One doesn't need to make a profit to violate copyright laws. Just ask Johnny Gasca, AKA "The Prince of Piracy" His defense was that he wasn't profiting from copying movies. It was ruled the infringement occurred despite the profitability of the venture.

While the MPAA is far more militant than the pinball industry, the number of C&D orders handed out to ipdb (ROM links), BoS and others shows that pinball manufacturers aren't beyond pressing their rights. It potentially gets a bit stickier for reproductions of movie licensed pieces. Could/would the MPAA get in on the act if LotR, POTC, etc pieces are reproduced - particularly if they had actor likenesses or other licensed copyrighted marks?

please do continue with the tutorial - and as far as you can take it. i think it'd be very worthwhile to understand some of the details and gotchas in the entire process of trying to repro plastics - particularly since it would appear anyone wanting a repro that isn't available for sale will need to understand the whole process. The color pre-press work is a whole body of knowledge in itself - and not easily conveyed. But even details as to if it was easier to find a close match for the fonts in your above screen grabs, or if you actually traced the letter characters, is useful info for someone trying to repro plastics from their own game. Too many times I see just bits and pieces of projects like this.

This is likely fine - even if the part is reproduced elsewhere. While technically still a copyright violation, it'd never come to the public view and is likely unenforceable. Generally you'll see enforcement once the image/part/files are made available to the public for free/a small fee/shipping/etc

Its the artwork, not the rendering, that is the copyright material.

Its not how the copyrighted works are shared/sold, but the reproduction of the copyrighted work that violates the copyright. Its not the harm being done, but the potential harm. Say a copyright holder A doesn't make a part, so company B decides they will, and they sell/give a ton of them. Copyright holder A later decides they want to to sell more of their copyright work, but come to find out there is no longer any demand because company B made of bunch of them. Copyright holder A neither received any sales or any license fees from company B. So there are still real (potential) losses.