How do I find someone very good at painting miniatures to hire to paint one I have?

In My Humble Opinion
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1

I have a miniature to paint (just one). It is Spock’s shuttle from the original Star Trek movie.

You can see it here as the little tan model next to the Enterprise:

(I can get closer shots if needed.)

I want it to look like this:

I know there are many people out there who will paint miniatures for you for money. I am certainly happy to pay someone for this work.

My problem is, how do I find someone good to do this? They need not be elite but still, very good and and care about the final result being excellent. I tried to do this search on my own and there were no lack of results but it quickly became overwhelming to try and discern who was good and prices charged and so on.

If they are in Chicago all the better but I can ship the model if needed (I prefer in the US just for ease and time).

Any ideas? If anyone here is very good at this let me know. That’d be great.

2

This sounds like the kind of thing that you could find on Etsy. I’d start there.

3

I just Googled Chicago miniature expo and it look like there are two huge ones early next month. Sounds like you should drop by to see what the artists have to exhibit and maybe commission one whose work you like.

4

Similar to @Projammer, I’d suggest checking out a few local gaming/mini stores. Many of the bigger ones (depending on your location) will have exhibits of mini’s painted by local artists, some of whom provide their contact information and do commissioned work. You’ll see a LOT more at an expo like PJ just suggested, but they may end up being less local and more regional, though since you were willing to extend your search to the US that seems less of an issue.

And that’s a lovely Enterprise, I’d be envious, but I have cats.