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To answer your specific question - yes, GW will get angry.
To answer the question you didnt ask - If no-one knows, then no-one can get angry.
I however support buying or converting if your creative enough. If your going to use GW stuff, buy it legally. If you dont want to spend the cash, make your own.
I frequently cast small details and bitz for use in my stuff. It's all just one sided stuff however (usually skulls), with no fancy molds, and I use GW's Green Stuff to make the molds, and GW plastic sprues to then make the bitz. Does that make it ok?
I don't think it'd be worth it to cast meltaguns - GW sells a bits pack with 5 for 6 bucks, and a few dollars is a bargain compared to the frustration with trying to get a good greenstuff cast off of something as detailed as a meltagun.
Multimeltas are comparatively hard to come by - they sell a single metal dude for 13 bucks but that's kind of pricey. If you know any Space Wolf players, they should have a few unused Multi-meltas from their Devastator boxes and maybe you could do a trade?
Aduro wrote:I frequently cast small details and bitz for use in my stuff. It's all just one sided stuff however (usually skulls), with no fancy molds, and I use GW's Green Stuff to make the molds, and GW plastic sprues to then make the bitz. Does that make it ok?
Are you melting the sprue in a properly ventilated area, and are you wearing a mask? It's not worth exposing yourself to health problems down the road to cast up a few skulls - it's not like they're rare on GW's models.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/01/22 01:13:25
Ive made two part casts for wraithlord head replacements; but wouldnt recommend it for something so easily bought. Two part molding/casting is a pain. The first mold youll probably trash *getting it right* , then the first few casts will be unsatisfactory.... all in all, a waste of money and sanity for these specific items.
-Just MY opinion
"If you are not naughty you get a cookie. If you are naked, you get a cookie." - Insaniak, Dakka Mod
I have had numerous conversations about this same thing with multiple GW employees, because I really am the sort to try and stick to the legal side of the street. It is not illegal. Hell most copyright law would say the same. In Canada, for instance, copyright law allows you to make up to (if I recall correctly) 4 copies of any DVD, CD, or DVD/CD-ROM for personal backup use, and that industry is one of the most highly regulated copyright wise. GW employees do it themselves. The point where it becomes illegal is when you cast those parts and sell them to someone else (or even trade them to others in exchange for something, be it substantive or not). If you are using those parts EXCLUSIVELY for your own purposes, go to town. Be careful not to use those casts in anything self-promoting (like saying you're the best scratchbuilder ever in order to sell your work but using cast copies of GW bits in your ads) as well and you should be fine.
StarGate wrote:Its Only Illegal if you sell the remakes for a profit. IF you tell people there recast and not the real item its legal.
wrong wrong wrong. Any reproduction of copywritten works without formal consent and authorization is entirely illegal in damn near every civilized nation.
That being said combimeltas are expensive. I made a mold of them for personal use but ended up selling my marines, so now I have a mold and a few casts and nothing to put them on.
Other than that one specific piece, I only recast parts that are OOP with no intention of being reprinted such as 6th edition Empire soldiers.
And just because I do it doesn't mean I'm telling you to. I'm also not saying it is right, but then "right" is relative to your beliefs.
"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
Have you ever cast things before? If not, no.
Do you realize how little melta guns cost? Go find out (it's not a lot) and you will realize that you don't want to bother casting.
Generally it's legally dubious to do any way.
All signs point to "don't do it"
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Multi Melta's are around $13 whether from buying the plastic bitz or buying a multimelta marine online.
So if you only need 1 or 2, I would say don't bother casting, as making a mold isn't exactly easy or cheap. If you need 10 then sure.
Keep in mind the pieces needed to make one. A combimelta or other single piece weapon is an easy mold, but complex weapons with many pieces and wierd undercuts can be difficult to mold.
"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
if you only need Melta guns Why not buy 5 for $6.60 online w/ GW? But if you need a marine w/ Multi Melta go ahead and buy the collector version for $13.25.
I just want to point out , that for every "personal use" recast of GW product , you are still hurting GW and their customers. ( which includes every dakkka member that plays or have warhammer figures )
StarGate wrote:Its Only Illegal if you sell the remakes for a profit. IF you tell people there recast and not the real item its legal.
wrong wrong wrong. Any reproduction of copywritten works without formal consent and authorization is entirely illegal in damn near every civilized nation.
That being said combimeltas are expensive. I made a mold of them for personal use but ended up selling my marines, so now I have a mold and a few casts and nothing to put them on.
