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Post by Aaron on Feb 1, 2005 15:34:41 GMT 12
<turns right around and heads in another direction, chuckling about a Batman in the forhead> So those molds www.hirstarts.com/Look great, has anyone ever used them? Thats gotta be a way to make some money! buy 1 maybe 4 molds then you could produce towers, battlements, bunkers, buildings. And plaster is cheap altho Im not sure how durable it is for wargame terrain. It would take a bit of time but mostly its waiting time and if you got a production line running over 3 molds you could kick out bricks pretty quick. Then you could build away. of course there is always the eternal question of is there any demand, and if you paint them up you'll probably spend hours on that. At the very least it seemd like fun to me! Lego with glue!  |
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Post by PitYak Studios on Feb 1, 2005 15:41:22 GMT 12
I doubt you would be allowed to sell the casts made from those molds.
Prince August (who funnily enough i saw in the ads - good how they are relevant!) make molds for doing lead figures, and they will let you sell a few, providing you buy a license from them.
This company might do something similar, but you would certainly have to be careful.
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Post by Aaron on Feb 1, 2005 15:52:07 GMT 12
Hmm... yeah I always forget about these little legal issues... damn laws!
Im guessing if someone did it and sold 1 model a month on trademe no one would care but if someone started selling them as part of a business they may just take an interest.
Would it make a difference that what is being sold is a building constructed from their bricks rather than the bricks directly?
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Feb 1, 2005 16:10:15 GMT 12
those molds have interested me for quite some time. They mention using a dental plaster for casting which sounds like it is very strong. I comes in pretints too, kind of a tan and a grey which you can then just finish off with an antiquing coat, either brown or black shoepolish or a stain and they look quite authentic. I've not been able to track down a supplier of dental plaster in Nz, but am wondering about additives for your average homecrafts variety plaster. There must be some kind of plasticiser agent that will give it more strength and a better bond when set. They also have a tutorial on how to cast with resin, but do warn that it can affect the molds over time.
I think the construction would still be fairly time consuming, since you're building with indivdual blocks, but some of the finished pieces I have seen are incredible. Might be worth asking them about copyright etc. If you're not selling the blocks made from the molds, or copies of their molds, or buildings created from their floorplans it might be ok, I mean you could sell a lego sculpture as a work of art and lego wouldn't come down on you right? you can sell a warhammer mini that you have painted and gw won't beat you to a pulp. I think as long as you bought the molds legit, and weren't trying to sell something as 100% your own work it's probably cool
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Post by PitYak Studios on Feb 1, 2005 16:10:18 GMT 12
It's a very tricky subject;
If you buy some plastic card, make a wee house and sell that, no problem.
If you buy, say, a ready made dolls house, give it a lick of paint and sell that it's a different story. Do it a few times and it would possibly be classed as you selling your own or modified things, make a living from it and you're into a difficult subject.
Like if i sell a converted mini, hmm, ok maybe. If I convert a mini, make a mold and start selling it in packets marked "Wames Gorkshop" that would probably be deemed piracy.
Very tricky subject, we've been discussing it for months on the clubhouse forum, and nothing ever really gets resolved. And of course it's different again when you start crossing borders: NZ's copywright and IP laws are quite different to a lot of other countries.
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Feb 1, 2005 16:19:48 GMT 12
2. While Hirst Arts Fantasy Architecture encourages you to be creative with its products, unauthorized copying, trading and selling of its products, castings based on its original designs and copy molds prepared from our products is strictly prohibited.
but there is also this blurb further on
"hobbyists can build and sell finished models made from my pieces. No one is allowed to sell molds made from my pieces.
However, if you sell over $1,000 worth of models in a year, then you need a license agreement to do it legally. All business must have a license agreement no matter how much they sell. Making and selling building kits which use the blocks falls under the catagory of being a business.
I want my average customers to easily sell their old models, but I also want to control how big businesses use my blocks."
you can sell a model, you cannot cast a mold and sell that. If you sell over $1000 US a year then you need a license aggreement
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Pirate Wench
Scalpel supremo
my favourite finger paint is strawberry flavour
Posts: 353
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Post by Pirate Wench on Feb 1, 2005 16:23:07 GMT 12
btw, if anyone is thinking about ordering some, let me know, there's discounts the more you buy and even free international shipping for 10 or more. I'll jump in with ya on the order to bring the costs down a bit
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Post by PitYak Studios on Feb 1, 2005 16:25:27 GMT 12
Yeah that sounds about right. Are they an american company?
America has some odd "cottage industry" law were you're allowed to sell up to a $1000 worth of stuff before the lawyers come and march you off
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