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Legrandzilla — LeGrandzilla Meltdown!

#godzilla #modelkits #legrandzilla #recasts
Published: 2019-01-23 13:46:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 1485; Favourites: 39; Downloads: 1
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Description Here is my finished parody of the Godzilla vs Destoroyah 1995 poster I am calling Burning LeGrandzilla or LeGrandzilla Meltdown, which features a LeGrandzilla Junior and is a commentary about Recasted model kits, which I have strong feelings about because I want to preserve the model building hobby and am against anything that could threaten it.  I will add some information below for anyone who is interested which explains about recasts, this is from the Clubhouse Modelers Forum found on theclubhouse1.net which is a great community for model builders.

WHAT IS A "RECAST"?
It’s an unauthorized copy of a kit. The copies are usually made of resin, but some well-financed re-casters (especially in Asia) are capable of making vinyl copies. In simple terms, recasting happens when unscrupulous individuals obtain an original of a kit and use it as a master to make their own mold and produce cheap knock-offs. These copies are referred to as "recasts."
Recasts are ALWAYS inferior to the original kit. Just as a photocopy of photocopy is worse than a photocopy of an original, a recast of a kit is necessarily worse than a casting that comes from a mold made using the original prototype. Detail and crispness is always lost. Add to that the fact that re-casters don’t really care about the modeler, but only making a quick buck, and therefore do things like: use cheap materials (e.g., brittle, bad-smelling resin); do slip shod quickly casting jobs (e.g., resulting in offset seams, pin holes, and uncured spots); use molds that are worn out (silicone molds start to break down after a certain number of castings from the heat generated as the resin sets); don’t bother to produce unusual parts (e.g., white metal or vacuform plastic accessories); and don’t bother to produce box art or even include a box with the kit. What does the re-caster care if the modeler gets so frustrated building the recast that he decides the original kit producer makes crap products and vows never to buy another kit made by that producer, the re-caster will just steal someone else’s work. Some of the worst quality recasts of this sort are those that one cannot help but run into on E-Bay: those being sold by re-casters in Thailand, Singapore, and other places in Asia.

WHY SHOULDN’T I BUY A RECAST?
Sometimes modelers who are new to the hobby buy recasts because they just do not understand why buying one is a bad thing. The truth is, it’s bad for everyone involved (except the re-caster, of course!): from the sculptor and producer right down to you the individual modeler buying the recast.
Let’s start with the sculptor and producer. Sometimes these are the same person, but often a sculptor will seek out someone to produce the kit for him or a producer will hire a sculptor to render a character the producer wants to release as a kit. Among other things, these expert producers organize and promote a brand name (for example, Jayco or Needful Things), practice the arcane arts of molding and casting, and deal with packaging and sales. When you buy a recast you are taking money out of the pockets of these folks.
Let me ask you, if you were putting your blood, sweat, and tears into sculpting the coolest piece you could or manufacturing a top quality kit (casting, instructions, box art, promotion and advertising, sales and shipping) of that piece with your only expectation being that you might make enough money to do another, how would you feel when some thief came along, made a cheap imitation and sold it a fraction of the cost because he had no real investment himself? After this happened to you a few times, you might well just decide to get out of the hobby. This is precisely the conclusion that many of the greatest sculptors and producers over the years have reached. Can you blame them? Why bang your head against the wall just to put money into the pockets of thieves? Of course, these thieves wouldn’t last long if modelers didn’t buy their recasts.
The scourge of recasting has contributed to the demise of some very big name licensed kit producers, such as Screamin, Horizon, and Geometric, just to name a few. It has also driven away plenty of small resin producers – too many to name. It has caused some of the greatest sculptors, such as Mike Hill, to stop producing garage kits. The loss of these and other producers means less for you, the modeler, to choose from. It also hurts the hobbies great magazines like Model Maniacs, Amazing Figure Modeler, and Modeler’s Resource which rely on advertisers in order to bring you the great articles on building and painting kits as well as reports on the newest offerings.
If the producers quit, then the freelance sculptors are out of work because there is no one to hire them to create new sculpts. Also discouraged, those sculptors who produce their own kits then leave the hobby. After all these people are gone, there will be NO new kits being produced, so the re-caster will fade because he will have nothing left to copy and no one left to steal from. re-casters are parasites that have severely hurt our hobby already and could eventually kill it if left unchecked.
Fortunately you as a customer can change all that. You can make an educated choice. If you choose not to buy recasts, you deny these parasites the money that draws them to steal the work of others in the first place. Even if you don’t really care about the re-casters’ effects on others, avoiding recasts is in your own best interest as a modeler for at least two simple reasons: (1) recasts are almost certain to be more difficult and frustrating to build up, which will make the process less fun and yield a build-up that doesn’t look as good; and (2) by supporting re-casters, you ensure less great new kits in the future and, indeed, may even contribute to killing off your hobby altogether.
WHY ARE RECASTS CHEAPER?
Well for one thing, re-casters’ expenses are minimal. All they do is buy a kit, make a mold of it, and cast it up. They don't hire a sculptor who can charge from several hundred to several thousand dollars, and that’s just for starters. They also don't advertise or promote the piece through magazine ads, box art, boxes, certificates, or instruction sheets, which, of course, saves them a ton of money and allows them to significantly undercut the actual producer and still make a tidy profit.  They don't need to pay licensing fees to the movie producers.
Garage kit producers seldom see a profit, and if they do, they just reinvest it in the next kit anyway. A garage kit producer will ask the customers what they would like to see and base many of their kit releases on that input, but not a re-caster. re-casters produce nothing original at all.
WHAT IF I JUST CAN’T AFFORD THE REAL THING?
We all want things we can’t afford. Is it all right to buy a stereo a guy is selling out of the trunk of his car and that you know was stolen just because you couldn’t afford to buy the stereo at Best Buy? No, it isn’t. Buying a recast is no different.
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Comments: 17

