Best custom body painter??
06-03-2010, 08:45 AM
#46
06-03-2010, 09:54 AM
#47
Kristofer Norlock of Darkside designs is a very good painter. He is also a J concepts dealer and also does custom decals and wraps... He has lots of his work up for show on his website... www.darksidedesigns.net 
06-08-2010, 05:11 PM
#49
ANY good painter has a wait list....most are 2-3 weeks....imo its normal
06-12-2010, 11:49 PM
#50
For anyone to come on here and say a custom painted RC body is overpriced must have never taken the time to understand the amount of talent and time it takes to produce just 1 of these works of art. Just for example I'll take my procedure....1 hour to clean and mask a body...another hour to lay down a design and get it adjusted just right to that particular body...next between 3-4 hours of cut and painting time. So now you have anywhere from 5-6 hours sometimes more for 1 body. And if a painter charges $40-50 (cheap in my opninion) they are barely making over minimum wage to paint these bodies. Take the same talent and time on a full size car or motorcycle or whatever and suddenly they charge anywhere from $50-150 dollars per hour! So for those that scoff at the prices of these bodies should really just be happy there are painters willing to paint for almost nothing and continue to turn out pure works of art for almost nothing!!!
My advice is to move onto more profitable mediums and dont waste your talents anymore!
Usually my response to people that are concerned of the cost of a custom painted body is that they shouldnt be getting one. There are lots of so so painters that are willing to paint for $20 a body...let them. Either they will get burned out from giving their time and talent away or they will improve their craft and rasie their prices accordingly.
My advice is to move onto more profitable mediums and dont waste your talents anymore!
Usually my response to people that are concerned of the cost of a custom painted body is that they shouldnt be getting one. There are lots of so so painters that are willing to paint for $20 a body...let them. Either they will get burned out from giving their time and talent away or they will improve their craft and rasie their prices accordingly.
If you think is overprice you dont deserve to own a Paint Job from Jim.
06-13-2010, 09:35 PM
#52
Thanks for the props guys! I am trying and I learn something almost every week even after all these years.
One thing I learned really quickly, if you try to attract people that don't value your time, you will be swamped with "emergency paint work" and never make any money, then stop painting from burnout...eventually.
Some painters last a few months, some a few years, NONE that try to attract customers who don't value their time, will last.
Here is the scenario....
Cheapskate: "Can you paint me a body Friday if I get it to you by tuesday?".
Painter: "I can try, but my sons birthday is wednesday and we go to dinner as a family Friday night, so it will be tuff this week".
Cheapskate: "Come on dude, i'll trash you on the internet if you don't! You must be rich from painting by now anyways?"
Painter: "Rich, I wish, I do it because I love painting, not for the money!"
Cheapskate: "Cool, can you paint it for me by Friday for free then?"
Painter: "No".
Cheapskate: "Nevermind your a rip off anyway, your so done when I get to my keyboard...i'll just buy an airbrush so I can get rich too!"
lol
Customers who don't want you to make a dime are easy to find, they will line up at your door....Until you fade away.
It's a tuff bizz, I am just glad to have some of the best customers in the world who reward me with repeat business and referrals for my efforts. They know what it takes and actually appreciate hard work. They are the best and the only reason I keep at it!
...Jim
W.E.D.
www.wedjim.com
One thing I learned really quickly, if you try to attract people that don't value your time, you will be swamped with "emergency paint work" and never make any money, then stop painting from burnout...eventually.
Some painters last a few months, some a few years, NONE that try to attract customers who don't value their time, will last.
Here is the scenario....
Cheapskate: "Can you paint me a body Friday if I get it to you by tuesday?".
Painter: "I can try, but my sons birthday is wednesday and we go to dinner as a family Friday night, so it will be tuff this week".
Cheapskate: "Come on dude, i'll trash you on the internet if you don't! You must be rich from painting by now anyways?"
Painter: "Rich, I wish, I do it because I love painting, not for the money!"
Cheapskate: "Cool, can you paint it for me by Friday for free then?"
Painter: "No".
Cheapskate: "Nevermind your a rip off anyway, your so done when I get to my keyboard...i'll just buy an airbrush so I can get rich too!"
lol
Customers who don't want you to make a dime are easy to find, they will line up at your door....Until you fade away.
It's a tuff bizz, I am just glad to have some of the best customers in the world who reward me with repeat business and referrals for my efforts. They know what it takes and actually appreciate hard work. They are the best and the only reason I keep at it!
...Jim
W.E.D.
www.wedjim.com
06-13-2010, 09:42 PM
#53
that is put very good jim and its the truth! Most people dont understand that painting is a talent that is not easy to do as they may think it is. ALOT ALOT of prep work goes into painting a body... the bad thing is they do all this work and they do not make that much money doing it! promise. if u think so sit down add up the time it takes the money for the paint and the brush and cleaning and all that theres no way.. there like teachers get brakes off from school but when they work the pay SUCKS!. its a passion and the enjoyments of seeing your work on the track!
06-13-2010, 11:16 PM
#54
Thanks for the props guys! I am trying and I learn something almost every week even after all these years.
