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So I've been over the Recasting thread from way back and this thread is not about the casting of bitz as is.
However I have not seen a conclusive answer on the casting of customized bitz.
Thus I ask the question, what is the legality of casting bitz that have been heavily customized but have a base of a GW part strictly for personal use with no intention to sell or give any away.
E.g. If I say create an Alienid head, in the process heavily altering the bit itself, and I want to cast that bit up, what is the legality of doing so? Does the fact that it's heavily altered and that I'm using it strictly for personal use matter?
Secondly, if it does matter, at what point is something considered heavily altered?
This is an honest information seeking question.

If it's purely for personal use I really don't see the issue here.

Obviously if you intended to supply them to other people, or sell them then that would be a bit ddgy.

Is the qestion for GW tournaments and events? If so, I doubt GW would know if the original parts were GW and they were painted, unless the quality of the recast made it obvious.

It's more a question of "I'm a poor college student, how can I legally save money and time and still enjoy my hobby at the same time."
I can't afford to buy the individual bitz required for some of my conversations for every unit in my army, and at the same time I can't afford to continually buy lots of green stuff every time I buy a new unit of gaunts or firewarriors or whatever it ends up being.
In addition I also like having somewhat unique looks to my army, like what I'm planning on doing with the Firewarriors and Battlesuits in my Tau army. These require a lot of cutting, greenstuffing and alteration, and are very easy to mess-up, especially for the unskilled like myself. Thus if it's legal, I'd rather do the required amount of work once, and then save money and time casting them up, instead of consistently messing up and wasting money that I can't afford to waste if I want to continue with my hobby.

Sounds like you need a part time job..
I know I worked 20-40h a week when I was in college.

@TobyDog: Oh man, you have no idea. I've been looking but work's scarce around here, families been struggling to pay for college the last couple of semesters. I'm probably gonna have to start taking out loans which makes me unhappy.

Just go with a "don't ask, don't tell policy." If they were decently cast, cleaned up and at least primed, who would even know? I wouldn't show off that I cast my army or do it for others just in case, but i don't think GW is out looking for counterfiters

That's a good idea, but I'm wanting to make doubly sure, and it's not even recasting of the completely unaltered bit, which I know is legally questionable at best. It's casting a bit that uses a GW bit as a base for heavy modification. It's not something I'd advertise, but I know Warhound over on ATT did something in a similar vein to what I'm planning.

Sigh. This potential wellspring of narrow-mindedness, stupidity and total disregard of the law again.
Only the awesome sprinkling of self-righteous personal opinions will make this any better.

To the OP. If you really want the real correct answer you'll have to contact a lawyer which specializes in IP, Trademark and Copyright law. And one that specializes in the laws of YOUR country (or part thereof) too.
Everything you get from this site, with a few exceptions, will be totally and utterly worthless.

If you are simply looking for a way to alleviate any sense of a guilty conscience.....go ahead and cast whatever you like. Just don't brag about, promote it in public or present it as a result of genuine legal advice. Doing so is only asking for getting into trouble.

@Steelmage 99
Hmmm. Aight thank you.
It's not to try and alleviate a guilty conscience or whatever. It's principle. People have no inbuilt morals, and only slightly more socially enforced morals. The Law is the duct-tape that keeps society glued together like the pathetic paper-mache and balsa-wood construct it is, and prevents it from spiraling down into doomy-oblivion. To blatantly flaunt the law, regardless of how arbitrary, stupid or serving to specific groups it is or seems to be, is to attempt to tear down society. Thus if doing what I asked about is legal, then I will go ahead and do it, if it is not, then I will not.

Steelmage99 wrote:Sigh.
If you are simply looking for a way to alleviate any sense of a guilty conscience.....go ahead and cast whatever you like. Just don't brag about, promote it in public or present it as a result of genuine legal advice. Doing so is only asking for getting into trouble.

