Fleet Scale Minis

[Morpheus1975]

Has anybody thought of going to Shapeways.com and making fleet scale minis for ships like the Liati and Marathon?

You use 3D software to make a design, they produce it in the material of the buyers choice, and the designer makes like 5-10% on each mini sold using their designs.

 

[silashand]

If that were legal it would be awesome. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. and Mongoose own the licenses for their respective artwork/sculpts and in order to do it you would have to get their approval first. Somehow I doubt any of us could afford the license to do so...

Cheers, gary

 

[M1ndr1d3rs]

Yeah.. License blows..
If I could, It would be this one:
Gemini Light Cruiser by Amras Arfeiniel 8)

 

[H]

and of course you need to be able to desighn the ships in a 3d designer too.

 

[AdrianH]

If that were legal it would be awesome. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. and Mongoose own the licenses for their respective artwork/sculpts and in order to do it you would have to get their approval first. Somehow I doubt any of us could afford the license to do so...

The Liati and Marathon, among many others, may have appeared in ACTA but never appeared on screen in B5. Since Mongoose have dropped the licence, there are now no official Liati or Marathon. What this means is that you can design your own ship, give it some other name when giving it to Shapeways, then call it the Liati when using it in a game.

Someone has already done this for Star Trek ships, e.g.:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/101758/earth_callisto_research_ship.html
Though practically the USS Reliant, it presumably has not attracted the attention of Paramount's lawyers. So you could probably even get away with a renamed Omega, almost certainly a renamed Marathon, and definitely an Earthforce-style ship not identical to any previous model which you will subsequently use as a Marathon when nobody with copyright on the real Marathon is listening.

 

[H]

I would have thought they were at least Mongoose copyright.

 

[Morpheus1975]

Go to about 2:00 in to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAt2xD1L8dw

As far as similar minis just look here! http://studiobergstrom.com/index.php?categoryID=83

 

[silashand]

I would have thought they were at least Mongoose copyright.

They are. Using the current Liati, etc. designs would require Mongoose approval. Regardless if they dropped the B5 license, they still own it for the stuff they created that was not in the show.

Cheers, Gary

 

[DB Reborn]

Substitute Liati model;
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Frames/SFS/Items/SFS-230.html
I intend to use this ship if I need a Liati,

and if I need a certain other ship then this will also get used,
http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Frames/SFS/Items/SFS-201.html

 

[Silvereye]

... almost certainly a renamed Marathon ...

For example by calling it a Snickers?

 

[basaint]

I'm thinking a WHATCHAMACALLIT...simple and means alot

 

[locarno24]

As noted, it depends how circumspect you are (see the various Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek knock-offs out there).


For example - this:

Is clearly not an Aliens dropship. However, equally clearly, if you painted it up right it would be blatantly clear what it was supposed to be.

However, I'd be very cautious. And, as noted, you need to be able to create the 3D model...

So you could probably even get away with a renamed Omega, almost certainly a renamed Marathon, and definitely an Earthforce-style ship not identical to any previous model which you will subsequently use as a Marathon when nobody with copyright on the real Marathon is listening.

Note that posting this on the website of the (former) license holders may not be the best of plans in this regard as they may have a legal duty to take notice if you're too overt about it....see Urobach's conversions.

 

[l33tpenguin]

At a suggested retail price in the US of $39,900 I don't think many of us will be purchasing one of those ZCorp printers. HOWEVER...

I found this in a popular mechanics or something magazine
http://store.makerbot.com/cupcake-cnc.html

The Cupcake CNC can make small 3d prints and is a fraction of the cost (the 'Basic' around $750 and the 'Deluxe' model costing under $1,000). Considering what some of us have paid for our fleets alone, this price tag isn't too terrible.

I've seen all sorts of 'knock off' ships on shapeways, some VERY impressive.

There are unlicensed models already out there of Babylon 5 ships, how is it any different purchasing those? see: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/b5/bab5ship.htm

 

[l33tpenguin]

Yeah.. License blows..
If I could, It would be this one:
Gemini Light Cruiser by Amras Arfeiniel 8)

Where did you find this? That is one of the best looking War... Gemini... Advanced Deseroy..er.... light cruisers I've seen. I really like that design.

 

[M1ndr1d3rs]

Here.
http://amras-arfeiniel.deviantart.com/gallery/
That was a WIP, mind you. He has since finished the rendering, but somehow I like it best at this stage.

I'm sure he'll also do a Warlock full justice one day..

 

[locarno24]

At a suggested retail price in the US of $39,900 I don't think many of us will be purchasing one of those ZCorp printers. HOWEVER...

I found this in a popular mechanics or something magazine
http://store.makerbot.com/cupcake-cnc.html

The Cupcake CNC can make small 3d prints and is a fraction of the cost (the 'Basic' around $750 and the 'Deluxe' model costing under $1,000). Considering what some of us have paid for our fleets alone, this price tag isn't too terrible.

The quality, however, might be. Unless someone can find some examples of a 'best detail' model actually made with the Cupcake CNC....

I've seen all sorts of 'knock off' ships on shapeways, some VERY impressive.

Yes, had a look myself. Note that the images on shapeway of the not-star-trek-honest ships were all computer renders; how well the detail comes out in practice is unknown (although it should be good) and of course the quality of the mini is therefore dependent on the quality of the CAD drawing you can put together.

That said, semi-proffessional 3d models of b5 spaceships are probably not that hard to find.

There are unlicensed models already out there of Babylon 5 ships, how is it any different purchasing those? see: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/b5/bab5ship.htm

It's not - getting around a license by being a bit vauge is easy enough, as I said.

 

[AdrianH]

I suppose the legal sticking point might be that you are paying someone else to build the physical model for you. This puts it somewhere between buying a model which the company is producing on a commercial basis, and scratch-building the model entirely by yourself for your own use.

By contrast, Mongoose has never objected to a freely available source of models based on B5, some of them based on its own designs, though those models are not as good as commercial metal miniatures - the paper models available from Burger's website. Mongoose would probably object if Burger designed a paper model based on a Mongoose design, then started selling it to all comers. The analogy to Shapeways would be if I designed a paper model, then paid Burger to cut it out and glue it together for me. (Instead I've designed a few models, given the files to Burger for free, then cut out and glued together my own copies. )

 

[l33tpenguin]

So, it's like prostitution. It's ok to have sex, as long as you don't pay for it.

What if I were to 'donate' to Burger for his time, which he then spends cutting and gluing together a model, which he then gives to me for free?

Just making jokes, honest. Not getting into a legal debate over the whole issue.

See what the lack of commercially available minis has brought us to? Soon ACtA players will be driving up dark allys to pay in cash for a dime bag of star furys, only to find out it was cut with BSG Vipers

 

[McKickaha]

- pay in cash for a dime bag of star furys, only to find out it was cut with BSG Vipers

No probs Da Boss has already taken care of that one...............

BSG Vipers are of course really Cascor, Tiqincc or Caccar. 8)

 

[AdrianH]

So, it's like prostitution. It's ok to have sex, as long as you don't pay for it.

What if I were to 'donate' to Burger for his time,

:shock:

which he then spends cutting and gluing together a model, which he then gives to me for free?

Oh. That's different.

See what the lack of commercially available minis has brought us to? Soon ACtA players will be driving up dark allys to pay in cash for a dime bag of star furys, only to find out it was cut with BSG Vipers

I'm afraid that sort of thing is already happening. Exhibit A. :lol: