I’m looking at a new 3D model repository, iFast3D, and have some questions.
The site, which seems to have been registered only last year, holds quite a large number of detailed 3D models for download. There doesn’t appear to be any free downloads, but almost all items are priced at a rock-bottom cost of only US$0.99 — if you subscribe to their newsletter. However, every single item is marked “on sale” at that price.
The models, at first, look pretty good. But then there are some questions. And then more questions.
A large proportion of the models are characters or items from well-known media properties. “Marvel Comics”, for example, is an entire section in iFast3D. In many cases the characters’ names are used, along with the actor that plays them. Here’s an example, “Wolverine – Hugh Jackman”.
That seems to be treading on someone’s trademarked character, so you’d think there would be some kind of licensing behind the scenes. However, at a price under a dollar, that’s very hard to see. Proper licensing would easily drive up the price.
As I looked closer, I began to see some weird things.
Here’s the page for “Terminator Bust – Arnold Swarzenegger”, priced at, you guessed it, US$0.99.
There is only one image presented, and it doesn’t show the entire 3D model, nor a print of one. The file name is marked as “TXT” (Not STL or 3MF), and apparently is only 123 bytes long. There is a quantity field, but why would you want to buy more than one copy of a model you can print multiple times?
The text is also worded quite strangely:
“Introducing the Terminator Bust – Arnold Swarzenegger. This exquisitely detailed 3D rendering showcases the iconic character’s piercing red eyes and intense gaze, perfect for 3D services enthusiasts.”
What does “3D services enthusiasts” mean? Is that a print service? None are offered on the site.
There are other red flags on this page. There are no ratings, no designer attribution, no comments, no instructions or anything you’d expect to see on a page of this type.
And then there’s the image itself. If you look in the bottom left corner, it’s quite clear the image is cropped, and there’s a small bit of some logo cut off. This is clearly a watermark by the original designer from some other site.
I did a quick reverse image search and found something basically identical at Malix3Design, shown here. It seems that iFast3D has copied this image, as the cropped title matches.
There’s something else that’s very strange. A huge proportion of URLs are mixed up. For example, the URL for the Terminator model we’ve been looking at is:
https://ifast3d.com/ols/products/batman-vs-ironman
Hold on, shouldn’t it be “terminator-T800” or similar? I looked at other URLs and found them all messed up. The Wolverine 3D model’s URL is:
https://ifast3d.com/ols/products/x23-laura-kinney
What’s going on here?
If you go to their Marvel Comics page, you can see what’s happening. There are a number of 3D models presented, but each one’s URL seems to be for a different model on the list. It’s as if the import program was off sometimes.
What’s the bottom line here? It seems to me that this site was very likely automatically generated by scooping up data from other providers. The generated items have a very sketchy setup and I have zero confidence that this is legitimate.
One could make an experimental purchase to see if it works at all, but my feeling is that you don’t even need to do that. This site is almost certainly a scam of some form.
Be very careful when looking for 3D models.
Via iFast3D
