Customs by Topsu (Archie mostly)

[Topsu]

Thought I'd start one thread for these too, altho my projects are reaaaalllly slow... can't just find time for them. Anyways, I thought I'd post pics of those you've already seen: Future Raph, Armaggon, Verminator (who needs a little work atm...new photos comin) WIP Don too

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/SSBrW6N_H8I/AAAAAAAAADk/JrSzEijfTCw/s320/Customing+2+004.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/Se9tPuwywEI/AAAAAAAAAE8/LqDg25Qh6fw/s400/a+014.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/Sedac4-EfbI/AAAAAAAAAEk/0V71QkAgiDY/s320/Customing+3+017.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/SedalLAVGgI/AAAAAAAAAEs/D56mMH8vVIE/s320/Customing+3+018.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/Shffo3tEivI/AAAAAAAAAFE/SG_mLzyBwUk/s400/customingvx+forcontest.jpg


Also, tryin to get pictures of my WIPs next weekend (future TMNT/Slash) + my custom made TCRI-cap I wear in summer.

Oh, and these days my Raph has proper hands and sais in them too :)

[Ulisses31]

:teek: wow great costumes :) :tcool:

[Ninja_Shoe_Repair]

i'd like to see some up closes shots of the bandana-less turtle

[Topsu]

i'd like to see some up closes shots of the bandana-less turtle
That's my future Don, tryin to get pics this weekend...All he's missing now is his coat, haven't got that far yet...

[Lordmylar06]

I'm still looking for a jacket for my future Mike, so he's kind of on hold for now. I'm glad to see you're still working on yours Topsu!

[Topsu]

I'm still looking for a jacket for my future Mike, so he's kind of on hold for now. I'm glad to see you're still working on yours Topsu!
I think I'll just sculpt permanent jackets for mikey & leo, but I'm definitely doing something else for don...

[Ninja_Shoe_Repair]

any update pics? Especially some close ups of Don?

[Topsu]

Here's some updates on those WIPs I'm working on right now:

Slash:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S1MzCLtwCkI/AAAAAAAAAFM/0j7eiLchdDY/s400/customwip+002.JPG
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S1MzYEqCIzI/AAAAAAAAAFU/L54nv5NJzTA/s400/customwip+003.JPG
Future Don:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S1MztjB4dtI/AAAAAAAAAFc/ggdi-Myn7OA/s400/customwip+004.JPG
Future Mikey:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S1M0MXmSY1I/AAAAAAAAAFk/WJipiMQuVu0/s400/customwip+005.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S1M06bhCFsI/AAAAAAAAAFs/oKdLvPkabps/s400/customwip+006.JPG
Future Leo:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S1M1LOleSYI/AAAAAAAAAF0/0TFS-bfIWkA/s400/customwip+007.JPG
(plastron went off when I took off his belt)

Here are all the customs I'm working on right now (except verminator, who'd need his beltbuckle back), and as you can see, they still need quite a lot work. Dunno when I'll continue these, but I'm doing them little by little...

If you want bigger pics, just go to:WIP Customs (http://topsukka.blogspot.com/2010/01/wip-customs.html)
and click pics to get them bigger.

[Ulisses31]

Slash is looking good :)

[Wes]

Wow -- I'd never seen how those figures look without the plastron. Interesting! One could probably make a cool custom of one of the clothed Turtle versions out of something like that. :)

Those WIPs are looking fantastic, Topsu. :D

[MAXtDie]

WOW!!! Great customs! The Verminator figure is the best :tthumbsu:
I'm anxious to see all of the future turtle :twink:
By the way, what material did you use for Slash's claws? And aren't they frail?

[Topsu]

By the way, what material did you use for Slash's claws? And aren't they frail?
I took some spikes from ordinary plastic haircomb and added magic sculp over them and no, they're not frail at all :)

[Ninja_Shoe_Repair]

any new pictures or updates to share? I love the progress you've made so far.

