Commissioning miniatures

[The Red Graf]

Gents I have a bit of a strange question, but I thought some of you might be able to help me. The recent crowd funding effort from Pro Gloria got me thinking about a project I have been kicking around for a while. In short I would like to commission a unit of multi-part mounted Gothic Knights. I am thinking 8-10 different torsos and the same number of separate legs. Probably about twice as many heads. Maybe five different horses. The usual mix of lances, standards, hand weapons, horns, and shields.

I would want them to be in heroic 28mm. Somewhere between the sixth edition and 8th edition empire plastics. The armor and barding would be extremely ornate. Think the line drawing in the Empire at war book.

Now that I have laid out the scope of the job who would I hire to do the sculpting? Who in other words are the best sculptors for this work who also of course free lance.

Roughly how much would each sculpt cost. Are we talking hundreds or thousands per man or horse?

Who do I get to cast them? I assume that resin is the cheapest alternative, then metal, with plastic being the most expensive process?

If I had these made I would probably sell them, but more with the idea of recouping some of my money and spreading the joy rather than any dreams of wealth.

Thanks for any information you can give me.

PS I have also posted this on the Warhammer Empire Forum.

[Timbor]

There are lots of folks around here that can help you out with such a venture, though White Knight ( http://whiteknightminiatureimperium.blogspot.ca/ ) is likely the man to ask about such questions for personal ventures. Clam has done similar things ( http://claminiatures.blogspot.dk/ ) as well as Andy (manic_miner) from Four A miniatures ( http://www.fouraminiatures.com/ ).  4a is a business built out of a hobby.

I had a small lot of 28mm figures commissioned about a year ago.  The price you will pay depends on the sculptor - the more 'pro' they are, the more you can likely expect to pay.  A typical estimate is about $10 per mm of miniature for a single pose, human sized model.  Again, this can vary widely.  If you plan to sell them to recoup your costs (a lofty if not foolhardy goal) you will likely want them in metal.  I know that most of the kind folks on LAF would prefer metal to resin anyway.  Metal is cheaper for bulk production, whereas resin is cheaper if you only want a few casts for yourself.

I forget the price I paid at this point, but for metal, you can typically expect to first have the sculpts made into a 'master mould'.  This will cost somewhere in the ballpark of $100-200ish?  From that mould, multiple casts of each piece will be made to make a production mould (cost unsure, probably similar to the master).  The production mould is what is used to cast your figures for general production, and once it deteriorates it can be made anew from the masters.

It really depends on your vision and your disposable income, but multiple parts can make the cost skyrocket astronomically in very little time when you consider it will take more sculpting time, and more fiddling to make it all fit together (especially due to expansion/shrinkage during casting).  Single pose figures will be cheaper to produce, and you can make some nice dynamic single pose figures you could not easily make from a multipart kit.

Also, this reminds me, White Knight does have not-Empire knights in the works which he purchased from fp, another member on Warhammer-Empire.  Perhaps not super-ornate though.

As for sculptors, ask around here.  I know there are a few working who do freelance work.  Otherwise, there are sculpting forums you could frequent to post up an ad.  I know Mark Evans was the sculptor for WK's landsknecht sea-elves, and those are probably the most ornate of his figures.  There are also the Lead Adventure Miniatures knights (link) being sculpted by Ratnik which might just be released in the new year - those are quite ornate and nice.  Would not mind seeing Ratnik sculpt some more in that vein...

[axiom]

Timber has covered most of the bases I think. A full sculpt costs between £200 and £500 for a 28mm figure depending on sculptor, genre and complexity. You may need to factor in costs for concept sketches too, as for anything other than simple work, the sculptor will need an image to work from.

I have used John Pickford, Bob Olley and Bob Naismith before and would happily recommend them all.

In terms of metal casting, Griffin and the Mouldmaker are both excellent (both UK).