White Metal Games is hiring!
White Metal Games is expanding and Painters Are Needed!
If you are a miniature painter living in or near the Raleigh/Knightdale area and would like to be considered as a studio artist for White Metal Games, email us at [email protected].
Send me pictures of your most recent work, or a link to an online portfolio. Remember you want to put your best foot forward, so send the best pictures you can. We get a lot of apologies for bad pictures. Take your time. You only get one chance to make a first impression.
We also would like to know a little about you:
- How did you get into the hobby and how long have you been painting?
- Have you ever painted for someone else? How did you like or not like that?
- What makes you a good candidate for commission work?
- How fast/slow do you paint? How many figures do you finish in a week, to what standard, and in how much time did it take you?
- Do you have any conversion work/kit bashing experience? Do you have any sculpting experience?
- Do you have a background in the arts, graphic or liberal?
- What is your availability like? For example, how many hours per week do you set aside for painting, and how many of those would you feel comfortable being paid to paint?
What does WMG look for in a Painter?
The ideal candidate would be someone local, with not less 20 hours per week to spare. The more you can work, the more you can make! For the right candidate that is willing to relocate to Raleigh, the earning potential is over $2000 a month in some cases!
Preferably a candidate would have extensive painting experience and preferably some experience painting for others. Painters must paint to a very high standard to be considered for our service.
What If I’ve Never Painted Miniatures before?
Spend a few years learning to paint, and then contact us again. We are always looking for great painters.
Who are you to judge my work! You don’t know me!
Great question. Since 2011, I’ve built WMG into a business that allowed me to leave my full time job to be a full time painter/hobbyist, and now I employ multiple artists that also work full time on commission work. Each year, WMG grosses over $300K in sales. We take on and complete hundreds of projects each year for clients all over the work.
In fact, work is rolling in faster than we can paint and that’s why we’re looking for new brushes for hire to call White Metal Games their studio!
Furthermore , we have done extensive research into our competitors, so we know what we’re up against.
That being said, if you don’t like having your work constructively criticized, this is not the job for you. We will evaluate your work regularly. We will be candid about the quality level and your turnaround speed, and if your work does not meet our expectations, we will part ways as friends.
What it means to be a ‘Pro-Painter’
Pro-Painter is a term that gets a lot of flak in the industry. We call ourselves pro-painters because we paint for a living. In fact, I’ve written extensively on the topic.
Not every model we paint is painted to a high standard, just like not every client we service has a high budget. At White Metal Games we offer several painting ‘levels’ to suit every clients needs.
- Bronze: Perfect for clients on a budget or with large projects to tackle.
Bronze Sample Gallery - Silver: Tabletop Standard; looks great on the table. Well suited for all size models.
Silver Sample Gallery - Electrum: Tabletop Plus. The perfect mix between silver and gold levels.
Electrum Sample Gallery - Gold: Pro-Painted. Perfect for characters, heroes, and centerpiece models.
Gold Sample Gallery - Platinum: Display Quality. Some of the finest work we’ve ever done.
Platinum Sample Gallery - Diamond: Forthcoming . . . if you paint better than Platinum, CONTACT US!
But we are picky about who we hire, and want to only hire those individuals that we believe are cut out for this. Of those, most DO like the work and stay for years.
HOW WE PAINT: THE WHITE METAL GAMES PAINTING METHOD
Our painting philosophy is simple: Style trumps detail. Being a pro-painter is about selling amazing looking models, no matter how you achieve the end result.
Our goal is to create Efficient – Consistent – Dynamic miniatures.
Efficient: Great models shouldn’t take forever to reach the client. We use refined techniques and assembly line methods to maximize workflow.
Consistent: Great models should be something our clients can count on every time they buy from us, especially if they add to a project over time. Our goal is to match or exceed our work every time.
Dynamic: Great models should stand out on the tabletop, no matter what painting level you selected. Our models should be visually interesting and convey depth.
Our approach to painting involves three keystones: Balance, Focus, and Depth
Balance: Balance is about choices; those we make and when we choose to hold back. The pallet we select helps to emphasize theme, mood, and the overall impression of the piece. When creating a custom model, balance plays a key role, as we decide on the direction the model should take, which parts to use, even stance.
Focus: Focus is used to draw the viewers attention to certain areas of the model, particular details; namely, the areas you WANT them to notice. We like to think of this as Suggested Perspective.
Perception is subjective to the viewer. So by encouraging them to look at a certain portion of the model, other portions with less noticeable detail will become white noise and fade away. This is a form of misdirection; by creating WOW elements, such as OSL, we draw the attention of the viewer.
Depth: Depth not only pertains to depth of color, but depth of light. Layers are built up with deliberate purpose, so that the final layer is the careful culmination of every layer that has come before it.
How long do I have to work on a commission?
It depends on the size and level of detail of the commission. Here are some typical turnarounds with WMG for tabletop quality figures (higher level figures obviously increase the time budget accordingly)
| Size of Project/Number of Figures | Average Turnaround Speed |
| A few RPG figures/A squad of Wargame models | A day or so |
| 10-20 figures | A few days, depending on level |
| Small army, 40-50 figures | 1-2 weeks |
| Large army, 60-80 figures, plus some vehicles | 2-3 weeks |
| Massive Project, 100 figures | 3+ weeks |
For resident painters, those that work on site, our typical painter starts at about $9-10 per hour.
For experienced painters with a great deal of experience and an extensive portfolio, we offer more, up to $11-12 per hour to start.
For extremely experienced painters with a master of high end technique, we have offered as much as $13-14 per hour to start.
Every six months, our painters are evaluated and those that continued to perform in a satisfactory capacity see a small raise twice a year.
Your rate of pay is commiserate with your experience, such as:
- How Fast You Paint – The faster you are, the more valuable you are!
- How Well You Paint – Being able to paint to a higher quality means you can take on more types of jobs.
- How Much Time you have to Paint – The more time you can spend painting each week, the more you can potentially earn. For example, full time employees typically get more practice and thus make more than part time employees.
- The Clients Coming In – Our client base has continued to expand over the years, and what we’ve seen is our clients demand higher product at a higher premium. So in short, painters that can paint to a higher level will see more income than those that paint to a tabletop level.
- Time of Year: Certain periods, such as the Holidays, are slow on commission work. Late Winter (just after Christmas) and early spring are our busiest times of year. Partially this is from people spending Christmas money (getting what they really want), spending tax returns, or gearing up for the Tournament Season.
All this sounds great! How do we begin?
Normally the way this works is, after initial contact by email, if we are interested in seeing your models up close, we will ask to meet you in person.
Bring some of your figures, showing a good range of textures, colors, mediums, and sizes. Presuming we are interested we move on to a trial period. You’ll work on some projects with us for say a week and we’ll get a sense of your workflow and ability range. If this trial period goes well, we’ll offer to hire you, then we’ll find you your first commission.
How do I reach you?
If we express interest, and you are on board with all of the above, then the next time you’re in Raleigh, let’s make plans to meet in person and chat, talk about things, explain to you how the business works, etc.
You can email us at the links, below. We prefer email and the email address is: [email protected]
If we think you might be the right fit for WMG, we can conduct an interview via Skype to chat in person.
Thanks for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you!
Caleb Dillon
White Metal Games
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