[Topsu]

All I've done after those, are gun for Verminator and sword for Slash, and unfortunately I don't have a camera at the moment. I'll put up pictures after I'll do some real progress on these, might take a while tho, since I'm a bit busy with other things right now...

[Topsu]

Hey, I've almost finished my future Leo, but now I have a problem. I need to put belts on his back, shaped like an X and put swords in them. But extra Neca TMNT belts I have, seem to be too short. I know some of you other customers have used rubberbands, and I think I need to try those. But if you have other ideas, please let me know. :)

Also, I thought you'd like to know what was used for these customs, so here's the list:

Raphael: Neca Mikey, Neca Raph hands and sai, sculpting
Armaggon: Street Sharks Big Slammu, LOTS of sculpting
Verminator X: Marvel Legends Moon Knight, sculpting

I think I'll get Leo finished by weekend, so expect photos then :)

[Topsu]

My Leonardo is now finished, here's the pics:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S4kKnNIJuWI/AAAAAAAAAF8/_11LWXtQ48U/s400/leocustom+001.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S4kK1NJKuMI/AAAAAAAAAGE/ZfcPEau8dSw/s400/leocustom+002.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S4kLUxEz9VI/AAAAAAAAAGU/C9HFnzJvCIc/s400/leocustom+004.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S4kK-VjpIvI/AAAAAAAAAGM/o1XQ-VbJYGg/s400/leocustom+003.JPG

Used Neca Leonardo, sculpted the jacket, used rubberbands for belts and superglued that emblem into them. Belts are removable, as I really like him without them too :)

Hope you like him, I certainly do.

[Ninjinister]

Once future Mike & Don's finished, are ya gonna give us a snap of all 4 of them?

[Lordmylar06]

Dude, that Leo is awesome! Are the jacket sleeves all sculpted, and does that mess with pose-ability? That Splinter belt buckle looks perfect.

[Topsu]

Once future Mike & Don's finished, are ya gonna give us a snap of all 4 of them?

Definitely :)

Dude, that Leo is awesome! Are the jacket sleeves all sculpted, and does that mess with pose-ability? That Splinter belt buckle looks perfect.
Yep, all sculpted. Doesn't affect in pose-ability, I wouldn't have wanted that. That beltbuckle was quite hard to get right, but yep, it looks good :)

[Samhain]

DUDE! Im looking forward to seeing that Slash! Looks good so far.

[MAXtDie]

You've done great work! Your Leo is really cool, especially I like the feature with removable belts. :tsmile: Such things add a touch of realism to the figures. :twink:

[Topsu]

Slash:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S5jcZ3Rf_YI/AAAAAAAAAGc/5iM39o2JNGM/s400/customslash+001.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S5jcndFd9dI/AAAAAAAAAGk/v-VDE0vNSFw/s400/customslash+002.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S5jcyCaYlCI/AAAAAAAAAGs/mXKSZaFtic0/s400/customslash+003.JPG
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S5jc79YGqWI/AAAAAAAAAG0/6cj6RCGiIkA/s400/customslash+004.JPG
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S5jdekXrXII/AAAAAAAAAG8/FZI1R2eSwVc/s400/customslash+005.JPG

Made from Neca Raphael, gave him hands that were originally on my future Raph (From Neca Mike, right hand is modified climbing hand and left one is original.) Sculpted spikes on his shell and claws in hands and feet, sculpted other eye bigger.
For those "Wolverine/Shredder"-claws I used plastic haircombs spikes and sculpted over them. For sword I used almost broken Savage Leo -sword, cutted and sculpted over it.

Also, should I all pictures in first post or leave them like this?

[VaughnMichael]

Not to shabby! Are you going to change his belt at all?
Looking pretty cool I still think your Verm-x is my fave custom you've done. :)

[Topsu]

Not to shabby! Are you going to change his belt at all?
Looking pretty cool I still think your Verm-x is my fave custom you've done. :)
I really don't know, since I like the looks of it like this too. Maybe I'll change the beltbuckle later, and then paint it. I'm going to finish my future Mikey first tho.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

That Slash is awesome... :teek:

[909 Turtle Fan]

looks cool! i like that the spikes on the shell are not too big, definetily needs a "slash" type belt though, and maybe hook up the nails with a bit of paint.

