Comission to paint a helmet?

People are shocked to hear how much it costs but they fail to see think about the cost of all the various paint colors (and other supplies) it takes to paint one properly and then even more importantly, the countless hours it takes to do. Painting a Fett bucket is not something you can sit down and do in two hours. To do it properly can take a few days up to a few months depending upon the level of accuracy.

I've been asked to paint helmets for folks several times and every time I've told them what I considered to be a fair price of $350-$400 I've never heard back from them. :lol:
 
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I've been asked to paint helmets for folks several times and every time I've told them what I considered to be a fair price of $350-$400 I've never heard back from them. :lol:

:lol: :lol: ...so true WC....:lol:
I think I scare people off when I quote...:p
Great points bro....(y)


GREAT THREAD BTW GEEKPASTOR (typo)...(y)
 
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I have never painted anything in my life until I did my first bucket, but I wanted it to come out good. So I bought a airbrush and a compressor, after practicing with it, I tackled my bucket, and I have to say it does take a long time, but with the help of TDH, I was able to do a pretty good job for my first attemp. Sadly on my final day when I was about to install my visor, it took a nasty fall off the countertop. And it broke badly. It was resin and cost me around $80, but now I know more about it before I get ready to order my BM bucket. Good luck.
 
The only painting skills that I have are with my airbrush. Right now I am working on my jet pack and I suck with bondo so it is taking me a while to even get it ready to paint. I have never painted a helmet before, but I have painted a set of gauntlets, and I am about to do another set of gauntlets as well as a cod. Oh I am going to be painting a Clone Trooper bucket soon though, that will be my first experience with painting a bucket.
 
I'm not scarred off my the price... I just don't have the $$$ :)

I can't get an airbrush machine... so I'm going to try spray paints... Thanks for the help and advice... I'm sure I'll be posting many more questions. Thank you for being patient with a noob!
 
Something to take into consideration (and this goes for all aspects of the hobby), is that the majority of artisans do not do this for 'work', but rather their spare time in the evenings and on weekends. Throw family, church, soccer practice and Scouts in the mix, and their spare time can become quite expensive.

A scenario:
Bill is single, living alone, and has a great day job. He does not have any extracurricular activities. His spare time is not worth much, because he has so much of it. He might paint a helmet for $100.

Jim has a wife, two little girls (both into soccer and ballet), and he is a youth minister at his church. His spare time is precious, and would cost quite a bit more. Jim's painting price is $600.

A lot of people complain about the high prices for services, but I urge everyone to think about what their own 'spare time' is actually worth.
 
Something to take into consideration (and this goes for all aspects of the hobby), is that the majority of artisans do not do this for 'work', but rather their spare time in the evenings and on weekends. Throw family, church, soccer practice and Scouts in the mix, and their spare time can become quite expensive.

A scenario:
Bill is single, living alone, and has a great day job. He does not have any extracurricular activities. His spare time is not worth much, because he has so much of it. He might paint a helmet for $100.

Jim has a wife, two little girls (both into soccer and ballet), and he is a youth minister at his church. His spare time is precious, and would cost quite a bit more. Jim's painting price is $600.

A lot of people complain about the high prices for services, but I urge everyone to think about what their own 'spare time' is actually worth.

Great point ....as always BN..:cheers
 
Yep, someone approached me to do one recently. I have three kids, and a job that has me working 12 hours a day. I just told them "no" as there is no way I could have charged enough to make it worth the time I would have to put in.

And BTW - I am not nearly as good as the other folks on this board :D
 
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In no particular order I have put together a list of board members that I know of that offer painting services:
If I missed anyone please let me know...
(or let me know and I will remove your name if you don't want it posted)

evan4218
Darthmiller
Rogue Studios
Marrow Sun
Fettpride
AFettFullofDollars
superjedi
Man of War Studios
bobamaker
Webchief
Motorfish
micke
Steve the Swede

Hope this helps...:)
 
Spidey,
I don't think Steve the Swede should be on that list.
He doesn't paint helmets.

He has invented some kind of magical replication machine that makes him able to create
exact copies of the actual Boba ESB helmet!! :eek: He's used it twice already that I know of! (y)
 
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Spidey,
I don't think Steve the Swede should be on that list.
He doesn't paint helmets.

He has invented some kind of magical replication machine that makes him able to create
exact copies of the actual Boba ESB helmet!! :eek: He's used it twice already that I know of! (y)

:lol: :lol: ..that's funny...and soooo true..(y)
 
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I don't think many of the top painters even come close to a "Grand" (some do)..I think EVAN was just trying to make a point that all painters charge differently.....

Yeah, there are some folks that chare that... I think the only maker breaker is if you need the painter to do heavy prep work and mods to the helmet. I spent as much time if not more moding Ripcodes MS1 to make it accurate then I did painting the darn thing. I HATE prep work so I will always charge quite a bit on that. You should be able to get a GREAT paintjob for $300-400 from a member on this board. There are so many talented folks here too. :)
 
Yeah, there are some folks that chare that... I think the only maker breaker is if you need the painter to do heavy prep work and mods to the helmet. I spent as much time if not more moding Ripcodes MS1 to make it accurate then I did painting the darn thing. I HATE prep work so I will always charge quite a bit on that. You should be able to get a GREAT paintjob for $300-400 from a member on this board. There are so many talented folks here too. :)

And thats a heck of a good price for paint job and very affordable for a Fett paint. Make no mistakes folks, this stuff is ARTWORK,


I think it's not so much a complaint of the price as much it is a complaint of just not have the cash to have one done.

for instance using the example above:

A scenario:
Bill is single, living alone, and has a great day job. He does not have any extracurricular activities. His spare time is not worth much, because he has so much of it. He might paint a helmet for $100. This fellas can afford an UBER paint up I would think (or at least would not get assaulted by his wife LOL :) )

Jim has a wife, two little girls (both into soccer and ballet), and he is a youth minister at his church. His spare time is precious, and would cost quite a bit more. Jim's painting price is $600. This fella probably could not afford it as a lump sum (payments are nice as Spidey has stated :) )
I happen to fall into the "Jim and his wife" group.

Someday, when I have the best bucket can get, I would love to have Evan or Spidey to paint a bucket for me. Their skill would require me to get the best helmet I can because I would not want to waste their skills on a sub-par bucket. :)

Those fealls in particular have lifted painting fett buckets to a new level :)
 
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So, just to make sure I understand this correctly... Sending my melted Rubies to anyone on the list for prep and mods prior to painting is not a good thing? ;)

Sorry Evan, guess I won't be sending it with that crate of Bondo I was talking about after all.
 
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OOps spidey you forgot me ;). I also don't think Rouge Studios is taking painting jobs on helmets these days. I could be wrong but I think he is pretty busy.
 
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