Blightzkrieg posted... GW lost their court case regarding rip off models pretty badly, so they can't do anything about it.
It comes down to a few things:
-3D printed models usually aren't as good as GW plastic in 99% of cases. Even when you have a perfect STL, it's still limited by the quality of the printer and the skill of the person printing it, which can rarely produce details as sharply
-most people don't have a 3D printer and paying somebody to print it for you isn't often significantly cheaper, unless it's a centerpiece model (which most people would rather get the official version)
-Peer pressure, both from real peers and from the way GW portrays the game in marketing. People are obsessed with playing the game "the right way" which usually involves playing it as advertised. Most tournaments will allow you to use 3D printed miniatures and proxies, but most players don't even realize it. Even then, most players don't play in tournaments. But all it takes is one dude screaming about how bad 3D prints are and a whole community will avoid using them.
"Nonono, I want to pay 5x for something that's roughly the same quality"