[Miniature creation ] The cost of creating a minie , and Golden Horde & Timurids

[Byblos]

Hi !

This topic could be a little strange ... but i'm an absolute beginer in this domain  

How much costs the creation of a figurine !? (I mean : to ask at a skilfull engraver - so not me - to create a minie !?)

I detail my question : i , since a longtime , am really interested by the Golden Horde , The Timurids , The Turkestan , etc ...

I'm fond of these :






And i'm a bit disapointed , as an exemple , by the Timurid range from Gripping Beast ... (A little too big , and not enough detailed , but i have a lot of GB other range don't worry !)

I'm dream about a range of Timurid / GH & cie with the quality , as an exemple , of Aventine / Footsore / Claymore / etc ... !

So i think about the cost of the engraving of detailed minie !

Maybe try to gather some other interested by a 28mm range to have some money for a project !, (But i've not a lot a money so , "Un pour tous , tous pour un" ...)

[Anderson Collection]

I would also love to see a range of figures like this for Golden Horde and Timurids

[Sunjester]

I know a sculptor, I'll contact him and see if he is interested in quoting. He may be too busy at the moment, so I'll check with him first, before putting you in touch with him.

[Byblos]

Thank you SunJester !

[stone-cold-lead]

Depends on the sculptor, the model and what level of quality you want but you could pay anything up £500 for a 28mm figure. Bare in mind moulding and casting costs (and all the other little expenses) too. It's not cheap.

[Byblos]

 

[Duncan McDane]

I thought the usual rate for a 28mm R&F model is about 200 pounds. Add a bit too that if it's a character model but 500 pounds... 

[stone-cold-lead]

I thought the usual rate for a 28mm R&F model is about 200 pounds. Add a bit too that if it's a character model but 500 pounds... 

Depends who the sculptor is and importantly whether it's a simple one piece sculpt or something much more complex. I gather historics are generally lower priced than high end fancy fantasy and sci-fi though. It might be possible to find a hobby sculptor or someone starting out who will knock something together for as little as a hundred quid, even less. As with everything, you get what you pay for.

[clibinarium]

It varies a lot from sculptor to sculptor, but I'd say for a historical sculpt of good quality, 120 to 200 GBP would be the ball park figure for a rider (not including casting). You can certainly get one for less, but as has been said you get what you pay for.

I think you'd be looking at the upper range of that bracket for figures like this; they are very detail-dense, and detail takes time to do well. The horse armour is complex (I'm doing similar Ottoman stuff today actually). Part of the challenge with all these armours is to ensure the figures don't swell up too much, which seems to be a problem with some ranges; they can look over-padded and bulky.
You could get get more out of sculpts by carefully thinking about using break waist figures, and which armour sets can be mixed.

[Elbows]

You could also look at kit-bashing (maybe start with Fire Forge plastic Russians etc.)

[dbsubashi]

You could also look at kit-bashing (maybe start with Fire Forge plastic Russians etc.)

This. After looking at the pictures you provided, my first thought was Fire Forge Russians mixed with their Mongols.

As to the sculpting cost, remember that it will take several hours to sculpt. Like 10 hours or so, not including time for the scuplting material to set. More for mounted. More for extra details. 2-300 pounds/euros is about right for 2-3 days of specialized work. 500 sounds right for a weeks work. Of course, you could recoup that by moulding the figs and selling copies. You might even be able to work with an established figure company to sell them for you!