"An Experiment in Open-Licensing: 15mm Sculptor's Packs" Topic

A while back, I got a wild hare (wild hair?) and decided to design a bunch of 15mm sci-fi small arms (a few dozen, to be precise). I shopped them around to a couple possible producers with hopes that someone would cast them in metal for general consumption, but nothing panned out. Since kitbashing with 15mm weapons is somewhat tricky given the scale, and a single pack of a dozen weapons on Shapeways can cost as much as a few packs of ready-made minis, I've decided to try something a little different.

So here's the value proposition. I'm putting those weapons up on Shapeways in packs of 12, and adding an unholy markup (okay, $20 USD, which is unholy compared to my usual markup of a buck or two on any given product). In return, anyone who buys them has my express permission to use them when creating their own masters for casting, even if they intend to sell the minis as part of a retail operation. Think of it as "open-licensing" meets "3D printing" meets "thinly disguised ploy to make money".

This doesn't mean I'm okay with someone simply printing, molding, and casting sprues full of my weapons for resale. I'm not okay with that. Neither can I stop it, though, so I'm going to depend on the good character and honesty of those few folks out there who might decide to buy these packs to do the right thing: use them only for equipping or decorating their own minis.

In short, someone who buys any of my "Sculptor's Packs" may:
- Use them to equip their infantry greens
- Decorate vehicles, terrain pieces, or scenics (such as an arms rack or space-corridor tiles)
- Decorate bases, either as standalone one-offs or for molding and casting
- Decorate piles of rubble or scatter
- Profit!

Is there a risk to this? Of course. Someone could conceivably take my product and duplicate it en masse until the cows come home. On the other hand, I'm doing this for fun, not profit, and I would just be excited to see my little guns in the hands of cool new infantry hitting the market. The $20 USD markup will go towards my New Laptop Fund, so it's a win-win, I hope.

Here are a couple of the weapons that are going up onto my Shapeways store under the heading of "Sculptor's Packs":

More info on my blah'g, as usual: link

Store link: link

Thanks for looking!
jav98

Great Idea and very tempting

Good luck.

That's a really clever idea. I'm not a sculptor but I hope this works out for you.

Not a pick but a question and I wish you luck.

Does this not price out the casual user (somebody who wants the guns but has no plans to cast) from buying?

Yes, it does, I'm afraid. On the other hand, I've had some weapons packs up before and not sold any at all, so maybe this will be a better approach for some folks who are interested in sculpting.

Fair enough and thanks for answering.
Like I said, wish you good luck on this.

Quick personal question: Were you in ROK when you took your profile pic? I was in 2nd ID in 91/92 based out of Camp Hovey.

That pic was at Ft. Lewis in '96, but I was in ROK in '93 (Camp Howze, 44th Engineer Battalion)! That was my first duty station after Basic and AIT.

Turtle! :)

Been a long time since I've been called that! I can almost smell the kimchee again.