JoslinFX
Well-Known Member
I agree any kit can be copied, but only under certain cercumstances. let me explain the diference between general recasting, and recasting with expence put into it.
There are several types of ways to make certain molds: for example, closed mold resin injection/ or simple pore molds with a large sprew holes. These are two of the main molding processes use today in resin casting. Pore molds are the most common mold that most genuine kit makers use. Unfortunatelty, because of the simplicity of the patterns, they only require pore molds. I know the Salzo and Cpt cardboard kit like the back of my hand, and every single peice is specifically patterned to the original movie miniature part, which were, in there own time in the seventies,specifically mastered for a pore molds.
Any resin kit what so ever that is pattered for pore molding, throws the door wide open for recasters, because pore molds is the central skill and quickest and cheapest, and easiest molds to produce to rip off your work.
If an object you intend to duplicate, compromises your general understanding of duplicating things, the end result will also be compromised, even if you already intend to acheive a reasonable low standard. And even low standard redast have there standards.
Closed mold resin injection, is only used, "when the masters are pattened in a way, that makes pore molds unusable to get any semblance of a usable low quality casting. For example the genral X-Wing kit, has large flat undetailed surfaces that will be hidded wen the kit it built, where the parts are pored up from, and the larg sprew arm shaffered off. when your parts have no large undetailed areas, and no clear flat surfaces to stick a master to flat surface, to wall off and pore sillicon over, then the recaster, if he doesnt no how to make closed mold casting, then cast he will get achieve using the pore technic will be so poor, that even a picture of parts on ebay, will be instantly identifiable to the lamen, as utter rubbish. Unfortunately, 90% of resin kits are mastered to use pore molds, leaving the door wide open to recasters.
Ive been making professional quality patters and sillicon molds for nearly 25 years, i know what im talking about.
If we all start learning to master patterns in a way, that are just too complex for pore molds, making sure the parts are predominantly promoted with the product, you will reduce the recasters idea of ripping the kit, based on there own limited skills in mold making.
I know for a fact that the largest percent of indavidual recaster thiefs, no nothing more about mold making than pore molds.
As for the customers idea of getting an exact replica of a studio scale kit in relation to the seperate pieces, one should really reconsider the configuration of masters patterns. And draw the line between what is more important, the seperate peices looking preatty and configured to seperate peices of the original movie model, to the finished painted model, that will regardless, be identical to the shooting miniature once built.
At the end of the day, they want the finished model on the shell to be the replica, the seperate parts would be purely cosmetic for the fives minutes as they look at them before they glue them all together to produce the same product if the parts were mastered differently.
If that concession saves your hard work from being stolen, from even a small precentage of recast thiefs, then it will be worth the change in studio scale kit processes.
I spent most of ninties working for sci-fi model shops, being hired to making resin kits, and figering the best way to master patterns and process that produce complex parts that cant be easily copyed without ending up as a pile crap that doent even qualifiy as low quality, to reduce the chance of recasting and it works!!!!
And it works purely down to producing something that requires a specific kill to mold, that most recasters "do not have"!
When recasts are riped, where ever they are advertised, the parts to the kit, are prodominanly always advertised with it on show in pictures. This is absolutly neccassary, as when any resin kit recast shop on the internet advertises resin kits, they always show the parts.
Question: If you intended to recast something you were intersted in, from say an artist on this forum for theory sake, yet you could see that the parts to the kit, were designed in such a way, that does not work with your skill level of understanding of mold making, do you belive you could get the same low standard of recast than you normally would? Or would you be concerened the low quality could be 70-80% lower, and consider the financial expense in everything that is needed to do the job, is worth the risk?
believe it or not, recasters do think about this. in the 90s i spent a larg percentage of my time around model recast maker rip artists and resin kit seller paying model makers with no soul to do this. And these complexity issues are a major factor.
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