| First Shot Wings for Die-Cast TIE Fighter (alternate detailing) | |
| The pair of die-cast TIE Fighter wings that you see at the top of this image are first shots--early injection-molded examples of finished product. However, these were evidently made prior to the final detailing had been cut into the steel molds, as they lack the distinct ridges present on the production wings shown below them.
The master for an item like this was probably created by hand through a process known as "patterning." A negative cast would then be taken from the pattern, which would in turn be traced by a pantograph machine into the mold that would eventually be used to create the finished product. But, evidently, the mold indentations that are responsible for the ridges on the production TIE Fighter wings were not copied directly from the pattern, but added to the mold only after the basic form of the wing had been cut into it. The undetailed wings shown here were produced from a mold that had not yet had the ridges added, probably as a test of sorts, or simply in order to have something to use in promotional and packaging photography.
Here you see one of those promotional photos, which shows clearly the early, undetailed wings. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Will Grief |
| From the collection of: | Will Grief |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Miscellaneous Toys |