Other than that one specific piece, I only recast parts that are OOP with no intention of being reprinted such as 6th edition Empire soldiers.
And just because I do it doesn't mean I'm telling you to. I'm also not saying it is right, but then "right" is relative to your beliefs.
Um, no, you are "wrong wrong wrong", and I get the feeling you haven't actually put much study into copyright law or you would know it is not nearly that simple. There are a wide variety of exceptions, especially for non-commercial applications or artistic applications like this one.
Whats more, if you had to prove "written permission" all you would need is the numerous white dwarf articles that show you how to do it and encourage it.
StarGate wrote:Its Only Illegal if you sell the remakes for a profit. IF you tell people there recast and not the real item its legal.
wrong wrong wrong. Any reproduction of copywritten works without formal consent and authorization is entirely illegal in damn near every civilized nation.
That being said combimeltas are expensive. I made a mold of them for personal use but ended up selling my marines, so now I have a mold and a few casts and nothing to put them on.
Other than that one specific piece, I only recast parts that are OOP with no intention of being reprinted such as 6th edition Empire soldiers.
And just because I do it doesn't mean I'm telling you to. I'm also not saying it is right, but then "right" is relative to your beliefs.
wrong wrong wrong it is legal for personal use, without profit or resale.
Hence you can't do it for free for someone else.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/01/23 06:38:43
StarGate wrote:Its Only Illegal if you sell the remakes for a profit. IF you tell people there recast and not the real item its legal.
wrong wrong wrong. Any reproduction of copywritten works without formal consent and authorization is entirely illegal in damn near every civilized nation.
That being said combimeltas are expensive. I made a mold of them for personal use but ended up selling my marines, so now I have a mold and a few casts and nothing to put them on.
Other than that one specific piece, I only recast parts that are OOP with no intention of being reprinted such as 6th edition Empire soldiers.
And just because I do it doesn't mean I'm telling you to. I'm also not saying it is right, but then "right" is relative to your beliefs.
wrong wrong wrong it is legal for personal use, without profit or resale.
Hence you can't do it for free for someone else.
Read no. 8 and get back to me, or I can call up a lawyer friend from another forum and ask him if you want.
"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
Now you will need something to mold into, lego is the most popular, so if have some lying around, great, if not then buying enough components from lego could set you back £15.00 ish.
Now 250g of metal seems a lot, you could probably cast 10 Multi Meltas? (not sure of the weights)
Most people who recast do so in resin, which is about $30 US or something like 12-20 pounds for a 2lb. kit of resin depending greatly on brand and type.
Yes, if you only need a few then it gets cost prohibitive, but in the case given, it was for multimeltas which run $13 US to order, which gives a total cost of $130. For $30 you can get silicone resin, and for another $30 you get more resin than you will need for the project, add in some legos and non drying clay and you end up at maybe $75 invested. Almost half cost and with the option to make far more than the 10 weapons. And you would end up with enough silicone left over to make other molds and enough resin to cast quite a bit, so your individual mold cost goes down. It is initial cost only that is so much.
Again, I only really use it for OOP items where no amount of money will get you brand new models. I myself saved a mint sprue of Empire soldiers when they went OOP for just this reason. I don't play them currently, but when I do decide to pick them up again, it will only be with the 6th edition soldiers. If I had the option of still buying them legitimately then I would, but that is not the case sadly. It is not an easy task to cast up 75 of anything, and making enough molds to recast every piece is no small task nor is it cheap.
"Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there! ... It’s become the promotions department of a toy company." -- Rick Priestly
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=3900002 Take alook at this OFFICIAL gw page
I Quote from it::
"Conversions
Conversions are a major aspect of the hobby, although in intellectual property terms, they also constitute a major infringement. However, we are certainly not about to stop people making cool conversions of our products, although, there are certain things to keep in mind:
Please do not combine our intellectual properties with IP owned by any third parties.
Your conversions should be one-time, unique masterpieces of hobby goodness. Do not create a production run of conversions for sale. Whilst infringing our IP, this is also simply not hobby.
Casting
Do not cast any materials that are based upon Games Workshop material. Games Workshop has to maintain a strict policy on this to fight counterfeiters. We would also remind you that reproduction for personal use is NOT an automatic exclusion in respect of copyright protection in many territories worldwide."
So following on from this I personally would say Dont overall
bleeeeh 2/0/2 but what fun they are when they win 
1500 
1500 
