TMNT Sculpts -- Your opinions?

[BigApple3AM]

So all the picture links are broken, instead of going through each post you can see all my customs at this link.

Eventually I will try to take better photos of my stuff. Thanks for looking.

[Jester]

Some of my favorite characters. Keep at it, they're coming alonge nicely.

[Darth Shredder]

I really like them. Especially Jagwar. Any plans to paint?

[Buffy]

I'm loving the Armaggon one!

[A little *too* Raph]

Yay for archie! Those are looking great, keep it up. I'm anxious to see the finished Armaggon.

[Patraw]

Not bad at all. In keeping with the style of Playmates original offerings, which is the look you said you're going for, you might consider upping the "goofy" factor a bit--sculpt little barnacles, crabs and crap on Armaggon maybe. It wouldn't be comic accurate, but that's the kind of junk Playmates liked to do (look at all the unnecessary crap they stuck on Traag). I'm not saying go overboard, but it would add some of the classic Playmates feel. I don't know if you're planning on sculpting accessories too, but if you are, I'd go with zany stuff there too.

Jagwar's feet aren't sitting too flat, which could cause stability problems.

I do like the look/proportions of the chunkier Armaggon better than the thin one. It looks more intimidating.

Ninjara's snout seems a bit long to me, she looks more like a wolf than a fox at this point. The larger head, with the more-flared out cheeks looks better, but seems kind of large in comparison to the body.

[BigApple3AM]

Originally Posted by Jester

Some of my favorite characters. Keep at it, they're coming alonge nicely.

Thanks Jester, we gotta make a voice clip of you doing armaggon and stick it in the figure

Originally Posted by Darth Shredder

I really like them. Especially Jagwar. Any plans to paint?

Thanks, I actually plan on molding/casting these in plastic so they'll be true action figures. Then I'll paint them. The clay I use now will never harden so I can't paint them yet.

Originally Posted by Buffy

I'm loving the Armaggon one!

Thanks Buffy!

Originally Posted by A little *too* Raph

Yay for archie! Those are looking great, keep it up. I'm anxious to see the finished Armaggon.

Thanks. Yeah unfortunately the Archie characters didn't get much love from Playmates.

Originally Posted by Patraw

Not bad at all. In keeping with the style of Playmates original offerings, which is the look you said you're going for, you might consider upping the "goofy" factor a bit--sculpt little barnacles, crabs and crap on Armaggon maybe. It wouldn't be comic accurate, but that's the kind of junk Playmates liked to do (look at all the unnecessary crap they stuck on Traag). I'm not saying go overboard, but it would add some of the classic Playmates feel. I don't know if you're planning on sculpting accessories too, but if you are, I'd go with zany stuff there too.

Thanks Patraw. I know what you're saying with the goofy stuff. I guess I should have clarified better when I said I wanted these to fit in with the Playmates figures I meant in scale and articulation construction. I don't have the skills to sculpt the texture/detail that the original figures had. So in that sense I wanted these to be closer to how they're normally seen in other media than fit in perfectly with the old toy line. Still I think they really do need more fine details and maybe some humor wouldn't help. I was thinking of giving Armaggon a harpoon, and maybe some details that would relate to Jaws since a lot of the old toys/cartoon episodes were homages to old movies and pop culture.

Jagwar's feet aren't sitting too flat, which could cause stability problems.

Yeah I need to work on that a bit. But most of it is because I have his leg "posed" and since there isn't any actual articulation in the figures yet gravity and pins are keeping everything together for now. Once he gets articulation he'll be able to move the legs to stand flat. (As you can see Leo's feet aren't standing flat either due to how he's posed.)

I do like the look/proportions of the chunkier Armaggon better than the thin one. It looks more intimidating.

Hehe. The two are sort of bastardizations. The left armaggon got skinner arms and more bent over legs, and rather than just trash the old arms/legs I quickly threw together a more in proportioned body. I was thinking of working on it more, maybe I will. I thought he looked more MOTU looking though.

Ninjara's snout seems a bit long to me, she looks more like a wolf than a fox at this point. The larger head, with the more-flared out cheeks looks better, but seems kind of large in comparison to the body.

The head on the left in the new picture is not the same as the one on her body. All 3 are different. I'm trying to make her look more feminine and it's been tough. Yeah that large one was my first attempt and it's huge like her head got filled with helium haha.

[Patraw]

In regards to making Ninjara more feminine, it's somewhat tough for an animal, but making the snout/nose petite is probably the best thing you can do. When you get around to painting a final version, how you do the eyes and lashes can have a big effect on that aspect as well.

How exactly are you planning on making molds and casting them into plastic? Do you have an injection machine? I remember, in 7th grade metal shop class, my school had a small table top unit that was something like a coffee maker/drill press hybrid. You'd put PVC pellets in the top, the machine would heat them up and melt them, and then you'd pull down a lever to "inject" the molten plastic into your metal mold (we used it to make screwdriver handles, which was kind of a waste of the machine's potential I say).