This, pretty much. No-one here really wants to hear about it, and don't expect "legal advice" from Dakka to give you a great comeback to any questions if you play in a GW store or someone questions your figures.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

TheMind wrote:@Steelmage 99
Hmmm. Aight thank you.
It's not to try and alleviate a guilty conscience or whatever. It's principle. People have no inbuilt morals, and only slightly more socially enforced morals. The Law is the duct-tape that keeps society glued together like the pathetic paper-mache and balsa-wood construct it is, and prevents it from spiraling down into doomy-oblivion. To blatantly flaunt the law, regardless of how arbitrary, stupid or serving to specific groups it is or seems to be, is to attempt to tear down society. Thus if doing what I asked about is legal, then I will go ahead and do it, if it is not, then I will not.

When it comes to the law - if in doubt, don't do it.

Joetaco wrote:Just go with a "don't ask, don't tell policy." If they were decently cast, cleaned up and at least primed, who would even know? I wouldn't show off that I cast my army or do it for others just in case, but i don't think GW is out looking for counterfiters

Steelmage99 wrote:If you are simply looking for a way to alleviate any sense of a guilty conscience.....go ahead and cast whatever you like. Just don't brag about, promote it in public or present it as a result of genuine legal advice. Doing so is only asking for getting into trouble.

I agree with these quotes / sentiments. I long ago realized that this is a polarizing issue- from what I've seen, much moreso online than in-person.

There was a guy at the store this week with custom weapons he'd had cast up. They looked very close to GW's... none of us had a problem with it. Most of the comments were "Awesome." Once they're primed up, I'm sure those will be the only comments.

You'll never get a blanket "It's OK" statement on this. "Don't ask, don't tell" is about right, imo. I've had to have a large number of things cast up recently as they are way OOP and I can't find them anywhere. However, I saw someone on here (I believe Aerethan) advise simply priming before taking any WIP pics. That's what I'll be doing, to avoid the whole issue... except in the Moshpit, of course. Those guys will get to see them bare . But the teeming masses of the internet just can't handle this issue in a realistic way, and it's not worth trying to find a 100% "approved by everyone" solution- there just isn't going to be one. But priming first before using the models or taking pics is an easy way to avoid the issue almost altogether.

When it comes to the law - if in doubt, don't do it.

Normally this is how I go about it. However in this case there's a grey area, which I'd like to at least partially understand before I make a decision, where the legality of it is significantly blurred. I don't like making decisions without having as much information as I can reasonably get.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

RiTides wrote:

Joetaco wrote:Just go with a "don't ask, don't tell policy." If they were decently cast, cleaned up and at least primed, who would even know? I wouldn't show off that I cast my army or do it for others just in case, but i don't think GW is out looking for counterfiters

Steelmage99 wrote:If you are simply looking for a way to alleviate any sense of a guilty conscience.....go ahead and cast whatever you like. Just don't brag about, promote it in public or present it as a result of genuine legal advice. Doing so is only asking for getting into trouble.

I agree with these quotes / sentiments. I long ago realized that this is a polarizing issue- from what I've seen, much moreso online than in-person.

There was a guy at the store this week with custom weapons he'd had cast up. They looked very close to GW's... none of us had a problem with it. Most of the comments were "Awesome." Once they're primed up, I'm sure those will be the only comments.

You'll never get a blanket "It's OK" statement on this. "Don't ask, don't tell" is about right, imo. I've had to have a large number of things cast up recently as they are way OOP and I can't find them anywhere. However, I saw someone on here (I believe Aerethan) advise simply priming before taking any WIP pics. That's what I'll be doing, to avoid the whole issue... except in the Moshpit, of course. Those guys will get to see them bare . But the teeming masses of the internet just can't handle this issue in a realistic way, and it's not worth trying to find a 100% "approved by everyone" solution- there just isn't going to be one. But priming first before using the models or taking pics is an easy way to avoid the issue almost altogether.

Hmm. I'll take all of this under consideration then.

Then, as you've been advised, hire a lawyer.

The 'information' that you get off a forum isn't that good. You're not getting information, just opinions, including the one i'm typing now.

If you ask people on Dakka, some will say yes. If you ask GW, they will say no. 'Grey Area' isn't any protection in the end.

My opinion: If you want to be absolutely sure, don't use a GW bit and modify it, just sculpt the whole bit. Then cast it.

My opinion: If you want to be absolutely sure, don't use a GW bit and modify it, just sculpt the whole bit. Then cast it.

That's probably what I'll end up doing, it seems like the easiest, most in-expensive way to go about doing that.

It's ok.

Do what thou whilst.