The complete guide to managing miniature painting commissions

The #1 dispute in mini painting commissions is quality expectation mismatch. "Tabletop standard" to one client means clean base coats with a wash. To another it means edge highlights and layered blending. You need to show, not tell.

What to collect:

Army list or model list with exact unit names and quantities. "My Custodes army" is useless. "10 Custodian Guard, 3 Allarus Terminators, 1 Trajann Valoris, 1 Telemon Dreadnought" is quotable.

Quality tier with example photos from your own portfolio. Show the client what their money buys at each level. Tabletop: base coat, shade, one highlight, basic basing. Tabletop+: layered highlighting, multiple shade colors, textured basing. Display: NMM, OSL, freehand, custom sculpted bases. Competition: every technique at maximum refinement.

Color scheme: Reference images, specific paint names ("Retributor Armour" not "gold"), or army painter equivalents. The miniature paint matcher covers 41+ brands so clients can specify across Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, Reaper, Scale75, and more.

Assembly state: On sprue, assembled, primed, or partially painted? Sub-assembly requests (separate heads, arms, backpacks for easier painting)? Magnetization for weapon swaps?

Basing: Style (urban rubble, forest, snow, lava), materials (cork, sand, tufts, water effects), and whether bases are included or supplied by client.

Deadline: Tournament dates are hard deadlines. "Before the GT in October" means shipped and received 2 weeks before the event.

Mini painting pricing is per-model with multipliers for quality tier and complexity. The trap: quoting per-model without calculating your hourly rate. An infantry model at tabletop takes 20-30 minutes. At $8/model, that's $16-24/hour. Not bad. But a display-quality character taking 6 hours at $150 is $25/hour, and a competition piece taking 20 hours at $300 is $15/hour. Complexity scales faster than most painters price for.

Here's the 2026 market compiled from r/brushforhire postings, Facebook commission groups, and Fiverr mini painting listings:

Mini painting commissions have a different discovery pattern than cosplay or fursuits. Most clients come through community channels: r/brushforhire (the single largest mini painting commission marketplace), Discord painting servers (Tabletop Painters Guild, various game-specific servers), and Facebook groups (Mini Painting Commissions, game-specific groups).

These channels are free. No platform fees. The trade-off is that you're managing everything yourself: intake through DMs, payments through PayPal, tracking in your head.

Fiverr (20% fee) has a growing mini painting category. On a $2,000 army commission, that's $400. Fiverr brings you clients who wouldn't find you on Reddit, but the fee is steep for large projects. More reasonable for single display pieces ($100-300 range) where the convenience of Fiverr's built-in system offsets the fee.

Etsy (6.5% + fees) works for painters who photograph their work well and want passive discovery. On a $2,000 commission: ~$130 in fees.

Ko-fi (5%) and VGen (5%) are lighter alternatives. On $2,000: $100.

The community consensus on r/brushforhire and painting Discords: use free community channels for client finding, use a direct tool for management, and only pay platform fees if you're specifically buying discoverability you can't get otherwise.

Single models and small units: full payment upfront. No exceptions. The administrative overhead of milestone tracking on a $50 model isn't worth it.

Army commissions ($500+): milestones tied to batch completion, not calendar dates. A 2,000-point army might look like:

Army commissions generate a lot of WIP content. The mistake: sending 40 individual model photos. The fix: photograph batches at key stages.

The batch photo protocol:

Assembled and primed (group shot, all models). Base colors complete (group shot + 1-2 close-ups of representative models). Washes and shading done (group shot showing depth). Highlights and details (close-up of a character or standout model). Basing complete (group shot on display). Final varnished army (full army shot, multiple angles).

Include a "batch tracking" shot showing completed vs remaining units. Clients care about army progress, not individual model progress. The exception: centerpiece models (named characters, large monsters) deserve their own WIP updates.

Photo quality matters. Mini painting clients are visual. Use a lightbox or daylight lamp. Photograph against a neutral background. Include a model for scale reference in army shots. Bad photos of good painting lose client confidence.

Painted miniatures are fragile. A single chipped sword tip or rubbed highlight can sour a client on an otherwise excellent commission.

Packing methods (in order of protection):

Magnetized transport: Magnetize all bases. Ship on a metal baking sheet or magnetic sheet inside a box. Models can't shift or contact each other. Best method for large armies. Costs ~$0.10-0.20 per magnet.

Foam tray: Pluck foam (Battlefoam, Feldherr, KR Multicase) or custom-cut foam. Each model in its own slot. More expensive but reusable. Some painters include the foam tray as part of the commission (added to the quote).

Budget method: Each model wrapped individually in tissue paper, placed upright in a box with dividers (egg carton style). Cheaper but riskier for delicate models.

Shipping rules: Box within a box. Inner box holds models, outer box has 2" of cushioning. Insure for full commission value. Photograph every model before packing and photograph the packed box before sealing. Ship with tracking.

The pickup option: Many mini painters offer local pickup to avoid shipping risk entirely. If client is within driving distance, this eliminates the #1 cause of post-commission disputes (shipping damage).

Based on TOS pages from established mini painting commission services:

Model list with quantities: Exact unit names, not army faction names. This is your scope document. Anything not on the list is a separate quote.

Quality tier with example photos: The single most important term. Attach 2-3 photos per tier from your own work. Client selects and both parties have a visual reference.

Color scheme: Specific paint names or approved reference images. "Make it look like the box art" is a valid reference. "Make it look cool" is not.

Basing specification: Style, materials, and complexity. "Textured bases with tufts" is different from "custom sculpted scenic bases" and costs 2-5x more.

Timeline: Estimate based on queue position and army size. Not a guarantee.

Revision policy: This is critical for mini painting. Repainting a model is not a minor revision. It's stripping, repriming, and repainting. Define what counts as a revision ("adjust highlight placement on 2 models") vs. what's a repaint ("I changed my mind on the color scheme for the whole army"). Repaints are billed at per-model rates.

Shipping damage: Define who bears risk and at what point. Standard: risk transfers to client when carrier accepts the package. Insurance is recommended.

Cancellation: Non-refundable deposit. Models completed to date are billed at agreed per-model rates. Remaining balance refunded. Partially completed models: discuss whether to finish and ship or return as-is.