Leonardo WIP (Custom design)

So surgery recovery has been rougher than I expected and I haven't been able to do much of anything, but I've been thinking about this costume a lot. One thing in particular is the possibility of making the mouth open and close (with my jaw). Is this something I could do with the latex? Does anyone have any tips or ideas for how I could do this simply?
I managed to create something a bit like this in my Sully costume. You can make up a very simple "jaw-frame" consisting of an upper and lower part with a pivot near your ear. The upper frame can be more or less fixed inside the upper lip. The lower frame should be fixed to the centre of the lower lip. then you'll need a cross piece/strap that you can hook under your jaw.
I made mine from EVA foam but i had a lot of space to play with. in your case something thinner like mechano might work better. I hope that's not entirely unclear
 
Thanks for the input. Yeah, I've been think that's what I'm going to do. I think I might go a bit further and make a face shell so that the latex mask doesn't deform too much when I move the jaw. We'll see!
 
And I thought I was finally done with spandex...after putting on the skin layer spandex body suit, I think I'll need to hobble together a custom fit one. I had to get a larger one so the arms would fit over the muscles, but that leaves a tone of room in the chest (I want the arm seams past the shoulders so they'll be covered by the leather straps), so I think I'll need to sew together two different sized spandex suits. Bah!
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I also made a harness for the back shell. It's underneath the suit in the above pic, so you can't see it aside from a little bulge on the chest which will be covered up, so I'm happy about that.

I finally got some new paints for the sword blade, after the experiment with the aluminum foil was a bust. I used alclad stainless steel and aqua gloss clear, plus a quick wash with some black acrylic. I'm really happy with the outcome. Still got the other one to do now.
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I started work on the elbow and knee pads. These were a total bust. I'm not liking them at all. After sitting around being frustrated for a few minutes, I thought, "I'm doing my own design of the character, with of old and new. Let's stick with that!" So I'll be designing my own versions. I imagine that the turtles would be macgyvering together everything they find, so perhaps they found some motorcycle or construction protection, but the straps were too small or combersome, so they took off the hard pieces and sewed them to old leather. I'll be making the hard parts out of sintra, which I'm pretty comfortable with after my Kingsguard outfit. For posterity, here's my first two experiments trying to make a more traditional version.
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I also experimented with the latex portion of the suit, where I'd apply latex to the top spandex layer. The latex seeps through the spandex and onto the muscles underneath, which means I'll loose the nice look of muscles moving underneath the skin. I don't know why I hadn't thought about that. So I'm trying to figure out a way to keep at least some of the movement. I'm wondering if applying the latex with a spray gun might be the way to go; if applying a very thin/light layer first will "seal" the spandex, keeping additional layers from seeping through...Hmm. I'll need to grab a spray gun and experiment.
 
Thanks! I'll be on vacation next week so I'll have plenty of time to do some tests; worst case is that I'll just have to live with it; it won't make or break the costume. In the mean time, I started work on the custom elbow/knee pads. I actually found really cheap ones at a store, so I bought those to save some time. I ripped the plastic off and attached them to foam I covered in leather. They're being held together with barge cement. The twine is there as added protection, but also cause I thought it gives a nice cobbled together look. Here's a WIP of those (still need to add straps and finish aging the leather).

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I also experimented with the latex portion of the suit, where I'd apply latex to the top spandex layer. The latex seeps through the spandex and onto the muscles underneath, which means I'll loose the nice look of muscles moving underneath the skin. I don't know why I hadn't thought about that. So I'm trying to figure out a way to keep at least some of the movement. I'm wondering if applying the latex with a spray gun might be the way to go; if applying a very thin/light layer first will "seal" the spandex, keeping additional layers from seeping through...Hmm. I'll need to grab a spray gun and experiment.

Just a thought on this. you could try to cover the inner form with something like cling film. then after the first couple of layers have dried you could pull the foam out from inside and remove as much of the plastic as possible.

It's worth noting though that once coated in latex the spandex won't stretch and becomes more rigid so you might lose some of that natural looking movement anyway.
 
Hmm. That's a very good point. Will help keep my expectations in check. I'm picking up a spray gun this weekend to apply the latex. My hope is that I'll be able to better control application that way and do thinner layers. That might help with the stretch, as I don't want the latex too thick; just enough to get rid of the fabric texture and make it paintable (I'm considering creating latex appliances of scales to add in some small areas to give the right effect, however).

The clig wrap isnt isn't a bad idea. Some of the top layer of spandex will be sewn to the bottom layer to give a cut look, so I might have to be more strategic with both methods (or decide which I care about more), but it's definitely worth a test at the very least.
 
Elbow and knee pads are done!

