Unit116
New Member
Hey all, I managed to find this fantastic site earlier this year when I decided whole heartedly that I was going to create a TMNT costume. I did a google search for some tips on how to go about doing so and it pointed me to a few of the threads available here, which I will be addressing since I have learned much from them all and must give credit where it is due. Now, this will be my first costume build ever, and will possibly be pretty slow for a few reasons, one being lack of experience(but that is the fun part), another being I also do stained glass work and am long overdue on some of those projects, and lastly because I have tendonitis in my right wrist(which of course is my main hand) and will probably need surgery to fix it since the less invasive forms of healing have all failed. With that being said, my hopeful completion date for this project is by the 2012 Emerald City Comicon here in lovely Seattle, which is from March 30 - April 1. I have already decided though that if it is getting close to completion date and I am nowhere near done, I will not sacrifice quality for speed. I want this thing to look amazing and if it makes me miss my deadline then so be it, Comicon will happen again.
Now, for the meat and potatoes. The turtle I am planning on building is not the iconic one from the movies or the cartoon, and not even entirely from the comics. I found the picture in one of the other turtle build threads and did some research to find where it came from. The thread I found it in was westies 14's thread http://www.therpf.com/f24/real-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtle-halloween-2011-update-9-6-a-96776/
in a comment posted by agliarept
The statue was created by a group that can be found here Devil's Own Resin
They do a lot of other statues and busts. I picked Leonardo because he has a special place in my heart. I am going to go with the red mask, as was appropriate to the original comic, but I am planning on a few minor changes based on personal wants. I want this turtle to look like a battle hardened ronin wondering around for years with no money, just beating the crap out of wrong-doers. That being said, my swords are going to look a little old and beat-up, and a lot of other stuff is going to look old and worn. As for the swords, I am going to go a little outside the traditional TMNT and have only one sword worn over my left shoulder, the other sword will be a little more traditional Japanese and be worn off of the belt on my left hip. To give it a little bit of blue in honor of the Leonardo we all know and love, the sageo(knot/loop used to attach a katana to the belt) will be blue.
I am going to be a little inventive with this suit, as is in my nature, and build in a water cooling system to keep my core temperature downish as I will want to be able to wear this costume for an extended part of the day. I already have all of that worked out and will load pictures in a later post. I am also planning on creating an amplifier circuit and putting a speaker somewhere hidden in the mask so that I can talk normal and people will be able to hear me instead of having to shout out of the mask. I will also be making the muscle suit from scratch and coating it with latex.
All in all this will be a very large project and it will take a good amount of time to complete, but hopefully I will get it done eventually and be very happy with the results. I look forward to your comments, suggestions, and anything else you would like to post as long as it is within good taste. Now, here are the pics of the statue I will be modeling my suit from. Be noted that the paint job will be a little different as I think this one looks more like a frog with the white underside. Hope you enjoy, and I will keep you updated as updates come.
Now, for the meat and potatoes. The turtle I am planning on building is not the iconic one from the movies or the cartoon, and not even entirely from the comics. I found the picture in one of the other turtle build threads and did some research to find where it came from. The thread I found it in was westies 14's thread http://www.therpf.com/f24/real-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtle-halloween-2011-update-9-6-a-96776/
in a comment posted by agliarept
The statue was created by a group that can be found here Devil's Own Resin
They do a lot of other statues and busts. I picked Leonardo because he has a special place in my heart. I am going to go with the red mask, as was appropriate to the original comic, but I am planning on a few minor changes based on personal wants. I want this turtle to look like a battle hardened ronin wondering around for years with no money, just beating the crap out of wrong-doers. That being said, my swords are going to look a little old and beat-up, and a lot of other stuff is going to look old and worn. As for the swords, I am going to go a little outside the traditional TMNT and have only one sword worn over my left shoulder, the other sword will be a little more traditional Japanese and be worn off of the belt on my left hip. To give it a little bit of blue in honor of the Leonardo we all know and love, the sageo(knot/loop used to attach a katana to the belt) will be blue.
I am going to be a little inventive with this suit, as is in my nature, and build in a water cooling system to keep my core temperature downish as I will want to be able to wear this costume for an extended part of the day. I already have all of that worked out and will load pictures in a later post. I am also planning on creating an amplifier circuit and putting a speaker somewhere hidden in the mask so that I can talk normal and people will be able to hear me instead of having to shout out of the mask. I will also be making the muscle suit from scratch and coating it with latex.
All in all this will be a very large project and it will take a good amount of time to complete, but hopefully I will get it done eventually and be very happy with the results. I look forward to your comments, suggestions, and anything else you would like to post as long as it is within good taste. Now, here are the pics of the statue I will be modeling my suit from. Be noted that the paint job will be a little different as I think this one looks more like a frog with the white underside. Hope you enjoy, and I will keep you updated as updates come.
