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BIG-JIM

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Posts posted by BIG-JIM

    37 ford truck grill

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    Just a quick word about the parts I sell on "FEEBAY" I strongly encourage anyone that is going to buy from me that they should do it off ebay because I can do better on the price. I have had to adjust things because now ebay is charging a separate fee for shipping. Unfortunately I make almost nothing on these parts as it is so I have had to pass this on to the customer. I sell a couple of $2 items and after all their fees I'm lucky to get $1.25. Now add the cost of purchasing to product in the first place and you can see my profit margin. As I have stated before I really don't do this for the $$. If I did I would have been out of business a long time ago. I will be putting this on several boards so sorry if you have to read it more then once.

    Terraplane Grille in Resin

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    Just a quick word about the parts I sell on "FEEBAY" I strongly encourage anyone that is going to buy from me that they should do it off ebay because I can do better on the price. I have had to adjust things because now ebay is charging a separate fee for shipping. Unfortunately I make almost nothing on these parts as it is so I have had to pass this on to the customer. I sell a couple of $2 items and after all their fees I'm lucky to get $1.25. Now add the cost of purchasing to product in the first place and you can see my profit margin. As I have stated before I really don't do this for the $$. If I did I would have been out of business a long time ago. I will be putting this on several boards so sorry if you have to read it more then once.

    Terraplane Grille in Resin

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    How about some 37 Hudson headlights to go with the 37 Hudson grill? I cast the buckets using a rotational casting method there is nothing to trim. The parting line is right on the trim ring so once you pull off the little bit of flash, that's it. No gate, no vents, nada. As for the stands; I cast those on the grill itself so they have the same contour as the grill or I have flat one's as well. Let me know what you think.

    IMGP3139-vi.jpg

    I glued one together & popped the lens in to give you an Idea what it will look like.

    IMGP3145-vi.jpg

    37 ford truck grill

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    As Jim pointed out, it isn't a copy of the REVELL kit part, so the whole thing about Revell and copyrights and whatnot seems like a moot point. Sheesh- look at the photo and it clearly isn't the Revell piece! :lol: And since it doesn't have the Ford logo or script on it, I don't see any issues there, either. How many members of Ford's legal team do you wager even know what a '37 Ford truck grille looks like, anyway? :D

    Thanks for the props Chuck. :D

    37 ford truck grill

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    Doesn't Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland offer one of those already?

    I just looked them up. They make a 32 ford grill with a custom 37 truck insert. Thanks I did not know they made one. As I have stated many times I'm not a builder I just observe 1;1 builds & try to offer parts for you guys to build stuff with a similar look.

    37 ford truck grill

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    There are rules, of course:

    To begin with, there are at least two entities involved as regards copyright issues involving a model car kit (or for many other subject areas as well). There are the copyrights owned by the manufacturer of the real car or truck, AND those copyrights rightfully owned by the company who made the model kit. In the case of a direct recast of a model kit part for sale, either the 1:1 automaker OR the model kit manufacturer can come after the individual or company doing such direct reproductions (and there have been instances in which either or both have happened).

    As a practical matter though, if a model kit has been out of production for so long a time as to lead others to believe that it will never be reissued (or if the manufacturer, such as Aurora has disappeared from the scene years ago) then I suppose that reasonably, nobody in the model kit industry is going to take issue with any reproduction of such kits or parts involved--Modelhaus and other resin casters have all done that over the years. But IF the part is a direct repop of a part from a currently available kit (or from a kit that gets reissued periodically) then the kit manufacturer can come after the person(s)reproducing said part. In any case, if there is a 1:1 automaker who owns (or claims to own) the rights to a formerly produced car or truck, they can also bring action to stop such reproductions in miniature if no authorization was obtained.

    Now, if the model kit part is substantially modified from its original form, say either to make it adaptable to a kit other than the one it was taken from (a chopped '37 Ford grille and shell, a chopped '32 Ford grille shell and grille) then it's going to be pretty hard for a model kit mfr to make any claims, and I don't believe any have ever done that. Additionally, 1:1 automakers aren't likely to be worried about such customized or modified parts in a model kit either.

