Just met Jim Kiger of Replicraft

[f18shack]

Finally pulled the trigger and bought a few plan sets from Replicraft. Since Jim Kiger only lives 20 miles away I drove over to pick up the plans in person. What a gentleman. He’s 91 years old and has a drafting office in his garage. We sat and talked for 45 min or so. He reminisced about the unexpected and different routes original factory references came his way with the Hanriot and SE5A, and about when he went to see Roger Freeman’s SPAD XIII for Javier Arrango, based on his plans. Jim was a modeler, but he was committed to documenting the real airplanes with the best sources available.

The plans are beautifully drawn. You could frame them and put them up on the wall. I have no immediate need for the plans I bought, but since Jim is getting up there in age, there’s no time like the present if you think you want a set.

You can find his website by googling Replicraft and Jim Kiger.

[regular122]

Own many sets. They are wonderful and worth every penny. Would be great to meet him. I do hope he has given some thought to their future availability and his legacy should his health wane. Steve

[f18shack]

He mentioned that his son-in-law is a pilot. I’m guessing he’d have an interest in Jim’s work.

[f18shack]

At 30" x 80" they are a bit cumbersome to look through. Jim really crammed a lot of drawings onto 5-10 sheets per plan set. I will get them scanned and then work with them digitally, with selective printing of hard copies.

[Skyraider3D]

Has anybody digitised Replicraft's Fokker D.VII drawings by any chance? I'm more than happy to pay the very reasonable prices for these drawings, but as all my work is done digitally the paper format is simply too cumbersome for me to work with.

[Maxim08]

You're asking to violate the terms of sale from a living artist. Each page specifically forbids copying in any form. It may be worth contacting Jim Kiger directly in case his position on this has changed.

Regards
John

[Skyraider3D]

Hi John,

As a "living artist" myself I most definitely do not wish to violate his copyrights and I am not suggesting anybody does so. I just wondered if anyone has digitised them already and might be selling them with permission of Mr Kiger, either commercially or as a one-off deal to be agreed with Mr Kiger. I have never seen any of his drawings in person, so I am not aware of any terms of sale that come with them, although it's a given that they should not be copied let alone distributed without his permission.

[f18shack]

Give him a call. I seriously doubt he would be happy with people selling digitized versions of his work. I know I would not.

I’m not sure if he has the ability to get a plan set scanned to sell in that format vice the 30x80 sheets. I’d send him an email inquiry via his web site and ask.

Copying properly purchased plans for personal use only is another matter.

[Sotripe Wannabe]

They don't take up space on a wall (see attached).

[Dart]

It's not a violation of law if one digitizes their own copy and only uses it for themselves.

What one would have to do is purchase a set and either have it scanned (which would require hiring a firm with large scanners), or take digital photographs and stitch them together (more likely).