If you are interested in getting some of your miniatures painted, having terrain built, or any of our similar services drop me a line! While you can get a general idea by visiting the pricing page, you can also drop me a line any time of day and I will get back to you as soon as I can with any additional questions or your preliminary quote. That detailed quote will include a full breakdown of your prices and you can approve, reject, change, add or remove items until we arrive at a work order that everyone is happy with. Once that's nailed down we can get started!

Obviously, hand delivery is the easiest and safest way to get your miniatures to me. But this is much less feasible if you don't live in or around Ithaca, NY.

Shipping them is the next best option. Any delivery service is fine, just make sure that they are well packaged! If you do not have a carrying/storage case that already has correctly sized foam inserts to protect all of your minis, you will want to use generous amounts of bubblewrap. You might also wish to label the box as "Fragile!".

Alternately, if you don't yet have the miniatures, they can be purchased on your behalf. I charge nothing extra for this service other than the actual price paid (which may include tax or shipping charges from the retailer). If you can get a better deal from a retailer that does mail order, you can also have your miniatures sent directly to me, saving both time and overall shipping charges.

When I receive your minis you will get a confirmation of what was received. If the inventory seems incorrect, contact me immediately. I might have somehow missed something in the bottom of the box! This process can be expedited if you include an inventory of the box's contents when shipping.

At this time, payment for any material costs is due, and unless your project only includes a couple of miniatures so is a deposit of usually half the cost of the commission.

For most miniatures I recommend some form of CA (cyanoacrylate) glue - superglue, polystyrene glue, etc. Everyone tends to have slightly different opinions on which ones work best (and in some cases, what they work best on), but just about everyone agrees that these type of glues work best for bonding the metal, plastic and sometimes resin that gaming miniatures tend to be made with. If your miniatures arrive unassembled, I will use an appropriate type of glue. If your miniatures were assembled before shipping, I will fix one or two breaks without charge.

Some particularly large and/or heavy and/or dramatically posed miniatures will stay together much better if they are pinned - that is, a metal reinforcing rod is installed in the joint(s) between the pieces. Personally, I rarely resort to pinning, and prefer to use the "right type of glue" in most instances. There are some cases where it really can't be avoided though, and I will prefer to err on the side of "not having your miniatures fall apart when breathed on". Of course, if you prefer much more extensive pinning we can certainly handle that, but generally prefer discussing that while creating your work order as it does effect assembly time and effort. In either case, we will attempt to identify pieces that will require this treatment from the get go so that there are no surprises along the way. Again, if one or two models seem to require minor pinning which we did not discuss beforehand, I will take care of them without charge. A surprise major pinning project may require a discussion of revisions to your quote.

Before I assemble miniatures I do a lot of work with my files. Pieces that are being joined will be verified for flatness and abraded slightly for better adhesion. And I am meticulous about removing mould lines. On the other hand, large gaps (in the mini or base) are best filled (usually with "green stuff" or a similar epoxy putty) or they detract from the final look of the model. I don't expect everyone to be as particular when assembling their miniatures, but I may find it necesary to go through and remove some of the more offensive mould lines or fill some of the larger holes to make it easier to paint. I find that some of the best looking paint jobs begin by creating a good surface to start from. Unless we've discussed it and made it a part of the work order though, I will not spend a large amount of time prepping the miniatures so please be sure that you are generally happy with the condition of what you are sending me.

When assembling minis, I often make it a personal goal to never pose any two models the same. If I end up having to make two models out of the same combination of pieces (many kits can only be mixed up so much, and I can only find so many extra parts in my bitz box) they can usually still be arranged differently. When they can't, they can usually be painted differently. I want every model to look unique.

Of course, that means I also love doing conversions. Even minor conversions to pose models differently than originally sculpted can give you something unique. More involved conversions are even more fun and provide endless opportunities for lending character to an army. I will happily utilize the pieces that you provide, are available in the kits that I receive, and occassionally delve into my own collection for useful and nifty bits. Sometimes special pieces will need to be ordered though. Based on our preliminary discussions, I hope to foresee many such cases and work those special pieces into the quote I provide. If you are willing to create a budget for conversions then I can simply work within your vision and pose models, use special bits, etc without having to get express permission (and approval) for each little change. Generally, I usually charge a tiny bit more per model for the extra time and effort required in assembling such pieces. Don't worry though, if we don't discuss conversions when working on your quote then I won't bug you incessently about them later - you either give me permission to do them (in which case we'll discuss what sort of special work you're looking for) or you don't and that's that.

