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So I've been trying to improve my sculpting skills and was quite satisfied with the rapid growth I went through. I've just been toying around with making my own sculpts e.g custom IG bits, SM shoulder pads, heads, etc. and selling them online. Of course, with the GW inquisitors prowling around on the nets, could you give me some advice in avoiding an accident like the Chapterhouse studios case?

Be original and don't infringe on some else's IP?

Oh absolutely. Is it ok if say I sculpt an IG model (original of course!) and sell it as, uh Sci Fi Guard?

Games Workshop does not own the concept of a soldier, as long as it doesn't look like a Cadian/Catachan/etc you should be fine.

However, I can think of around 20 or so ranges of Future/near future 28~30mm Soldiers, so it's not that original of a market.

If you want to make a career of sculpting, sculpt a bunch of stuff, regardless of selling it, and assemble a portfolio. Contact companies, linking to said portfolio and offer your services at resonable rates.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not intending to make huge profits or go into sculpting as a career. I'm currently a student, and hey-if it makes some cash than sweet! Of course the start up costs of resin+silicone moulds and whatnot are a bit of a deterrent for me...

Very simple setups can be made for <200$

Don't use GW models as blanks the way Chapterhouse did in the very begining. I it's probably one of the large reasons they got targeted the way they did even though their finals were done off non GW-blanks. Having your R&D on the internet showing your pre-casts sculpted onto GW parts is a sure-fire way to get yourself looked at.

I would make what *YOU* would like for personal gaming and then simply make extras. If you make a bunch of designs explicitly to sell, if you don't get the response you like you may be stuck with a bunch of unsellable bitz.

Also consider sculpting your pieces, seeing if you can team up with one of the existing mini-casters out there and see if you can maybe get payment in free recasts of your own bit. Many of the companies seem to take independent sculptors in should they have a good sculpt.