| Chief Chirpa (Osito Ewok) Staff Silicone Mold | |
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Presented here is the silicone
mold for the Chief Chirpa (Osito Ewok) staff. Most action figure molds are
created by pouring silicone over the original wax
sculpting. The silicone hardens and the sculpt is released creating a mold.
The mold is then used to cast hardcopies.
This mold, however, was made using a Kenner accessory. Top
Toys, the Argentinean distributor of Return of the Jedi figures,
did not use Kenner figures for tooling. Instead they created their own
figures and weapons/accessories and used Kenner figures as the basis.
Like many Return of the Jedi era silicone molds the Top Toys molds are white. Take note of the circular sections of the mold. These are what are known as "keys". One side has positive keys while the other has negative. When the two halves of the mold are placed together the keys interlock and prevent the mold from sliding. This shot shows the mold with a Kenner staff placed inside. Another point of interest is the "gate". This is the small triangular segment located at the very bottom of the staff. When the two halves of the mold were joined this area would still be open. A liquid urethane, usually Dynacast for Return of the Jedi era hardcopies, was poured into the mold and then left to cure. Once the urethane hardened the piece was removed from the mold. Some hardcopies were used for tooling and others for photo or paint samples.
This shot affords the readers a view of the gate when the two halves of the mold are locked into place.
The next shot shows a Kenner and Top Toys staff side by side.
The final shot affords readers a view of the many pieces Mattias has managed to add to his Top Toys prototype figure run. Pieces on this shelf include silicone molds for the torso, limbs, and staff, a carded sample, a painted hardcopy, a sprue with 2 front and 2 back first shot torsos, and the front half of the steel mold for both legs. |
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| Description by: | John J. Alvarez |
| Photo: | Mattias Rendahl |
| From the collection of: | Mattias Rendahl |
| Country: | Argentina |
| Film: | Return of the Jedi |
| Licensee: | Top Toys |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Action Figure Related |
