MonCal

Those are all good points to consider. Hmm.. 😕

Interesting idea. It is certainly a drag when the knowledge of thieves sort of disappears over time or gets swept aside. With being in the hobby for 20 years now, I've seen several instances where the knowledge of a "bad guy" was pretty well known for a couple of years but then it fades away. This allows the "bad guy" to actually keep going, almost as if ignoring it perpetuates and even sort of supports it.

Hmm. Yeah. Bad advertising is still advertising. That is tough to calculate. At least those who have and care about morals and ethics would be educated?

It seems like it could be an option. The Blizzard Force has a pinned "Known Recasters" thread in the vendor area.

It is certainly a bummer. I reached out to the C.O. of the Spanish Garrison and he wondered if this detachment could do anything, blacklist, etc. this is our conversation so far: .............................................................................................. From me: Hello Javier, I hope this message finds you doing well. The reason I am contacting you is because I believe there might be someone in your garrison's area who is offering copies of an armor kit that I created. Now, I realize the 501st does not get involved with vendor relations and I respect that. To be honest I am not sure what to do and / or if you or your garrison could even offer any sort of help with regard to the matter. Members of my garrison (Mountain Garrison) have suggested that I reach out to the Spanish Garrison just in case. I have a thread on the forums, where I have posted the maker and information here: https://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=101910 Thank you very much for your time and any advice or assistance you might be able to provide. Sincerely, Cal ............................................................................................ From Javier: Hi Cal, Indeed there are members of the Spanish Garrison involved with Armour Factory Props, and I have to say it's really disappointing to see they are doing recast of your works... As you know, I was your costumer last year for a AT-AT Commander kit and I'm very gratefull foy your work and your costumer attention. Yes, we cannot do anything at 501st level, but may be you can talk to the Pathfinder detachment to point that Armour Factory Props Biker is a recast. I know there're some detachments with black list of vendor who are doing recast of others work. I'm really sorry you have to deal with this kind of actions. In my name and on behalf of the Spanish Garrison I want to apologize... Hope you can solve this, and I'm sorry for can't do anything more... If I can do anything more, please let me know. Kind regards Javier Cazallas .............................................................................................. From me: Hi Javier, Thank you for the message and for the supporting words. The bikerscout detachment is aware. In fact, the detachment leader is the one who brought it to my attention. They noticed that their kit looked like mine right away. Would it possible to alert your garrison and let the membership know that while the 501st cannot take any official action, it is heavily frowned upon in the hobby and that new makers really should not copy another artist's work? Thank you again and take care, Cal ..............................................................................................

They deleted my post on their page with no response. This may suggest guilt. I also sent them a PM, which it shows they read and they haven't responded to either.

That would make sense. Yeah, that chest is super stretched out sideways. Maybe because of how he is standing with his hands on his belt boxes and shoulders up. The suit armpit might be pulling the webbing, thus pulling the flexible armor. Who knows. Not that it really matters lol

Hmm. I don't know. I am pretty sure they copied my parts (minus the belt). It would be nice to get better confirmation. I wonder if anyone has one of their kits that they could take better pictures of or compare to one of my kits. They deleted my post from their facebook page and didn't respond. I still need to reach out to the Spanish Garrison but I just haven't had time. Back when I sculpted that kit, there wasn't a lot of reference other than The Magic of Myth display and I think the DVD had just been released so I was able to zoom in on my T.V. I think we did pretty good getting the belt boxes to the right shape and scale. Most of the kits out there (at least back then) had huge oversized belt boxes so we didn't want to follow suit so-to-speak. I will attach a couple of images. We took these back when we first made the kit so we didn't get the photo angles and vantage points quite right so a little imagination is needed to "tweak" the angles of the parts in your mind's eye, plus I can't help but feel there is something "wrong" with that image of the scout in the movie, in the first shot. The chest plate just seems super weird to me.

What's up with the belt boxes?

Hmm, Maybe give him a heads up to this thread. Perhaps he can dig up shots of his old version at a comparable angle. Plus, the artist can see their own tells.

Thanks everyone. It definitely does suck Like I have time to deal with more stuff. I am so tired of having to fight for everything, especially when it is either already mine or I am legitimately entitled to it. Please help spread the word. Thanks for looking! Cal

. I was informed by members of the detachment that my scout kit may have been copied. I laid out one of our kits in the same configuration as the suspect kit and other than the belt piece, it definitely looks like my kit. You might have to wait for the photos to load. For some reason my host is being really slow. This first photo shows the comparison of the two kits. The kit on the red background is from "Armour Factory Props" and the other kit is mine (MC / FAC): Image: This next image is their facebook page: Image: This is the message I posted on their page, with no response so far:

I am unable to spend a bunch of time at the moment studying it but with a quick comparison I would say there are more than just a few similarities. It pretty much looks like my kit. You might have to wait for my photo to load. I seem to be having some issues with my host. I will try using the attachment feature too. The belt is the only piece that I can say for certain isn't copied.

How is your kit coming along Jason?

I would have to study it more or see more photos but many of the parts do look like my sculpts.