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Painting services
The_Real_Chris
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:56 am 
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Well, my grand tour of Bangladesh is over and I'm back to home with a 'net connection. Epic wasn't forgotten - a lot of my time in the south allowed me to play games in Chittagon against an Epic nut who has opened up a wargames minitures painting service in an Export Processing Zone. (Reinforcements by Post)

Now, I'm considering making use of this and get some of my backlog of mini's painted.

Currently Niel is considering doing Epic mini's for 1 pence per colour per model for infantry (so say an ultramarine would be dark blue/light blue or light blue/wash and shoulder trim and silver and black - 5p x 5 - 45p per base + basing and varnish). Working out at roughly 50p or so a stand.

My question to everyone elsehere is would you also consider such a service, or more particularily what factors would concern you?

A big one has to be shipping - I've lost too many irriplacable models over the years to trust it, but I'm in the country so bypass that problem. Niel prefers to buy models wholesale and sell them to customers, but he doesn't know if this is possible with Epic.

So what do you think?

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primarch
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:35 am 
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Hi!

I'd go for it. I realized this was the solution to the painting backlog I had several years ago. In my case, as members of the forums have seen in my posted pics, is pretty good and the price is roughly the same as the ones your quoting. Shipping can be expensive, but overall easily absorbable due to the low cost of getting it painted.

It is a viable option as afar as I'm concerned.

Primarch

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Markconz
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:30 am 
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I have two concerns with such services...

First is the working conditions for the painters - is the business owner running a miniatures painting 'sweatshop', and taking advantage of cheap labour and not  rewarding the painters adequately? I am not really sure how you could assess this beyond talking to the actual painters themselves, but for me this is a real concern. What percentage of the profit goes to the boss, and how much to the painters?

Secondly there is the concern that minis may be lost in the mail, however this would not concern me as much as the first point.

To sum up, if I had some sort of guarantee the paitners were not being hideously exploited I would go for it! :D

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The_Real_Chris
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:21 am 
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The first point is a tricky one to be sure, though less of an issue for me, as I have been there and talked to them (through my 4 year old daughter who is fluent in Bangla after only a year, I can speak 3 words) so didn't list it as a concern.

In order to visit the factory I had to sign a confidentiality agreement so as not to reveal processes, pay levels and similar - all however within Bangladesh and international law/decent morals.

Niel is just starting up and fears competition with other overseas painting services so is playing it close to the chest. I've advised him that greater transparency is a better route, but he isn't confident enough for that yet.

A lot of the labour law is actually pretty good - its bad in Bangladesh as a whole, but good in the EPZ. This was set up with international cash so internation norms were established. As a result his staff are definatively in the upper 50% of the population pay wise (they get twice what a traffic policeman gets) and have the shortest hours outside the civil service (6 1/2 hours a day). Niels insisting playing it all by the rules which is really pissing off the local officials who are eager for bribes. He's even got an online blog where he records these tribulations most amusingly. I think a back-up plan is the publish them if the business doesn't work out!

He's also discovered that the quality of staff in Bangladesh is awful. Really really bad. To get a team of good painters with common sense and the ability to understand a model took over 6 months of recruitment and hes gone to extrordinary lengths to keep them (one lady whose mother in laws family was beating the baby - it was a girl - had her husband leave her when she discovered this and asks him for help, to ensure she did't move back to her mums village Niel ended up getting a flat for her to stay in!).

I think the staff are better off with their guarrentied 10% pay rise a year and redundancy package (you get 1 weeks pay per month of work if you are made redundant/fired) than profit sharing. It will be a while before any serious profit is made I feel as various 'hidden costs' in Bangaldesh keep appearing! Still he's rich and is prepared to look at the return over 10 years not 1 so hes not worried yet.

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The_Real_Chris
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:25 am 
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Oh yeah, and hes had to start giving them free food - food poisoning in bangladesh is incredibly common (selling adulterated food now carries the death penalty as so many were dropping like flies) so the only way to kep the staff healthy was to feed them himself. Funny how all of this only comes to light after you have made the initial investment isn't it? :)

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'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
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Markconz
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:49 am 
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Interesting! It sounds like it is a positive environment for his employees then. I guess difficulty finding good staff to paint wargames figures is not surprising ?(it must seem pretty mad! :laugh: ). I mean how long did it take us when we started the hobby to get to grips with painting etc... :)




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Legion 4
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:24 am 
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I do all my own painting ... it may take me forever ... but I paint my own stuff ! :;):

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duz.holger
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 5:42 pm 
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how much for larger models like artillery and gyrocopters

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duz.holger
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 5:44 pm 
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and a link to the ordering site i have a squat army that desperatly need pantin and assemply

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The_Real_Chris
 Post subject: Painting services
PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:33 pm 
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Link is at the top (reinforcements by post). Don't be afriad to shop around however. Check out the mercenry brush for instance.

Price wise best to email Neil for a quote.

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'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
"Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."
General Plumer, 191x
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