Thoughts on Painting Custom Parts

[pickelhaube]

I am not sure if this is the right heading but here goes.

When I started making my Pavehawk parts I just wanted to make the parts and move them out the door. Then I teamed up with Foxhole Toys . They wanted them turn key.

Painting those minis and arms and all were a major pain in the tail. That is the reason the painted set goes for $65 and the unpainted set sells for around $30. At the time it took almost a day to paint one set.

Well now I got my act together on those and it does not take all day.

At one time I had to fill 15 orders at one time and that took forever.

So now most of all of my creations that I make ,are offered unpainted. Some guys complain that my prices are too high but in fact as far as customizers go I am the cheapest in town. I can beat that dead horse till the cows come home but that will not change their minds.

You guys who have baught my stuff ( there are plenty of you ) know what it takes to paint these things. So I an thinking JUST THINKING of maybe startting to paint all of my Pavehawk parts.

These would be custom made to match camo versions. THE PRICE WILL ALMOST DOUBLE FOR EVERYTHING. But it will be a turn key deal. Buy the parts and stick them on the helo.

Fo those of you who have baught my parts already. You could send them back and I will retro paint them.

Again I am just thinking out loud because if I do this I could get more bogged down than I already.

There are guys out there who would love to get my parts but their modeling skills are some what wanting or just do not have the time. This although costly will give them their chance to get that custom look.

Remarks welcomed.

[grunt1]

I'm in the same boat as you know. First of all it has to be worth your time so you need to charge whatever makes sense.

That being said, charging double even though your time and materials are more than worth it, really limits who would be interested. I'm playing around with some sort of ad hoc production line process where I could hit ten at time or something. We'll see..

The other question would be to what level of quality do these paint jobs need to be?

Basic black parts, DAK, olive drab, etc.. might be enough for some people for an extra $10 a pop or something. Others of course would want multiple colors and the smaller details painted and might be willing to pay more. A poll might be a good idea on that sub-topic..

[grunt1]

Oh and assembling things for those that can't or do want to do it themselves poses a similar challenge I'd guess..

These issues are where the 1:18 scale is so interesting and different that 1:35. Almost everything initially produced was cheap, assembled and painted but now the market consists mainly of DIY kits, kitbashing and collectors tracking down older and more rare items.

[Panther F]

There are always going to be those that complain about prices. I would just ask them if they could do it themselves at a better price?


- Jeff

[margras77]

The Pavehawk parts I dont really have a problem with because I have an idea for which mine won't need to be camo'd.

Honestly, and I can only speak for myself here, I think that you should keep them unpainted mostly if it allows you to work more on the models and fill more orders. Thats just my personal feeling really

[snake]

Why not offer both,PH?

Unpainted for the guys with painting skills,and painted for the guys lacking these skills.

[Folkwulfe]

Grandpa always said...."You can give somebody a Cadillac and they'll complain about the color"!!! Just my $.02 worth.

[Fritzkrieg]

The only trouble, I have had with painting your kits, is a problem that accured do to the paint I was using. Tamiya for plastic sucks I do wish the pieces needed a little less body work. I'm not that good at using bondo.