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I also got most of the front shell created. Each piece is an individually crafted section of EVA foam, attached to another layer of foam backing to hold it all together using barge cement. I've sanding everything down into the basic shape that I want, but I still want to go in and carve some small detailing in. I still need to decide which method I want to use to cover it up (I think I saw a Punished Props video comparing different methods). But I'll hold off on that for now. Time to start on the back shell!

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Started on the back shell today. After a few false starts, I decided to create a core or mold over which I could shape the shell with EVA foam. There might be easier/quicker ways to do it, but this made the most sense to me and will allow me to get the shape I want. The mold is simply Smooth On Foam It left over from making the body cast, poured into a large plastic bin (which I had to break to remove, but it was just $5 from the dollar store and expected). Tomorrow I'll use a reciprocating saw and hand sanders to whittle this big block of foam into a shell shape, and will then mold my EVA foam over top.

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Thanks! I carved out the overall curvature for the shell. I coated it in some paint and sealer to the small bits of sand like fibers together while I use it to form the actual foam shell.

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I also started work on version 2.0 of my mask. Decided to do a few things differently. First, I'm going with a more traditional look overall, including large resin eyes and small slits for me to see through. I also am going for a more battle hardened Leo, so he's got a furrowed brow and some scars. Thirdly, I'm still planning on giving the mask a moveable mouth, so the mouth is wider and more "open". I'm liking this version of the mask a lot more. Here's a sneak peak ;)

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Also! I did not end up getting an air gun for the latex. I found that applying it VERY lightly with a piece of scrap foam creates a seal of latex that does not seam through the fabric and keeps additional layers from doing the same. So I just need to be very patient and have a very light touch when applying the latex. Very happy about this!
 
I had a tragedy. The mold for the mask broke. The edges were bad (for some reason I'm really bad at adding gypsum to the seam area). I thought I could patch it up, but then the whole thing broke...frustrated hands make clumsy hands. I'll need to sculpt again. I'm choosing to look at it as a chance to do an even better sculpt, as this was only my second attempt and I had already seen improvement, so third times a charm.

In remembrance for a mask that never was, here's a few progress shots of the sculpt. Half way through I decided to make my Leo a weathered warrior who has seen some battles and added some scarring. I like this idea a lot so I'll carry it over in the next attempt. It's funny; I tried to get away from Henson's version in the first sculpt, but the closer I get to that, the more "right" it feels. His team really knew what they were doing.

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While waiting for more clay to ship, I went back to work on the muscle suit. All the muscles are carved, covered in spandex and attached to the under suit. The skin layer body suit's chest was too large, so I removed the arms and attached them to a smaller suit. I'm not concerned with the color difference. I'm now going through and stitching in details to give the muscles some needed definition. I'm making the assumption that the hard lines can be softened up by the latex layers. I see I'll have a (small?) issue with adding the latex and painting the area around the armpits and the arms on my mannequin don't move. I'll deal with that when I have to, though.

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I also worked in the scabbards. They were originally black plastic and too long for the katanas, so I cut them down to size and wrapped them in leather. I played with the idea of adding some small leather wrappings for decoration... Maybe Leo does this as meditation when Raphael stresses him out, lol. This was just me absentmindedly messing around while watching MST3K. I like the idea, but I'll probably do something better later on.

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Just a tiny update showing how the latex application is going. I'm tinting it with some green paint to try and reduce the red fabric prior to painting (and to reduce streaks of white if the latex stretches too much). It's a slow process, but easy. Once the bulk of the body is done and the latex has dried enough to not stick to itself, I'll remove it from the mannequin to get some of the harder to reach spots (inside of arms). Images below are just two layers of latex so far. I'll need to build up the latex more in the creases of the muscles to reduce the look of seams, but it isn't too bad so far. I imagine the final paint job will help as well.

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I'm just using left over upholstery foam to apply the latex; wiping it on and going back over and dabbing it up to get that texture. It isn't scales, but it's a nice subtle affect I'm happy with.
 
Latex application is coming along well. Think I just need to do one more layer. Here's a close up of the texture on the leg.

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In between layers of latex I'm trying to work on the back shell, but I'm having problems. Think I'm just going at it the wrong way. Molding EVA foam over the shape I carved from a block of foam isn't working; can't get it to keep its shape enough to add any strength. Never mind that the core ended up being too small. I did some searching and haven't seen any methods that are either cost effective or that results in a look/shape I'd like. Maybe I'm just thinking to much about it?

I decided to walk away from the back shell for a bit and take a look at the front shell. I decided that I wanted to give the front shell a distinctive look; instead of a plain and smooth look, I thought it'd be cool to give the front shell some texture using a wood burning tool (with appropriate ventilation and breathing protection, of course!). Here's where it's heading.

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