I've tuned my techniques for this quality level such that I average 10-minutes per figure, including The Dip application. In order for this to be worth my time and effort, I would need to make $25 USD/hour…
I would need to get around $4 USD-$5 per figure, or I would not waste my time.
I paid $3 USD-$4/figure, for this level of painting, back in the mid-90's. I got tired of spending so much money on painting service, so I bought some paint, a few brushes, and I've never looked back, since. YMMV.
What I found most interesting, is that my friend who had been painting my figures, was surprised that I was able to achieve similar quality with only 10 minutes of painting time, per figure. At that time, he had painted 10,000+ miniatures, both personally, and professionally, for others. I achieved this level of quality, and speed, within weeks of starting.
I do assembly line, simple block painting, followed by The Dip, so my system is highly optimized, and thoroughly boring, and redundant… But it works, and it works very efficiently. Good enough, at arm's length, on the tabletop. My miniatures are not works of art, and I am fine with that. LOL! Cheers!
