TMNT - Leonardo

[GodsAdvised]

Been lurking on here without a build thread for long enough.Communities aren’t built on lurkers and after looking at awesome builds from so many talented people I figured it was time to get into the fray.

I’ve always loved TMNT and wanted a legit Leo costume. As a kid TMNT were, by far, my favorite action figures and movies and my first homemade costuming experience was my mom making me a ninja turtle costume for Halloween from dyed green long johns and a carved foam shell when I was 7 or so. The design of the turtle will be my own. I loved the costumes from the movies when I was a kid but I also wanted Leo to look a little meaner...and a little more "ninja-like" and have some of the design elements that I've liked from all renditions of the turtles (comics, graphic novels, movies, TV shows, etc)

So, here's what I have so far. Making decent progress on the body. it's all roughed in but fine tuning, detailing, skin texture, etc hasn't been done yet. I roughly sculpted 2 different front shells (right and left). I'm not sure which one I am going to go with yet. I think I'll keep adding detail to both and make the decision when I get further along. I've also got Leo's swords about 80% done and his shell about 75% done. Still a LOT of work to be done but finally making progress after scoping the project and working on the mannequin for a long time. Life gets in the way sometimes.

 

[mikefu]

looks awesome so far and your plan is solid. looking forward to this build.
cheers

 

[GodsAdvised]

Leo is coming along slowly but surely. Body sculpt is now more complete. Evened out both sides of the front shell after taking a long time to decide what side I liked more. Now starting to fine tune the sculpt and figure out what kind of texture the front shell is going to have. Started work on the head. It's a cross between heads that I've seen in the comics/TV/graphic novels. A lot of detail work left to do but I'm happy with the overall shape. Eyes are going to be solid white just like the comic.

 

[VilleLeskinen]

Definately has some Next Mutation look. But much, much better! :lol Looking forward to more progress. :thumbsup

 

[GodsAdvised]

So, after a busy summer/fall and only working on this occasionally Leo is back on. For the longest time I hadn't set a due date as I just wanted to do something that I was happy with. However, timelines are good and keep you motivated. 2 months ago I set Emerald City Comic Con as my completion date so I've been scrambling since then to meet that date. Right now ECCC is a little more than 40 days out. Here we go!

Texturing is coming along well. Shell has been made, fitted, and rigged but needs to be painted. Starting to cast up all the parts. Lots of mold making to do this weekend.

 

[Talaaya]

Oooh this is looking so good! I love the little wigglies on the belly shell. The skin texture is also great. Nice and subtle. How did you go about making it look like that? Also something to consider, since it's so subtle, when the paint goes on are you going to do a dark wash to get the crevices of the texture to really pop? I hate how paint tends to ruin all the lovely detail you've put into something. :/

 

[GodsAdvised]

The texture on the belly shell is all done by hand. Just a lot of marking up the clay with a ball tool and then knocking it back with some alcohol and a heat gun. The texture on the skin is part done by hand and part done with some home made texture stamps. I went and got about 15 different scrap leather pieces of all different textures and then made urethane negatives. Trying out all the different stamps really helped me figure out how I wanted the skin to look.

 

[GodsAdvised]

Hooray for mold making! You spend all this time getting your sculpts neat and clean and symmetrical and then you start pouring all this goo all over them and pray that it sets up correctly. Making Smooth-On Rebound25 molds with fiberglass mother molds. I tried to use a quick set urethane plastic for my original mother mold but didn’t like it. My mother molds are pretty big and it was just too brittle. Fiberglass provides strength with a little flex that is really nice.

 

[George]

Awesome work so far,G.A. The sculpting is really professional :thumbsup
I hope you make your deadline !

 

[GodsAdvised]

Thanks George! I hope I make it too. Honestly, my biggest fear isn't that I don't make my timeline...it's that I have to cut corners to get it done and it doesn't turn out the way that I want. I'm taking some time off work between now and my deadline that should help quite a bit. Overall, I think I'm on a pretty good path.

 

[Talaaya]

Don't be afraid to miss your deadline. It really sucks in the moment, but in the long run you may be happier. Looking back you may regret having cut corners and wish you'd just taken the extra time to do it right even though you didn't get to wear it for that particular event. It's a compromise either way; you just have to decide which you prefer. There will always be another con.

 

[kallell]

pretty cool

 

[JmanTurtleMan]

So very awesome! You have some amazing talent! I love the head sculpt, looking forward to seeing the final product, cowabunga!

 

[Grimwood]

Fantastic! Welcome to the Turtle Brotherhood Consortium Association Group! It's good to be a turtle! You've done some excellent work there! Be sure to give yourself room to breathe, a spigot to help the sweat drain and drink plenty of water.

Looking forward to more pics.






These suits get hot!