Oh yeah, I was going to mention this last time, but I didn't. On your Jagwar figure, you've got him with a bare, un-textured chest. While you see that on apes and such, I don't think that's consistant with a cat. When I made my Jagwar figure, I was kind of thinking of going that route as well, but after studying images from the Archie comics, it really looks like they intended him to be completely fur covered, which is what I went with, appearance-wise (I didn't sculpt any hair at all on mine actually, just muscles, mainly cuz mine's so small that doing that kind of small texture work is difficult). It's your figure, and your call, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

A harpoon, as you suggested, or maybe a trident, would be a good choice for Armaggon in the accessory department. His big mech suit would be ideal, but that'd take forever to make.

[BigApple3AM]

Originally Posted by Patraw

How exactly are you planning on making molds and casting them into plastic? Do you have an injection machine?

Oh man I wish I had something cool like that. Actually there's a lot of mold making/resin kits at hobby lobby and online. It's been tough work trying to figure it all out so it'll be some time before I actually make these into figures. That plus I didn't think about all the engineering regarding articulation and the inner workings of the figure. I'll either open an old figure and try to copy the inner workings some how, or I'll ghetto style it which means I'll sculpt the inner workings and hope they work. Did I say inner workings enough?

On your Jagwar figure, you've got him with a bare, un-textured chest.

Yeah I saw yours in your sig, he looked great. I was going to paint the chest white and hope it looked like fur still but I think you're right it would look too ape like. Maybe I should make his stomach hair puffier than the rest of his hair, that might work.

His big mech suit would be ideal, but that'd take forever to make.

Yeah that would be incredible. Maybe one of those exo suit mech things the turtles have been coming in lately can be modified.

[shuriken]

I think what you're doing is awesome, my favorite so far is Armaggon. Jagwar looks really cool as well. Ninjara looks a bit strange, I think it may be the big snout or the fact that her hands look really big. I think once you adjust that you'll be fine. Keep up the good work though.

[BigApple3AM]

Thanks bro. Yeah my Ninjara blows.

Update: I'm working on a foot soldier sculpt right now based on the video game look. Anyone interested in seeing rough pics?

[Jester]

Do you have to ask? Post those puppies!

[BigApple3AM]

I ask because he's really rough, I just started him yesterday. But you guys have been a tremendous help so again I appreciate any suggestions:

[Jester]

So far so good...

[cowabunga14]

Nice work, sir. Like others, I wouldn't mind seeing these completed.

[Patraw]

The rough Foot Soldier sculpt looks very nice. The collar thingy could probably be a bit wider and the feet are kind of short, but, other than that, it looks good at this stage. Oh yeah, in the games, the forearm armor doesn't look like that, it's just simple bands, yours look more like the shells that the original Playmates Foot Soldier has. They have similar bands on their ankles/shins as well.

Also, why didn't you put this thread in the toy discussion forum where customs usually go?

[Lil G]

wow, those are awesome. i wish i could scuplt like that. those are totally awesome!

[BigApple3AM]

Originally Posted by Jester

So far so good...

Thanks!

Originally Posted by cowabunga14

Nice work, sir. Like others, I wouldn't mind seeing these completed.

Thanks! Hopefully I'll be able to get them finished eventually.

Originally Posted by Patraw

The rough Foot Soldier sculpt looks very nice. The collar thingy could probably be a bit wider and the feet are kind of short, but, other than that, it looks good at this stage. Oh yeah, in the games, the forearm armor doesn't look like that, it's just simple bands, yours look more like the shells that the original Playmates Foot Soldier has. They have similar bands on their ankles/shins as well.

Thanks man, you've been very helpful. I'll try and get better reference pictures for the foot soldiers, I was going off some really bad google image search pictures.

Also, why didn't you put this thread in the toy discussion forum where customs usually go?

Because they're not toys... yet. The chance that they'll become toys is pretty small unless I can get a friend to help me. I have several friends who have done mold making and casting so maybe it'll happen. I'm optimistic and it'd be incredible if it happens but I just want to be realistic. If a mod wants to move this to toy discussion that's fine with me.

Originally Posted by Lil G

wow, those are awesome. i wish i could scuplt like that. those are totally awesome!

I believe anyone can sculpt. All you have to do is buy some sculpting clay from a hobby store and practice. Armaggon was my first attempt at sculpting and you can see how rough it was at the beginning in the first pic, but I'm slowly improving though obviously I have a long ways to go. I appreciate the compliment though!


Edit: Patraw I keep looking at your sig and I'm insanely jealous of your rock soldier guy (granitor?). Man that guy turned out amazing! I always loved him in hot rodders from dimension x

[Patraw]

Lil G: Ectocooler is right that sculpting isn't really all that hard if you just give it a try. Granted, you can't expect to be a master right off the bat, but I think you'd be pleasantly surprised with what you can turn out without any, or much, experience.

Ectocooler: Glad my comments could be of some help. Here's a good sprite sheet of Foot Soldiers (Turtles in Time I believe) that you could use as a reference, that I just nabbed from Google:

http://sdb.drshnaps.com/sheets/Media...otSoldiers.png

Granitor turned out pretty well, but, having had time to give me perspective and objectivity, I should have made his chest a lot more massive. I always liked him more than Traag, as his design is more memorable, especially that honker nose.

[tOkKa]

-->> o f6ck ..!!