    Trademarks, however, can be a different story, and often are: FORD is a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company, when applied to an automobile or truck, or parts therein. Years ago, Ford Motor Company blanketly would not even allow reproduction parts for antique Fords to carry the Ford script (ever see reproduction hubcaps for a Model A or Model T that read "FOOL" instead of "FORD"? That was the result (Ford saw the light, saw that people restoring old Fords correctly was a good thing, about 1970 or so, but that is the history of it.

    Chevrolet trademarked, over the years, not only Chevrolet, but Chevy, Bowtie, USA-1 and numerous other names and nicknames.

    But in the bottom line, why directly copy a part or parts from a currently available model kit? That to me seems just a bit unethical to day the least, if it's done for profit, profit gained by selling copies to others in an unlimited fashion. Now, if one wants to reproduce that part for their own use, I believe the "fair use" doctrine allows that, just as it allows a student to photocopy a page out of a book or magazine as part of a research project, or to lift directly text from someone else's publication (as long as it is credited, either directly in the body of that student's writing, or as a footnote at the bottom of the page (think High School Term Paper 101). But why bite the hand that feeds our hobby with not only old favorite kits, but even new product from time to time? (and why risk legal action from a real car manufacturer--who certainly can afford a bigger lawyer than any of us modelers can pay for?)

    Art

    WOW! B) Art you have had a lot of time to think about this subject! I REALLY am not doing this for the money. I probably spend more money on developing molds buying supplies & paying ebay fees then its worth. I just enjoy bringing things to the table for you guy's to build stuff. I am a guy that did a lot of old car related stuff in my youth & over the years I have been unable to work on my old cars; so this is what I do now to tinker with old cars. I just can't get down on my knees to work on them I wish I could. I suppose I will just have to be content with looking at the models you all make because I just don't have the talent for it. It is very time consuming making these parts but I enjoy it. Trust me I'm not getting rich doing this. Just seeing my parts on a nicely executed model is gratifying enough.

    PS. If I were to type out a post that long it would take me 4 hours...(I'm a one finger bandit) B)

    What do you drive?

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    The wife & I drive twin Impala's Mine is the plain Jane hers is flamed. Hers is an 01 with airbrushed blue tribal's the flames have marbleizer in them & they are out lined in Kameleon all house of kolor paints. Blue reverse glow white faced gauges with all the back lighting deleted. Color matched moldings (front, sides, & rear), & mud guards. Stainless steel duel exhaust from the cat back. Impala SS rear wing, 18" Chrome aluminum "Wired" wheels and a billet TRENZ" grill. We had all the emblems removed & I hand made custom Impala's without the ovals and applied them & finished it off with painting the rear tail lights and limo tint. She loves her car but hates it too. Because she can't go anywhere without someone saying "Hey I saw you at (Insert place here) the other day". She always says she could never sleep around she'd be nailed in a heartbeat...I guess in more ways then one! ;) Believe it of not the kids like driving in my 02 plain Janer because it has a sun roof & leather seats. They like to slide around in the back seat...Kids! Gotta love'm. I like mine better because it has the 3.8 buick motor in it VS her 3.1. Also pictured is my old 33 Chevy 3 window we had but sold it a few years back. Boy do I miss that car.

    Imgp1771-vi.jpg

    Imgp1775-vi.jpg

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    6277_b-vi.jpg

    Terraplane Grille in Resin

    in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)

    Posted

    Those are from the Revell 'Car Show' '30 Model A phaeton kit.

    Oh, and I'll have some pics of the complete Terraplane truck up tomorrow...well, later today I guess! :lol:

    ANd the Farmall prototype is still a work in progress. :lol:

    Thanks for the info chuck. I got my 30 Model A touring in today. I am going to reproduce the lights. Maybe we should do a poll on that! LOL

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