vanndra [2019-01-27 23:39:54 +0000 UTC]

Awesome!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Legrandzilla In reply to vanndra [2019-01-28 12:55:38 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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EyesOfThePhasm [2019-01-24 12:53:23 +0000 UTC]

Ha! It turned out great! Good work Jon!

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Legrandzilla In reply to EyesOfThePhasm [2019-01-24 13:34:48 +0000 UTC]

Thanks Pauline!

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EyesOfThePhasm In reply to Legrandzilla [2019-01-24 14:30:27 +0000 UTC]

Your welcome!

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albert1614 [2019-01-24 05:27:42 +0000 UTC]

Nice comic book cover

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Legrandzilla In reply to albert1614 [2019-01-24 13:34:19 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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albert1614 In reply to Legrandzilla [2019-01-24 20:58:53 +0000 UTC]

Your welcome

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Rose-Hunter [2019-01-23 19:54:02 +0000 UTC]

sorry I couldn't read all that, but it sounds like you have a problem with recasts (which seem by your description to be cheap knock-offs)


the picture is funny at any rate 

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Legrandzilla In reply to Rose-Hunter [2019-01-23 20:35:36 +0000 UTC]

Yes, that is right, they hurt the legitimate artists and I wish they would stop making them, and it would really help if people would stop buying them, so I am trying to get the message out.  It is basically the same as buying a stolen TV out of the thief's trunk instead of from the manufacturer, but imagine the TV is defective as well and it was widespread enough that it put Best Buy out of business...

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Rose-Hunter In reply to Legrandzilla [2019-01-24 15:56:42 +0000 UTC]

  I'm sure it if was tvs though people would be up in arms


people don't seem to care as much about art pieces, which is sad


I agree with you though

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Legrandzilla In reply to Rose-Hunter [2019-01-24 16:17:26 +0000 UTC]

Yeah

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willisrharrower [2019-01-23 17:05:00 +0000 UTC]

Haha great job!
I was really looking forward to seeing this one finished and you did not disappoint lol!
I love how you rendered the lightning and the hot glowing colors, I enjoy all the posters in this series but this may be my favorite so far!  

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Legrandzilla In reply to willisrharrower [2019-01-23 18:12:00 +0000 UTC]

Aw, thank you!  I am glad you liked it!

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skullghidorah2016 [2019-01-23 14:48:05 +0000 UTC]

LoL awesome

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Legrandzilla In reply to skullghidorah2016 [2019-01-23 15:17:22 +0000 UTC]

Thanks man!

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skullghidorah2016 In reply to Legrandzilla [2019-01-23 15:18:50 +0000 UTC]

Yep 😁

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