Does the future of N scale Modeling, and that's modeling with a capital 'M' if you know what I mean, lay in an open source ideal?
I was poking around
www.shapeways.com to see if it had potential to produce N scale 60s - early 70s vehicles I need so bad. Basically, you submit 3D drawings they do the rest, and you leave the 'product' up for them to continue selling. I know the process is the same one used by MakeMyModel.com, and there are many complaints about the condition of those models, their materials and level of detail, etc. Shapeways offers that same or a similar plastic material used by MMM or they also offer metal, and the material is chosen by the originator, I think.
Shapeway's profit sharing details aside, this sort of open source modeling concept seems to hold promise for certain, specialized N scale products and there are already a number of Euro N scale products being offered. I'm not saying the process is perfect for everything (like horns) but for certain items, like the mythic Conrail cab signal box all the CR queens whine about ( ;D), the process seems perfect.
The drawbacks of the system are that it would limit profitability for the originator and it leaves purchasers with a 'buy at your own risk' situation, with product coming from a non-modeler producer. But it would remove the hassle of production from the originator, provide them some benefit from their work, and product would be available, seemingly, in perpetuity for everyone. Sure, no mom and pop business profits from it, but do they ever? They seem to pop up (pun intended), sell, complain, and disappear, taking one or two indispensable products to the grave after we got hooked on them.
Then I saw 71jeep's great home-designed, commercially etched PRR N6B caboose and I thought, why not etching too? No Shapeways exists for etching, that I know of. So we would need a place to collect posted drawings for etched products for all to access. The person who desires a certain model downloads it and sends the drawing off to the commercial etcher and deals with production him or herself.
All we need are modelers who've done the work and don't mind giving product. And those who use the drawings would be free to make a donation to the originator through PayPal or whatever. That's how it could operate until we get a 'we handle all the business and everyone profits a little bit' set-up like Shapeways, at least.
Does the future of N scale Modeling lay in open source?
Side note - I have a friend who works with guys who've used Shapeways to create gaming pieces in metal. I hope to see a few examples in person soon to report back on quality.
