ARHS / Big Dog dispute

[Green_Elite_Cab]

This is disappointing, I have a few of their shells but I did not know about their questionable actions before I picked them up. Apparently, many of their parts such as their cabs are actually resin casts of someone else's 3D printed parts.

One wonders how much of their stuff is really original? It kinda sucks because they do seem to have a lot of odd-ball diesels in there that I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess aren't available in any other format. Even though its a newer engine, I had been considering their C39-8.

I hadn't realized they had run afoul of Athearn or Rapido, but then I guess its possible some of his "originals" are made from kitbashes of other manufacturer's models. Its pretty clear that the RS3M he sold has P2K radiator fans, and that a good chunk of the shell is probably an Atlas RS3. The only thing that would seal the deal would be if it turned out the altered exhaust part were the the old Tiger Valley kits! I now worry that the Hammer Head RS3 may have been one of Yellow Lynn's scratchbuilt noses. My understanding is that he passed away sometime ago, and so I'm sure no one is looking over what happens with his parts.

On the other hand, and this may sound a tad hypocritical, I feel like many of the resin shells I've picked up from various sources have a little bit of other manufacturers in them. On the GP40FH-2 shells I have from another manufactuerer, the body may be mostly scratchbuilt, but then the cab and nose look a lot like an Athearn blue box, and parts of the long hood looke like they may have come from a Bachmann F40PH. I'm sure if a manufacturer really wanted to pursue some of these Resin casters, they could, but whats the point? Athearn won't be making a GP40FH-2 anytime soon, and the use of their cab probably had more to do with making the body shell compatible with their easily acquired frames (essentially meaning you'd have to buy an Athearn model anyway).

I suppose where is the line drawn?

Big Dawg is definitely in the wrong here, and it looks like they either took the CNJ shells down or have for now, sold out of them. I'm surprised the ARHS doesn't sue him for the lost income. Its too bad. If his casts were any good, maybe he could have worked out a deal where he sold the shells and a portion came back to the ARHS, because its clear they sold well.