Fleafa makes a walker

[blind pig]

[Fleafa]

lol, indeed.

So I was at Warhammer World last weekend for the Carnage 40K tournament. I took my Necrons with both my C'tan and this walker. One of the guys playing in the tournament was a design studio guy and we got into a gentle argument about IP infringement. It was all fairly friendly and poorly-informed, with him spouting the company bullshit, but he did call in a couple of his buddies from the studio later on.
I said I wanted to sell a few to make back my costs and he was quick to tell me to expect a Cease & Desist from GW paranoia. Sorry, I mean GW legal. He also told me I 'better be quick'. So their Triarch Stalker model will see release in 1-2 months I reckon.
Anyhow, a couple of his mates came out of the studio, scoffed at my paltry efforts and promptly disappeared. I was slightly annoyed by this as I am still a hobbyist and have no intention to steal business from them and they were unable to offer any feedback other than, 'Our lawyers will mess you up.'.
Incidentally, I don't consider myself to be stealing business from them whilst they have no model to represent the unit they published rules for months ago. Once they bring their model to market, I will stop selling mine and re-purpose the kit as was suggested earlier in this thread.

[mangozac]

I really shouldn't be so surprised that GW employees have such bigoted views, but I still am. I mean I would expect a member of the design studio to be more switched on about those issues than say the local store manager. Maybe he was just towing the company line...

It's absolutely not having any impact on GW or its business, but that doesn't make you any less likely to receive a C&D from them
I wouldn't have mentioned selling them to a GW employee though. It would have been a little foolish to expect a positive reaction to that.

Additionally, I think it really pathetic that he called over his design studio mates and they all scoffed at your work. Says volumes about the character of some of GW's employees (or lack thereof) - and I guess explains his bigoted ideals regarding IP! And is ridiculous since from what I can tell it's a great looking model

[Fleafa]

I mentioned it before I noticed his ID tag! lol, oops. Still, I made it very clear that I wasn't intending to make it part of a product range.
I get the impression theirs will be considerably larger.

[mel_danes]

Fleafa - I think it looks good. The model represents the unit quite well. Possibly a more detailed paint treatment would spruce up the large flat surfaces. It looks like your Crons are done in the T-800 themed Silver Death Skeleton motif , which is cool.

When you cast the extra legs and repeated bits did they require a lot of sanding?
I ask because I am going to send out a unit to Shapeways and use the same material. I'm not sure if the poly density of my model is high enough to prevent faceting on large flat surfaces.

The selling to re-coup issue is touchy. I looked at this sites IP regulations, it seems to be ok here, but out in the world the GW IP trolls/lawyers could really give it to you.
If you make more copies for personal use and keep it on the down low you should be fine.
Sucks the studio types ignored you. Let em laugh, you'll get better. Just keep at it.

[blind pig]

You made it first.

I would have told the Studio Guys after they were dicks to you that I would go after them for IP infringement and a C&D order if they released a model that was similar to yours.

If only we had the money to hire a legal team and turn the books on them.

I remember at Cancon (a VERY large trournament for Australia) 15+ years ago at the only time it was run by GW, a young kid entered an army that included scratch built Eldar Wave Serpents that had been then cast in a clear polyester resin to show holofields. they were made by his Dad. It was a good job for the times. They wouldn't let this kid play in the GW Tournament, because it infringed their IP and wasn't "Hobby".

It became quite the issue and GW was not invited back to run the event again.

[mangozac]

But isn't this based off existing GW concept art?

[blind pig]

[mel_danes]

Yeah, it look like it is.
There is a rendered concept piece in the new Cron codex that was used as inspiration for this model.

They have a right to protect the integrity of their IP, no where does it say they have to be dicks about it though. It's hard core fans and the players that they inspire and help learn the game that made Warhammer 40K the game it is today.

As a fan project this is an awesome build, as a money venture not so much. It sounds like the OP knew this and has accounted for it in his plans.

[Fleafa]

@mel_danes: Horrible paint job, I know. I was still casting it the day before the tournament! I will be revisiting that I did some gentle wet&dry sanding on the parts from the printer. I got some faceting on the cockpit shield thingy because I forgot to smooth it with more polys. Not too bad though.

Based on this codex art:


Hope it is OK to post these pics here.

I'd like to earn some of the cost back but not that bothered. I've proven to myself that I can make a decent kit of this size & with lots of components. Next one will be even better. And all my IP.

[mel_danes]

I would love to see some close ups of the various cool bits, I realize that it's built so they will be on the kit. So few people who have printed mini's photograph them painted.
Also could you post a shot of the model exploded, like a part view. I 'd love to see how many pieces you have under the hood.
Did you get the level of detail you wanted? The small bits came through ok?
The posted specs look nice for FUD but I would rather get the impression of another mini enthusiast.

You mentioned cost earlier. Was it the big solid legs that killed your budget?

Overall a very sweet build up.