Hey, Transformers Fans!
Victory Saber is ready for tool start! But what does that mean?
HasLab Transformers Victory Saber Backer Update | Ready for Tool Start!
As you can see from these images, the tools for Victory Saber are being prepped. Tools are giant slabs of steel, sculpted with laser etching to cut piece cavities in the molds. At this point in the process, tools will be polished and cleaned in order to make sure all of the pieces come out of the molds intact.
When we lay out molds, we group by what colors each piece is needed to be molded in. The mold pictured is for one of the red molds, and all of these red pieces will be part of the V-Star Jet, Autobot Saber, and the merged Star Saber figure.
You can see that there are some cutouts on the side of the mold. Those are meant for a slide for the molds. When we lay out a tool, we need to make sure the pieces are moldable from top to bottom. Sometimes we need to add a slide for details that can’t be molded traditionally. Space is left on the side, In this case, we are using the slide mold for pinholes for the feet and wings of Star Saber.
This is an ABS mold, a type of plastic we use to produce the harder parts of Transformers figures, like limbs. This mold will eventually produce the Sword of Justice hilt, main body of the V-Star Jet, wings, skirt pieces, feet, and pelvis pieces. The other types of molds we traditionally use are PA molds, producing softer plastic for more flexible parts of our figures, like joints.
A tree cavity connects all of the pieces together, directing the flow of the molten liquid plastic for injection. After the plastic is injected and taken out of the mold, the pieces look very similar to how they would come in a model kit. Then, the individual pieces are removed from the runner -- the solidified plastic from the tree cavity that connects all the pieces.
We run many test shots to make sure the tool is producing pieces correctly. At this point, we check for short shots, things that did not fill with plastic correctly or may come out of the mold misshapen. When we mold our first shots, the pieces will not be in the correct color, but don’t worry! That’s normal. The pieces will be molded from colors leftover in the tool and will not be the actual colors of Victory Saber. That part comes later.
So what’s next for your HasLab? The pieces will be popped off the runner and assembled. Next, we review for inconsistencies like limp articulation, tightness, correct fits, if pieces convert correctly, and if the figure can hold accessories.
Stay tuned for more updates in the development process!
