How do I find someone who does commissions?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Alright, I'm trying to keep this question somewhat generic, as I'm not sure if the question belongs here, or in the Sales thread, or somewhere else. I have a co-worker who belongs to a society that preserves a historic building in Fairfax County, Virginia. She's investigating whether it's possible to commission a Lego model of the building (I don't think she knows yet if she wants it to be minifig scale, smaller, or even larger). She actually went to Brickfair VA and tried to ask the Washington Metro LUG whether a commission would be possible, but apparently they weren't much help to her.

I'm not soliciting on her behalf. I *am* asking if there's a centralized resource where someone can go to look into Lego commissions. Like, maybe she could describe the project and get price quotes on time, labor, and cost. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

[Modelmaker]

I'm not much help on where to go. But I'm a modelmaker that sometimes works on commissioned pieces (non lego). My normal day job is also building models. The actual cost of the model will be way less than the cost of labour. Where i work the average model takes around 300 to 500 hours to complete at an average €25 per hour. The bigger the scale the longer it's going to take to build and the more materials it's going to take. If your fiend can get plans of the building printed to scale before the model is started she would be saving a lot of time in advance and would find it much easier to get a quote from someone willing to take on the job.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Modelmaker

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

I'm not much help on where to go. But I'm a modelmaker that sometimes works on commissioned pieces (non lego). My normal day job is also building models. The actual cost of the model will be way less than the cost of labour. Where i work the average model takes around 300 to 500 hours to complete at an average €25 per hour. The bigger the scale the longer it's going to take to build and the more materials it's going to take. If your fiend can get plans of the building printed to scale before the model is started she would be saving a lot of time in advance and would find it much easier to get a quote from someone willing to take on the job.

So do commissioned works usually require blueprints or building plans? I don't know if she does or doesn't have those available. I'm sure there's plenty of photos of the site available.

I believe this is the building:

(Again, I'm not soliciting for bids or anything here. I'm just trying to get a sense of where one would go to find an artist.)

[AwesomeBantha]

[OFF-TOPIC]

ResIspaLoquitur, I was around there recently (Brickfair VA and other stuff) and was wondering what the historic building is.

When the model's complete I'd love to see it!

[Modelmaker]

No plans are not really necessary it can be done from photos, but it will take a little longer so it will cost more hours. Also aerial pics help a lot. We used to rent helicopters to take those pics but now we use google earth printouts.

[Xyver]

I would try to find the closest LEGO Certified Professional, they are authorised by LEGO to undertake these types of works. I would assume there are a few in the US.

[Herky]

There is a Lego builder in Pittsburgh I believe who does do commissions, Burik is the place, here is the link, good luck, would like to see how it goes: http://www.burikmodeldesign.com

He does stadiums, buildings, will even do your house

[MAB]

Brickmap is a LEGO CEE team idea, to collect resources together, from custom parts to film makers to jewellery makers. You might be able to find someone in the database that does what she needs.

http://brickmap.info/index.php

[dvsntt]

Our LUG does commisions. I am working on one for Colorado University right now. We are very good at working just from photos.

This is the Hellems Mary Rippon theatre I am making for them.

[TheLegoDr]

Commissions are nice and all, but pieces alone will cost a lot and once you throw in labor, forget about it. It isn't an easy task so I can understand the value of time, but the cost would be too high for a lot of people.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Commissions are nice and all, but pieces alone will cost a lot and once you throw in labor, forget about it. It isn't an easy task so I can understand the value of time, but the cost would be too high for a lot of people.

I have no idea what the committee is willing to pay. I imagine if she has a lot of potential artists out there, she can solicit bids.

[ShaydDeGrai]

The New England LUG (nelug.org) did a tremendous job on the Millyard project for the SEE Science Center in Manchester New Hampshire. I'm not a member of NELUG so I don't know the specifics of how they deal with such "partnerships" but it might be worth sending them an email to see if there's any interest.

[andyscouse]

I'm part of NELUG, but wasn't part of the team that built the spectacular Millyard.

I have recently, however, started to build real-life buildings. My first was the White River Junction VT's Old Post Office, which now hoses part of the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS). I built if for a show NELUG put on in White River Junction (Sep 2014), as I thought it'd be nice for people to see one of their buildings rendered in Lego. Afterwards, I emailed the CCS, and they were very excited about it, and I ended up lending them the model to display in that very building. They have since requested to purchase it, and have commissioned me to build two of their other buildings.

I built it from photos alone (as well as being there for the show), and will do the same for the 2 next buildings. I'm looking to create a portfolio of work and start up a website soon for such projects. Time and cost will, of course vary, but I am looking forward to this kind of venture in the future.

[DrJB]

the children museum of Nashua, New Hampshire might have some info. they did a reproduction of the whole downtown with trains and it's on display inside.

[RbarrL26]

Hi, I am looking to commission someone to build a large Lego installation. We would be looking at building three 3 to 7 letters/numbers, at about 1-2 metres high. If you know anyone who would be able to do this kind of work, please let me know. We have already contacted a Lego certified expert, but are looking for a cheaper option. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[dr_spock]

Hi, I am looking to commission someone to build a large Lego installation. We would be looking at building three 3 to 7 letters/numbers, at about 1-2 metres high. If you know anyone who would be able to do this kind of work, please let me know. We have already contacted a Lego certified expert, but are looking for a cheaper option. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Have you tried contacting a LEGO User Group (LUG) in your area?

You can find a list of LUGs in the LEGO LAN network: https://lan.lego.com/lugs

[Brickadier General]

A number of people have given you some great suggestions. One person I would suggest touching base with is Marianne Asanuma. She was a former Master Model Builder at LEGOLand, CA, and she eventually left and focused on working independently. She has a lot of experience with commissions and has even done some commissioned buildings in the past. Given all that she's learned along the way, I think she would be a great person to work with. Here is her website:

http://www.modelbuildingsecrets.com/Home_Page.html

[bratkrk]

Hi 

If You still need help with sculpture set MOC commision. I can help You. I can build anything in any scale. I made Historyland in Poland ( www.ideo-bricks.com/ideo-graf/Matt Kustra My Moc Gallery Exhibition Historyland in Cracow.pdf).  You can find me on www.ideo-bricks.com or ebay (https://www.ebay.com/sch/mattkustra/m.html?item=184227191125)