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In lugnet.parts.custom, Darrell Urbien wrote:
> Hi Norbert,
>
> Thanks for posting this! Although I've only been modeling digitally lately,
> I really enjoy your tutorials.
Thanks for saying. :) I've had a lot of inspiration and education from various
online sources over the years, and this sort of thing is my way of trying to put
a little bit of value back in circulation. It's also an attempt to provide a
bit of return to Lugnet specifically, since I can't afford membership these
days, but have been a regular lurker for years.
>
> Question re: hat production
>
> Have you ever thought of just making a silicone mold out of the finished
> prototype?
Well, I certainly have made RTV ("room temperature vulcanizing" for those who
aren't modelling geeks... :) ) moulds to cast lead wargames figures in the past,
so I'm sure I could do something similar with these custom elements.
> Then you could make resin copies instead of having to do all that
> work all over again.. (or is that defeating the purpose?)
Well, not really. :) Defeating the purpose, that is. It's just that the
economics of the thing don't make sense for me. RTV rubber is pretty pricy, as
is the casting resin. Given that the vast majority of my custom elements are
intended to be unique, there's not much sense buying all that extra stuff. Add
to that the fact that most of my custom work isn't done for sale, and there's
not a lot of point in setting up facilities for a production run. I still lack
funds to buy the _figures_ I want, y'know? ;)
The other thing is that if I were to cast and sell copies, I wouldn't be comfortable doing so with elements (like my flat-brimmed stetson) that were modified from Lego originals. I know there are some hobbiests out there who do just that, but... well, I'd have trouble sleeping at night. Lego wouldn't be getting any share of the money generated (in part) by the labour and creativity of their employees.
Make no mistake, though, I have great respect for those people (like Isaac
"Redbean" Yue, amongst others) who create _original_ pieces and sell copies.
They're entrepreneurs, not thieves. I guess I'm just more of an artisan by
nature than an either entrepreneur or thief!
Still, I _have_ been mulling over the possibilities of creating masters for the
parts needed to assemble a "double-sized" minifig. A lot of my custom figures
are of superhero characters, and it's surprising how many giant-sized types
there have been over the years. That's all a project for the distant future,
though, since I've still got lots and lots of normal-sized characters I'd like
to model.
Thanks again for replying Darrell. I've got a few more figures I'm going to try
getting online in the near future. I hope you'll find them of interest too.
Regards,
Norbert Black
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