| Tie Pilot POTF Coin Stage 2 Hardcopy | |
| This is a stage 2 hardcopy of the
POTF Tie Pilot coin. It was made by applying separate layers of epoxy
and Dynacast directly to the surface of
the original softcopy of the coin. The
softcopy's reason for existence was its flexibility; each would be bent slightly
and then used to create a second, or "stage 2" hardcopy, this one
with the required convex surface. To accomplish this, the softcopy was placed
into a bowl-shaped template, which was surrounded by a slight retaining wall.
Then the epoxy application procedure described in Step 3 was repeated, the only
difference being that this time the epoxy was brushed onto the softcopy rather
than the sculpting.When the layer of white epoxy was cured and reinforced with
a layer of green Dynacast, it was pulled from the softcopy.
As you probably tell, the hardcopy is substantially larger than the production coins. This is because the Kenner coins were sculpted at approximately 6 times the size at which they were eventually produced, in order to allow the sculptor some leeway in detailing his work. Although you can't really tell it from the image, the hardcopy has negative detail, meaning that the character images are incised into the surface rather than raised above it. This is because the softcopies were done as positives. Since the softcopy it had been cured over had positive detail and its surface had been distorted into a concave shape, the resulting hardcopy was the exact opposite--it had negative detail and a surface that was convex, its perimeter being lower than its center. In other words, these "stage 2" hardcopies had the outwardly-curving surface required for making the production dies. We have been very fortunate to have gathered so much information regarding the development and production of the POTF coins. To learn more about coin hardcopies and softcopies, as well as how the coin line in general was created, please check out the Special Feature article entitled A Coin is Born. Related entries:
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Michael G. Mensinger |
| From the collection of: | Rob Johnson |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Power of the Force |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Coin |