One thing I learned really quickly, if you try to attract people that don't value your time, you will be swamped with "emergency paint work" and never make any money, then stop painting from burnout...eventually.
Some painters last a few months, some a few years, NONE that try to attract customers who don't value their time, will last.
Here is the scenario....
Cheapskate: "Can you paint me a body Friday if I get it to you by tuesday?".
Painter: "I can try, but my sons birthday is wednesday and we go to dinner as a family Friday night, so it will be tuff this week".
Cheapskate: "Come on dude, i'll trash you on the internet if you don't! You must be rich from painting by now anyways?"
Painter: "Rich, I wish, I do it because I love painting, not for the money!"
Cheapskate: "Cool, can you paint it for me by Friday for free then?"
Painter: "No".
Cheapskate: "Nevermind your a rip off anyway, your so done when I get to my keyboard...i'll just buy an airbrush so I can get rich too!"
lol
Customers who don't want you to make a dime are easy to find, they will line up at your door....Until you fade away.
It's a tuff bizz, I am just glad to have some of the best customers in the world who reward me with repeat business and referrals for my efforts. They know what it takes and actually appreciate hard work. They are the best and the only reason I keep at it!
...Jim
W.E.D.
www.wedjim.com
One thing I learned really quickly, if you try to attract people that don't value your time, you will be swamped with "emergency paint work" and never make any money, then stop painting from burnout...eventually.
Some painters last a few months, some a few years, NONE that try to attract customers who don't value their time, will last.
Here is the scenario....
Cheapskate: "Can you paint me a body Friday if I get it to you by tuesday?".
Painter: "I can try, but my sons birthday is wednesday and we go to dinner as a family Friday night, so it will be tuff this week".
Cheapskate: "Come on dude, i'll trash you on the internet if you don't! You must be rich from painting by now anyways?"
Painter: "Rich, I wish, I do it because I love painting, not for the money!"
Cheapskate: "Cool, can you paint it for me by Friday for free then?"
Painter: "No".
Cheapskate: "Nevermind your a rip off anyway, your so done when I get to my keyboard...i'll just buy an airbrush so I can get rich too!"
lol
Customers who don't want you to make a dime are easy to find, they will line up at your door....Until you fade away.
It's a tuff bizz, I am just glad to have some of the best customers in the world who reward me with repeat business and referrals for my efforts. They know what it takes and actually appreciate hard work. They are the best and the only reason I keep at it!
...Jim
W.E.D.
www.wedjim.com
, I learned the hard way, I now walk away from a lot of work, you give them a deal and thats the only time you see them or your the last painter they find that would do a last min body for them, you like my work you have to pay for it, I appreciate the poeple the give me there business and support, We all have lost alot of money giving deal to so call customers that are really cheapskates I have steady work from customer that keep me busy and I THANK YOU!, I havn't been on ebay in over 2 years that says it all. era1fxcustoms
09-03-2011, 10:30 PM
#56
What a great thread.
09-03-2011, 11:03 PM
#57
Ha ha, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder ima say that color combination, clean lines, and final attention to every facet of detail are what a good airbrush artist uses to pull off great work. And to be honest, I've seen alot of work on this site and there are a couple guys who get it.
And Jconcepts uses KustomRCGraphics, this is fact.
And Jconcepts uses KustomRCGraphics, this is fact.
09-04-2011, 03:24 AM
#58
Tech Adept
This is a really interesting thread, I think alot comes down to what you personally prefer as some artists are better than others in different areas ie some paint flames better than replica decals etc.
Some of my favourites are
wed jim (never ever seen a bad looking body +++)
Shop UFO (super crisp and look awesome)
Kustomrcgrapics (for flames his work look awesome)
I also quite like Jon Miller of rcs (does lots of differents types of work)
and Roly for ghost flames.
I don't think its fair to say anyone is overpriced, you either get it painted at the price they give or get it done elsewhere. The fact is its a skilled art and time costs money.
I've not seen any work from the TK guy but that wall hanging is AWESOME and that is probably the reason we don't see him painting rc bodies anymore.
Some of my favourites are
wed jim (never ever seen a bad looking body +++)
Shop UFO (super crisp and look awesome)
Kustomrcgrapics (for flames his work look awesome)
I also quite like Jon Miller of rcs (does lots of differents types of work)
and Roly for ghost flames.
I don't think its fair to say anyone is overpriced, you either get it painted at the price they give or get it done elsewhere. The fact is its a skilled art and time costs money.
I've not seen any work from the TK guy but that wall hanging is AWESOME and that is probably the reason we don't see him painting rc bodies anymore.
09-04-2011, 06:58 AM
#59
I ran across a site that is FAR more than what I would ever need...but it is still killer.
All mentioned painters deserve to set their own prices. If you don't want to pay you should get some skill and try it yourself. People will learn it's not as easy as it can appear. Even if you can draw.
All mentioned painters deserve to set their own prices. If you don't want to pay you should get some skill and try it yourself. People will learn it's not as easy as it can appear. Even if you can draw.
Last edited by hypoluxa; 09-04-2011 at 09:25 AM.
