Upon opening the box my eyes were immediately drawn to the detailing the model offered. The instructions were perfectly illustrated, so much so it looked like a technical service manual for the real one. Without thinking I instinctively reached for my measuring tools which I carefully laid them out on the bench beside the opened box. I made a dash to where my reference books were kept and quickly located the book I wanted.
Opening up the book to the page where the measured drawings were, I started to compare the plastic scale model before me with the data contained in the book. Not even a fraction of a micron difference between the reference and the model when adjusted for scale. Turning to some of the better walk around reference images in the book I compared the panel lines to the photographs…awesome! They match like as if it were copied.
Now I investigated the kits photo etched and resin bits. Man these are kick ass! They look so real! Again the instruction booklet looked like pages seen in that of a technical manual, not a model. I couldn’t wait to build it! So I started immediately, the other chores could wait.
During the course of my build, I posted to my scale modeling blog and favorite scale modeling forum in progress pictures of each step. I just had to show the others how marvelous of a kit this truly was. This would later prove to be where things would go wrong for me. The engineering was well thought out, it was almost as easy as shaking the box and dumping the parts out to form a contest winning model. It went together so well, that the only trouble I had with it was not being able to stay awake to finish it off in one stretch.
A few days later I had it assembled, painted, weathered and mounted on a base ready for the next model contest within reasonable driving distance. I was so proud of what I had built and I was but a few that I knew of who had this model in their hot little hands.
The day of the show comes and I am there. My model is on the table and has a constant group of observers surrounding it. I’m going to win GOLD I just know it! Some of my friends are telling me how great I did and they are a bit jealous that they didn’t sprout to buy the kit when I did. The cameras are clicking away as attendees snap pictures of my model. Where are the guys from FSM when you really have something neat to share? Oh well, this is just a local event, they’ll be at the regional.
One guy has taken a particular interest in my model, I think he is one of the judges maybe? He’s on his cellphone talking and it doesn’t sound like he is happy. Maybe something is wrong at home. He’s shining a penlight flashlight to illuminate the interior and is snapping pictures with his iPhone’s camera. He is then apparently emailing them to a friend who just has to see them. I’ve got a beaming smile across my face…I know I’m going to win this contest! Maybe even win multiple awards! YEAH!
The guy puts his phone away and asks if I know whose model this is. Of course I was lurking nearby hoping to catch the comments being made by others…especially the judges. “Well, actually its mine.” I stated.
“Can you tell me a bit about it? Like where did you get the model from? Did it have all of that detail inside? Or did you use pictures and make it yourself?” A lot of questions, ones that I was happy to answer. He thanked me and stepped away from the display table retrieving his phone yet again, dialing as he walked to a less crowded area of the contest room. I thought nothing more of it until…
Just before the awards were to be presented two men approached me accompanied by the guy who had asked me so many questions about my model. Probably his friends, maybe the editors from one of the model magazines! That thought was quickly ruled out when the two produced credentials to show that they were FBI agents! The next two hours were a blur, I never got to find out who won what awards for I was asked to pick up my model and was lead to a nearby hospitality room.
Well it seems that a perfect model is a liability rather than an asset. During the course of the conversation I learned that the first guy was a lawyer from the parent company that built the real deal that the model was a replica of. Apparently it was too accurate for it showed too much detail, something that the company and the feds were upset about. It was as if someone had stolen secret documents, broke into a classified assembly plant and took pictures of the thing and stole the blueprints and assembly specifications. Then sold them to a foreign national…selling military or corporate secrets. They wanted to know by whom, where and when this information was leaked.
I was being questioned about if I was the one who spied on a government contractor. I just bought the damn thing and built it…I build it out of the box too! Nothing extra was added! I swear!!!!
I grabbed for my phone, they thought maybe I was armed and they flinched. “I just want to show you where I ordered it from.” Having bookmarked the retailers website as well as that of the manufacturer of the kit the websites loaded quick and they each took turns looking at them, jotting down URLs, names, product numbers anything that was of apparent value for their case. Soon I was released, but not with my model. One of the agents gave me a receipt for it, saying it would remain in their possession as evidence. I was told to say nothing at risk of being arrested for interference with an on going federal investigation.
What happened? I asked myself on the drive home. I really didn’t know. What I did learn and confirmed through some cyber detective work was companies are out to protect everything about the products they product, including the shape. Chrysler trademarked such things as the grill on the Jeep. Harley Davidson even tried to patent the sound of their motorcycles! I knew companies trademarked names that they gave their products. I can remember a scuffle one year at iHobby when some lawyer tried to shut down the displays with anything that had Avenger as part of its name. He was representing Grumman who says they owned the rights to the name Avenger…wonder if they tried this rough stuff with the auto maker or the gun makers who named their products Avenger? Why pick on a model company that produces a kit of a famous warplane some 60 years ago?
What can happen to those who don’t comply with their demands? A lot of legal stuff I am sure. If you have to hire an attorney its going to be expensive and time consuming that’s for sure. Usually one of the first things an offending manufacturer of a model gets is a threatening letter…you’d better stop what you are doing or we’re going to sue you! All of this for a perfect model? Accuracy, damned if you do, and damn by your customers if you don’t. So I take it that part of reason for not being “perfect” is its not worth the legal costs and licensing hassles?
The story you have just read is fictional…BUT! IT IS BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS. Incidents like this could become commonplace because those investing in a brand, what everything financially it can return. Manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been involved in such incidents as a direct result of a product produced and sold which were deemed infringement on brand, trademark, proprietary or classification issues. The Toy Replica Act was proposed to help alleviate some of the conflicts between those producing toy representations and replicas of actual items. If you want to know more about the Toy Replica Act, I suggest you research it online. In a nutshell, the act never passed, lost in the Washington bureaucracy.
However, language is now required in all defense department contracts to address some of these issues. A start but not the solution needed to keep toy & hobby mfrs from dealing with zealous attorneys who want to squeeze a dime or two out of the release of a kit of a product their company or client produced 60+ years ago. These idiots actually thought they owned the rights to the name of the USS Yorktown and all US warships built in their yard! The amount of money generated by most of these kit mfrs is far less than what they are paying out in attorney salaries or fees. Seems they rather go after a few pennies than see the marketing benefits of supporting such projects.
