Contacting us
You can email us at modartis@gmail.com. We try to answer emails
within 24 hours. If you don't get a response in this time please send me
nother mail in case your mail has been trapped by a spam filter.
Our telephone number is +88 443 448 2216 (updated March 2007)
We have another telephone +88 031 742097 which diverts to fax (updated March 2007)
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Postage rates from US to Bangladesh can be found here
USPS
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Do I supply figures or can I buy them from you?
I have a stock of Elite miniatures 28mm figures and Baccus miniatures 6mm figures.
We can paint figures which you send to us directly. Since we take these
miniatures in bulk we can help to mitigate your postage and handling costs. We
are also able to save you money by buying figures VAT free. If
you want figures from these manufacturers ask if we have them in stock. If not,
we might be able to save you one "leg" of postage by ordering them direct. If
there is a manufacturer which you think I should be buying miniatures from
please let me know. I hate to see customers blowing money on postage and customs
costs when they could be assuaging the Lead God (may he never Oxidise).
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What are Battle standard, Connoisseur and Museum quality?
Battle standard minis are flat painted. There is no shading and no highlighting.
We can paint these miniatures quickly, so we pass savings on to you. Conniseur
quality miniatures are shaded with detailing. Museum quality miniatures are
fully shaded, highlighted and detailed. Battle standard doesn't really work
with larger miniatures.
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Materials which we use
We make our own inks and basing material. We use Vallejo paint and matt varnish.
For protection of your miniatures we always use hard wearing a gloss varnish
before we "matt" figures (if that is your choice).
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How long does it take for my figures to be painted?
Six to eight weeks. It can take longer for larger orders (more than a few hundred figures). But we will paint them sooner if we are able. Work can progress much faster if we receive well organised figures with clear instructions. I will help you to prepare instructions prior to sending them to me.
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Which periods and scales can you paint?
We can paint any period or scale.
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Can you copy my samples?
Absolutely. You can speed up your order tremendously by supplying samples. We can also match your basing so that your reinforcements fit in with your current forces.
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Should I supply references, guides, uniform details?
I have a lot of reference material. You can check
here to see if I have what is needed for
your project. If I have appropriate plates available this is going to help.
I will also need instructions for each troop group which let me know the
correct colours for equipment and uniforms. I'll supply you with a template
where you can let me know what you require. For example, if a particular
unit will have 50% brown trousers, 25% white and 25% blue this can go into
the template. I have already prepared instructions for many Napoleonic troops.
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Are there any extra costs in assembling figures and vehicles?
Our charges vary depending on the work involved. We can create and replace spears
and swords, pin models and glue or solder them. Drilling a figure in preparation
for a spear, which you supply, will cost $0.15. If weapons, or equipment, are
difficult to attach, for example fixing a spear into an open hand, we charge
$0.15 per piece for this. This is to account for the work involved in setting the
pieces while the glue dries. We use Araldite glue for attachment. We can supply a
spear for an extra $0.15.
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How figures are based
For basing I follow these steps
- Cut the bases out of 2.5mm three ply wood and round the edges (if you want them square just let me know)
- Varnish the bases top bottom and sides to stop warping
- Glue figures onto base
- Fill from base up to figure to give a smooth transition (stops the bases standing out)
- Paint the base with a mix of sand and paint to give texture (dark sand colour)
- Highlight the base first with yellow ochre then white to demonstrate the texture
- Apply glue to *some* portions of the base and thereafter apply static grass
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Shipping to Bangladesh
I offer shipping by airmail (through the post office) and courier service.
Customers pay for shipping and handling and I want to minimise these costs.
Its generally cheaper for customers to send figures to me by post office airmail
and receive painted figures back the same way. Packages arriving by courier
service require customs clearance by the courier service company and this
costs $15 to $30. There is no cost for packages arriving from the post office.
For larger orders, it can be cheaper for me arrange to pick up
your figures from your home. For packages which are larger than 5-10KG
(2.2 lbs to 1KG) it may be worth considering
using my courier service. There are some extra costs for receiving and
sending by courier service but these are offset by far cheaper freight
costs for higher weights.
Please don't send anything without arranging it with me. There are two pages
which should accompany any package. These are trivial to complete. You just
need to add your name, address, package value and weight. Its important to
include these pages for packages sent by courier service. For post office
packages its not so important and the post office has never made a fuss. But
I like to have them included just in case. Note: Sri Lankan customs will
demand a hefty bribe to release a package without documents! So take extra
care if you are sending packages to Sri Lanka.
Packages sent to us are subject to customs inspections. For packages which
come by courier service, those weighing less than 5KG and with values under
$100US get cleared the same day. Packages over those values have to be
entered onto the computerised system (which the international community
provided for the Customs department) and valued. These activities add an
extra $6US in bribes to the cost of clearance. It also adds an extra day.
This doesn't apply to packages which come via the easy going post office.
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Packing your figures
Please take care when packing your figures for their outward journey. If
figures are bundled together its easy for bayonets, spears, and other pieces
to bend or to get snapped off. Its best to put troops of a particular type,
together with any instructions, into separate bags and then protect these
with bubble wrap. There is less chance for damage if you use a sturdy box
and ensure there is no scope for miniatures to move around in the box.
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Can you collect my figures?
We offer a pick up service for figures. We can collect packages from your home, your work place, or from the manufacturer. This service was previously unaffordable being charged at a premium to already inflated courier service rates. We can now apply our global discount to pick up packages all over the world at very competitive prices. We recently used the pick up service to collect 5KG of materials from the UK. The price we paid for the collect service was only 41% of the amount our supplier was able to offer for shipping with his own discounted courier service.
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Are there any hidden extras?
Here is a break down of the total costs for a recent order. They are far
lower than for Fernando Enterprises, DJD, or the other Asian painting
services.
The package arrived by airmail for which the post office charged us $1.30
US in delivery costs and duty.
The package contained 15mm figures comprising 83 foot 33 Mounted to be
painted to Connoisseur standard. Total cost for painting
(83 x $1.04) + (33 x $1.80) = $145.72.
The final package weighed between 500 grammes and 1KG for which airmail
shipping to the USA costs $14.15.
Counting one mounted as two foot that works out at a total of just over $1.00 per
figure with everything included.
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What are my payment options?
We accept direct bank transfers to Bangladesh in US Dollars or British Pounds In the future we hope to be able to accept US and UK cheques as well
as bank transfers to our local accounts in those countries.
European customers can make a direct bank transfer to my UK bank account. You should be able to make this at no cost within Europe. For US customers, and any customers outside the UK, We accept Paypal for orders less than $800 US. This
method of payment attracts a 3% charge to cover our costs.
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