don't know if this is OK to post. did anyone ever have a model done [painted, etc.] by a Mr. John Miller? plan on having him do mine. any good feedback on his work? he doesn't post photos of his prior jobs, nor include references as far as i know. just found him on the web. thanks, michael.
If you can't find photographic evidence of his work, (like my links below), I wouldn't trust him and I would continue my search.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
Like Jay mentioned, you need to see examples of his work(either looking at a model, or seeng good quality pictures). I remember a 'custom' painter who did a brass Milwaukee 4-8-4 for a client - Nice paint job, but the herald he applied to the tender was the later diesel era 'The Milwaukee Road' version, rather than the 'Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific' version used on steam engines. It was apparent that he did no research or did not work off of a picture...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Never heard of the guy. But I would be EXTREMELY hesitant to pay someone to do something when they provided neither references nor samples. You can still get burned when they do, but it's less risky.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
I know nothing of this individual and for all I know he does excellent quality work.
What I do know is that someone I know well entrusted a quantity of brass and other models to a custom painter/detailer who they thought they could trust only to learn that the individual SOLD their model when they were suddenly pressed for cash, evidently confident that he could easily buy similar looking replacements at any time only to learn that the models in question were rare Red Ball brass of the early 1960s and in fact not easy to replace. It was a very educational experience for my friend.
Dave Nelson
I agree: anybody who's capable of doing quality paint jobs should be able to provide references and photos. Keep hunting.
Wayne
Have you seen this site: http://www.railheadcustompainting.com/ Railhead Custom Painting by John (Miller) has photos
Some of these might be the same John Miller:
12 matches for john miller Page 1 of 2
RailModel Journal is on Trainlife http://www.trainlife.com/ The site crashed some time ago but some of pages listed can still be viewed.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
yes that IS him. sent me his website and photos. looks good to me. has 20 yrs. experience. thanks for the tip. regards, mike.
John has one of my brass locos right now. I had several to do and the brass one scared me too much, so I shopped it out. The last email said it was just about done and would be headed my way shortly. Will report further when I see it. So far, it's been a good experience working with him. It's been a bit of a wait, but he came to me very highly recommended.
I truly hope you have a better experience than I have had so far. I first contacted John September 2012. I had a brass C.P. Huntington HO Scale engine I wanted to customize to look like a park train (There is still a picture of it and the example picture I sent him on the current projects page of his Internet site (http://railheadcustompainting.com/current-projects.html)) I sent him my brass engine and a payment of $500.00 on September 12, 2012. He did an ok job of staying in touch for almost the first year. In September 2013, I received an E-mail talking about a fire he had and how he had to move his operation to a new location (He had said all projects he was working on were OK though). Ever since, I have tried and tried repeatedly to contact John to find out how progress was going with my project. The last E-mail I received from John was that SEPTEMBER 2013 E-mail about the fire. I have heard nothing from him SINCE SEPTEMBER 2013. I even looked up a phone number for him and called it and left many many many messages for him to call me back. Still nothing from him. Now its March 2015 and Im running out of patience. I want to take it to the next level but Im not too sure what to do to get law enforcement involved. How long has it been since you have heard from him concerning the project he has been working on for you? Does he stay in contact with you? If you want to, send me a direct message about this. This has really turned into a serious matter for me. As far as I know, since September 2013, he has made no effort whatsoever to contact me. Im going to try to contact him once again after I finish this post. I sincerely hope your experience with him is a much more positive experience than I have had so far. If I knew then, what I know now, I'd choose someone else to work with FOR SURE.
JOEinMARYLANDAs an update- Since I posted this original message, I have tried to contact John via E-mail TWICE a day from TWO different E-mail accounts. I still have not heard anything from him. If you are thinking about having John do some work for you, I would SERIOUSLY think about it. I would take my business elsewhere. I am beginning to think I will never see my Brass CP Huntington engine again. If I don't hear anything from him sometime soon, I believe I will look into getting law enforcement involved. So please take it from me, DO NOT select John to do any work for you. If I ever hear from him or receive my engine, I will surely update this post.
July 24, 2015 - Just another update. As of today (Friday july 24, 2015) I still have heard nothing from John. I have continued to send him an E-mail every day. Not one word from him .... nothing. PLEASE do yourself a favor and DO NOT send this guy yours trains or your money. Take your business to someone else. I have never received my engine back, my money back, or a response from him. I still see my brass C.P. huntington engine and the picture I sent him to show him what I had wanted it to look like on his site. But so far, all efforts to contact him or get some kind of response from him have failed. I will return here to update again. Just wanted to keep everyone who is interested updated.
The GTW NW-2 he did is mine. I never had any issues with him, but that was painted for me in 2011, not that helps you in any way.
Steve
I am apparently now in the same position as Joe. Communication was sparse, but there, for the first year that Mr. Miller had my locomotive. I have not heard from him since February now. A registered letter sent to the same address as my loco was accepted and signed for, but no response has been recieved. If this situation didn't involve such a large amount of money, I would cut my loses and forget it, but I think I may have to involve law enforcement. I paid with a postal money order, so I at least have some recourse there. A bit of a shame really, as the last I heard from him, he claimed my loco was 99% finished.
I know this thread is fairly old, but this situation has played out over a very long time. I did finally recieve my locomotive back from Mr. Miller. It took over a year and a half, and the communication was horrifically bad, but he sure did a spectacular job. Almost a shame to weather it.
I am Daniel Schick [email removed by moderator - PM individual instead]
have had John Miller holding my engines for the past 2 years. His wife says he had cancer however she does not reply to return our property.
Other people he has stolen property from include:
Paul Coon [email removed by moderator]
and
Dianna [email removed by moderator]
Please contact us and help set up list of individuals wh have had similar issues of stolen property.
Dan [phone # removed by moderator - PM individual instead]
You can add me to the list of people he has stolen property from. I have sent hundreds of E-mails asking for my brass engine (valued at over 500.00) to be returned to me. i have never heard back from anyone. I have heard john has/had cancer, but i think somewhere along the line, someone who knows him or is related to him must be monitoring his E-mail. Anyway, I have continuously tried to contact him for a few years now. I send an E-mail almost every day. I have never heard anything. I wish I had never sent my engine to him. i wish I had never heard of him. This whole situation is very frustrating and I dont anticipate a positive conclusion. Has ANYONE heard from him, or anyone who knows him recently?