't or don't give options then personally I'd keep looking.

Mark.

[Juxt]

So much useful information in this thread already, thanks guys.

Andrew, I was trying to remember your name and website, so glad you posted here

[traveller]

For Six figures,(depending on scale and detailing,and which clay pusher you use. ) I'd be expecting bag of castings on my table,and holding out my hand for the change.
Never open with I've a £1000 is that enough? Because you'll be surprised how often that's is just enough!
Always ask for a quote,and ask for options,if they can't or don't give options then personally I'd keep looking.

Mark.

Thanks Mark, it sounds as if the mark should be somewhere 100-150 GBP/model then for a good "clay pusher"?

[Elk101]

£150-£200 per figure might be closer, but it clearly depends on variables such as complexity, size, accuracy,  etc. You'll also need to pay for some master castings and moulds before getting the figures cast, assuming you want a few to sell to fund the sculpting. Griffin Moulds in the UK are very good. There are plenty of people on here who do this day in day out, I've just dabbled with some Victorian supers with some of the guys on here.

[Andrew May]

So much useful information in this thread already, thanks guys.

Andrew, I was trying to remember your name and website, so glad you posted here

Hey, glad to be of help. I'll be in the office tomorrow to check my mail. I'm just browsing for leisure at the mo.