Sorry to bump a thread that's been here for a while but can I just say I am laughing to myself at the minute.
I wanted a model of the Hawk when the game came out and periodically, when I could remember, I googled and scoured modding forums to see if anyone had ripped the model from the game. I'd almost forgotten about it but for a chance thread posted on 4chan's /po/. Someone managed to rip the model and as soon as it was in a blender-compatible format, I sank my teeth in. Having waited so long I must say: It never rains but it pours. (The reason for my state of humour).
Anon is correct in that it could have taken many months, luckily I had a lot of free time. I am sure many of you are aware that game meshes sometimes do not lend themselves to easy conversion into paper, this one required a good bit of cleaning up, rework and addition of poly's to ensure it would not warp, sag or collapse in paper form. It is a bit of an unorthodox shape too which meant that internal support would be hard to site. I think I did the best I could.
In regards to piracy and other contentious matters: I free myself from them by never expecting anything in return for my models. If someone feels like they need to profit from my work then it will be very hard for me to stop them, the same can be said for distribution; the Streisand effect ensures that it is a futile endeavour. I won't use DRM as it is fundamentally flawed in concept and practically useless. I know some of you guys try to make a few pounds/dollars/euro from your models and I support you in your right to get some kind of compensation from your work but expecting it to go uncopied when copying is such a trivial affair is, in my opinion, a fast way to anti-anxiety medication.
If some muppet decides that their life will be enriched and their friends will think they are great when they present my work as their own, more power to them; trying to sate a feeling of inadequacy in this way speaks of genuine personality issues and unhappiness which just makes me feel sympathy for them.
Theoretically, if I really want to make some cash from this I can offer to do work by commission (it is not going to happen though as I prefer to simply share and do not need to rely on this to feed me). I do not think that this would make for a very lucrative living especially when you consider that I am relying on fair-use to allow me to create and share the models. Licensing costs would likely ensure that breaking even would be the best I could expect.
This is my way of spreading a little happiness in the world, if I make a single person's day that little bit brighter then I count myself as lucky.