Green Lantern Painted Hardcopy




  


Showcased here is a painted hardcopy for the popular 1st series Green Lantern figure. The piece is cast in resin, a characteristic shared by all hardcopies. The colors are incredibly vibrant as the piece is entirely hand painted.

Hardcopies are produced using a silicon mold (this mold is created from the orginal wax figure sculpting). Once it is removed from the mold it may serve a number of purposes. It might remain unpainted and ultimately serve in the creation of the steel production mold. In this case the hardcopy is referred to as a "tooling master" or "tooling hardcopy".

Extra hardcopies are also poured as a precaution, should something happen to the tooling master. These extras would remain unpainted as well. If a hardcopy is not destined for tooling or backup, then it will more than likely be handpainted for use in catalog photography, trade shows, or as a paintmaster. Many hand painted prototypes for the Super Powers line are cast in a milky white proto plastic (commonly referred to as internal first shots or protomolded pieces), however some like Green Lantern have surfaced in resin.

Above we see a view of the hardcopy in its disassembled state. Notice the head and limbs attach to the torso via small dowels. These dowels are typically steel, although plastic dowels, like the ones found on this hardcopy, were occasionally employed as well. Sometimes the limbs of hardcopies are glued in place. Regardless, potential for disassembly, resin material, lack of foot holes/copyright information represent characteristics found on all hardcopies. The hand craftsmanship and potential to disassemble hardcopies make them one of the premier prototype stages to collectors.

Return to Main Page Return to Prototype Menu