1. Copying kits is a crime that hurts original artists & producers. Help support your favorite artists by buying their original works. PlanetFigure will not tolerate any activities related to recasting, and will report recasters to authorities. Thank you for your support!

rescasted Model Cellar products

Discussion in 'Figure News' started by ModelCellar, Dec 12, 2018.

  1. ModelCellar A Fixture

    Hello,



    I hope everyone is having a good year and getting excited for the upcoming holidays.



    A new company operating as “Vargas Scale Models” in Visalia, California owned and operated by Luis Vargas has been recasting and selling my timber (MC35115) and wicker (MC35116) trench supports on EBAY and on their own website. They have been pirating and packaging the recasts as their own products, items R3D-006 and R3D-005.



    I discovered this from a post on Armorama.com announcing them as a new company and showing their new products:



    http://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=30428&mode=thread&order=0



    I immediately recognized the first two photos of the three sections of timber trench supports as my own product. The Armorama post says their website is in progress but you can order directly from them on EBAY. A quick search on EBAY revealed not only were they recasting my timber sections, they were also recasting my wicker trench supports. The Vargas website is now up and running and they are listed on his website as well.






    I was able to obtain one each of the timber and wicker trench supports to investigate whether or not they were pirated copies of mine. After close inspection, sadly, I can confirm they are in fact pirated recasts of my pieces. I have attached some pictures below showing side by side comparisons of an original Model Cellar piece (in the yellow resin) with the Vargas recasts (in the dark grey resin). The third light colored piece in the photos is the master which was hand sculpted in sculpey over a piece of bass wood. The dark grey resin castings from Vargas are an exact one for one match of my pieces. The front, the top, the side, and the partially detailed back. The pirated castings even capture the wood grain of the bass wood of the master.


    pic-1.jpg pic-2.jpg pic-3.jpg pic-4.jpg pic-5.jpg pic-6.jpg pic-7.jpg pic-8.jpg pic-9.jpg pic-10.jpg pic-11.jpg pic-12.jpg



    Not only do I have the pirated castings, but I also have the paper trail from the EBAY and PayPal transactions when Vargas sold them. Plus, I have the shipping envelope with Luis Vargas’s return address in Visalia.



    In addition, I searched my sales records and discovered he actually purchased them directly from me (along with my interlocking sandbag sections). I have the sales receipt from PayPal for the sale, the postal receipt from me mailing it, and the tracking showing it was delivered to him in Visalia. He ordered them in mid/late September. I shipped them in early October, and by the beginning of November he was recasting them. There is absolutely no excuse for this.



    Pirating and recasting is the most egregious act in this business. Pirating affects the entire hobby. Not only is it stealing from the manufacturer, it is also stealing from the artist that produced the master, the painter, etc. and everyone else involved in creating a product. So, please be aware that Vargas Scale Models in Visalia, California is pirating my products.



    Thanks for your support,

    Paul

  2. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    This is sadly indicative of the attitude of re-casters the world over....although this is the most blatant case I personally have heard of!
    It saddens me greatly that your hard work has been stolen....it angers me that this person has no regard for your property.....and it makes a mockery of this hobby.
    Rest assured....he will never get a penny of my money.

    Respect

    Ron
    Nap and Babelfish like this.
  3. Maki Active Member

    Country:
    Croatia
    Paul, I just sent you a PM on Armorama. Being an editor there, I can offer my apologies for not noticing the recasts before running the news story.

    Best,
    Mario
    Nap likes this.
  4. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    It is to be hoped then that you will draw the attention of the Armorama membership to this, shut down the thread advertising the knock-off products and remove any and all other links to the pirate web site.

    I'm a member on Armorama but very seldom go on there these days (less interest in AFVs than I used to have), so this is the first I've seen of this.

    - Steve
    Nap likes this.
  5. khollar A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    This guy is unbelievably bold, Paul! Wow! I hope he loses his butt on the casting supplies he’s purchased. Or maybe he stole those too?
    Nap likes this.
  6. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    So sad to hear of this, he's a low life........
    Nap likes this.
  7. Fokionas Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Greece
    I have discovered the following in a f/b group that I am following......So they claim to be "experts in bases for models".It is mentioning specifically the wicker and timber reventments that you are referring to.......Now IF he copies these ,who knows if the rest are not copied as well???
    If this is true, it is really sad and I think that you should contact the administrators of the f/b groups as WW1 Modellers club & Yellow House club as well as WW1 Modellers International Group.......the below post can be found in both groups and possibly in others that i am not aware of.......
    Fokion

    Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 17.57.26.png
    grasshopper likes this.
  8. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Passed the info to model shops I deal with and will get it to IPMS Vancouver ..bugger
  9. Maki Active Member

    Country:
    Croatia
    Steve, I added the response to the Armorama topic, edited the posts to remove website and email info of Vargas Scale Models and locked the thread. Let's leave it like this for a day or two...

    After that the news post and the offending company will be deleted from our database.

    Best,
    Mario
    1969, Babelfish, Nap and 1 other person like this.
  10. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Guys

    Another piece of scum in action here ...not good ..as Viking Bob says ...LOW LIFE

    ........go get him Paul

    In accordance with PF policy I have removed any links , website details

    I have also shared this link to the FB group....INTEGRITY - United against Recasters

    Nap
    Fokionas and grasshopper like this.
  11. chailey Active Member

    Country:
    England
    Now lets get ebay to take some bloody action on re-casters!!!!
    Wings5797 likes this.
  12. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Just thinking, piracy in armour related bits might work when the major kit makers are fairly large plastic model companies, the resin and brass mainly little guys and someone buys a kit then shops for the extras..easy pickings..
  13. Fokionas Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Greece
    Just to see what we can do if we act! A8266CBC-2089-40E0-A433-16BDEB5E50AE.jpeg
    Babelfish and Nap like this.
  14. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Well played sir...
  15. Richard Baxter A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Any chance of going legal on this? This amounts to fraud which is a major crime in most jurisdictions. Surely a matter for the police?
    theBaron likes this.
  16. RossM Active Member

    Country:
    Australia
    A similar post was added to the First World War Modellers group that I administered on FB. I thought I recognised the name when Paul posted his post, and I have removed the threads from the discussion group.

    Ross
    Fokionas and Nap like this.
  17. fmargem Active Member

    Country:
    Brazil
    Sad news, my friend.
    Ebay has a history of pulling this kind of sales from the lists when you provide evidence such as you heve done here.
    Don't leave it at it. Go get him!
  18. Woods457 Active Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom


    I don't know much about "crowd funding" and it might be a stupid suggestion but i would be more than happy to throw some money in the hat to legally pursue these scumbags..

    When i see ebay awash with recasts from the Russian Federation and China i get so incensed...

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