| 2-1b Coin Original Plaster Sculpting | |
| This original plaster sculpting for Kenner's POTF 2-1b coin is one of the few pieces of original coin artwork known to exist. The majority of original coin sculptings seem to have been done in plaster; the sculptor would begin work on a smooth plaster disc and render his design in postive relief, chipping away the parts of the plaster around the raised image area. Additionally, some coin sculptings are known to have been done in wax--as were most action figure and Micro Collection sculptings--and it has been reported that at least one was done in clay. Like most coin sculptings that have turned up, this 2-1b piece was done at a 6:1 scale ratio, meaning it was sculpted six times larger than the size at which the coin was eventually mass-produced. You've no doubt noticed that this sculpt lacks the textual detail present on the surface of the production coins. This is because these details were added directly to the dies used to mass-produce the coins, and therefore were not needed in the sculpting.
Once sculptings such as this one were completed, they were sent to a non-Kenner prototyping firm. Once there, they were used to create hardcopies, softcopies and, finally, tooling masters from which the 1:1 steel production dies could be produced. This process is extensively detailed in the Archive's Special Feature article entitled "A Coin is Born." Those green stains you see on the surface of the plaster are the remnants of a PVA mold release. This was applied to the surface of the sculptings in order to prevent the epoxy used to create the hardcopies from adhering to it. Unfortunately, most original coin sculptings were destroyed, either during the prototyping process or by the folks at Kenner themselves, who really didn't have a use for the things once they'd served their purpose. Make no mistake, this 2-1b sculpt is a truly rare and significant piece of original Kenner artwork. It's especially nice in this case to know that Garry also owns the hardcopy that was made from it. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Garry Pedersen |
| From the collection of: | Alex Sleder |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Power of the Force |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Coin |