Swappable weapons, arms, etc through the use of rare-earth magnets generally falls under conversions, but we should discuss these instances specifically before getting started. Not only does it require the extra parts, but I will need the magnets as well and certain situations will call for special sizes that I may not have on hand.

Before painting them your miniatures will need to be primed. If they are not sent primed, I can handle this with white or black primer (or in special cases, grey). The choice in primer colour is often dependent on the final paint job you are hoping to attain - I will make a suggestion based on our discussions.

Then your miniatures will be painted with the colour scheme and to the level of detail we have agreed upon. Obviously this is the most important part of the process and I want to be certain that you will be happy with the results. Be sure you've looked through some of the items in the gallery - this will give you a good idea of my style and what you can generally expect. For large units or whole armies I may initially paint a few models and take digital pictures so that you can approve them - this may save us time and effort in the long-run as I won't end up having to make modifications to a large number of models. I will definitely provide photos upon completion so that we can be sure you are satisfied with the results. This way, any minor alterations or touch ups can be handled before leaving the studio.

I usually paint bases a single "low-key" colour and then make them vaguely interesting by creating additional details in another one or two colours or adding flock, static grass, sand, rocks, rubble, other bits (such as skulls or discarded weapons) or a combination thereof. The idea is to create something nice and neat, but not so fancy as to draw attention away from the model. I can do my best to make your bases look like almost any terrain - just let me know what you're aiming for and I'll work on that. Some types of basing might require an additional cost than those listed for special materials, but such cases will be well discussed beforehand.

Basing can be done to match movement trays and/or display boards. Or I can make the movement trays and/or display board to match the basing. Full service solutions are available!

At this stage I can also glue metal plates to your bases for use with magnetic movement trays or just to provide a little more weight for better balance. Of course, I can also make said magnetic movement trays. Mention this option when we're getting started and I will work it into the quote. Pricing is not currently listed on the pricing page since I have not yet had occassion to locate a new supplier for the metal plates. (I do have one for the magnet sheets)

I recommend sealing your miniatures with either a gloss or matte varnish - it protects the paint job you've just paid for! I can do this for you before they even leave the studio or you are free to handle this process yourself.

I will always do my best to get your project completed within the timeframe discussed. I try to make my estimates realistic as well as timely. Unfortunately there are sometimes factors that work against us - the models might take longer to reach me than planned, I might experience an attack of "real life", or I might have simply estimated poorly when figuring how much time your project would take me. I will always let you know as soon as I think our timeframe has changed and give you my next best guess as to when it will be completed.

Once your project is completed, and you have seen the photos and approved it, the final deposit is due. If payment is being given to me directly I will accept cash (please, never send cash through the mail!). A U.S. Money Order, certified check, or payment through Paypal are also all acceptable. If you expect to pay by Paypal please let me know so that I can figure in the fees that they charge me. I will not accept personal checks.

Once that's out of the way your models will be shipped back to you by whatever method you have chosen. I will package them to the best of my abilities, which is usually pretty good. To date I believe that I can honestly say that I've never received a report of breakage during shipment (knock on wood...) when I've personally packaged something - domestic or overseas. I will follow-up to be sure that everything is to your satisfaction. You can request insurance on your package, but from what I've heard from some who do this professionally, it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to collect on a claim - and if you finally do it will be for the actual cost of the minis and not for any of the work I have done. The insurance agent will then take the 'damaged goods' and destroy them. Ack! Delivery Confirmation or Tracking is probably our best bet so that we can make sure the package doesn't go missing. If there are any serious problems during shipping, I would rather do what I can to help you get the minis fixed or replaced. If you must have insurance, and something unthinkable happens, I will of course do my part in helping you to file any claims.

Alternately, if your models were hand-delivered to me then we can most likely work out a similar arrangement to return them. Again, this is the safest method as your package changes hands less and is only handled by you and myself (or your trusted agent), but is obviously less feasible if you don't live in upstate NY.

You might be thinking "that all sounds well and good, but I'm not interested in miniatures; I'm interested in some of your other stuff". That's true, but I'm sure you can see where much of the same process applies: First we will discuss what you are looking for in detail and I will work on a quote until we've come to an agreement on what will be done. Material costs and the deposit will be paid. After that I will acquire the materials, either from you or one of my suppliers as appropriate. Work will begin and you may be presented with progress updates for periodic approval. If it is a long-term project, additional payment for phases may have been arranged as part of our initial agreement. Once completed you will get a final progress report and your final approval will be sought. When you are happy, final payment will be sent to me and your project will be sent to you.