[Lordmylar06]

I dig that you put detail into the teeth even! Good stuff Topsu.

[Patraw]

The figure itself looks good, including the shell spikes, but your sculpted weapons have a rough/chunky look to them--I'd recommend working on getting a smoother finish. Instead of sculpting over existing items (which accounts for much of their chunkiness, as you're increasing their girth), you might try cutting blades out of cardboard, plastic, metal, or something else, to get cleaner/thinner edged weapons. Or just sculpt them from scratch--you can roll out a thin sheet of Super Sculpey, or whatever you use, and cut out blade shapes fairly easily, them sand them down and put edges on them when they're hard/baked.

On a related note, here's another Slash custom (Jarred706's), made from a Hulk movie Abomination of all things, that I like:

http://www.figurerealm.com/viewcustomfigure.php?FID=20230

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

That's strange/disturbing, but pretty cool. I've never tried my hand at a Slash custom. Seems to be a pretty popular character though.

[Topsu]

The figure itself looks good, including the shell spikes, but your sculpted weapons have a rough/chunky look to them--I'd recommend working on getting a smoother finish. Instead of sculpting over existing items (which accounts for much of their chunkiness, as you're increasing their girth), you might try cutting blades out of cardboard, plastic, metal, or something else, to get cleaner/thinner edged weapons. Or just sculpt them from scratch--you can roll out a thin sheet of Super Sculpey, or whatever you use, and cut out blade shapes fairly easily, them sand them down and put edges on them when they're hard/baked.


Thanks for the critiques, I appreciate it. I was originally going to sculpt the whole sword, and WIP one is still in my "unfinished customs"-box. I think I will try doing it later, but I'm not too sure if it will be sturdy enough, I think I need to put some plastic structures in it...

[ToTheNines]

I love these, great work.

[Ulisses31]

To match the belt color you cold paint brown the straps in the arms and legs, but only the straps, letting the pads black, I have done this reference pictures:

http://s3.postimage.org/GYmDi.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqGYmDi)

http://s3.postimage.org/GYp7r.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqGYp7r)

[Luzmagica]

Awesome great work!! Its nice!!! ....
Are you going to remove an arm to make the future Michelangelo??
Cant wait to see him!!!

[Ninjinister]

I actually like the sword...

[Patraw]

Yes, if you're worried about breakage--and that's a legitimate concern with anything thin like a blade--it's not a bad idea to put something stiff inside for support. I've broken any number of my sculpted words/knives while sanding them down too vigorously.

[Wes]

I continue to be impressed by your work, Topsu. :) Keep it up!

[Topsu]

I finished my Mikey, hope you like it too.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hP_p0DElI/AAAAAAAAAHk/OMZYVgPt9Ps/s400/verm-mike+010.JPGhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hQhvulfbI/AAAAAAAAAH0/cj_w-MWjLZU/s400/verm-mike+014.JPGhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hQTxS1A4I/AAAAAAAAAHs/2P38fyOrTVA/s400/verm-mike+013.JPGhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hQ_DI_BdI/AAAAAAAAAH8/5_p6dK2jnRQ/s400/verm-mike+016.JPG

I also thought I'd take some better pics of Verminator X, since some of you have said it's the best of them. Would've done the same for Raph and Armaggon, but I don't have them here atm, and I don't own a camera...(just borrowing my brothers)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hPNN99mMI/AAAAAAAAAHE/8UB3_eosfR8/s400/verm-mike+001.JPGhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hPc5lYtRI/AAAAAAAAAHM/uGw0tkRrVKg/s400/verm-mike+003.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hPnwcvTeI/AAAAAAAAAHU/iFPahHenO40/s400/verm-mike+005.JPGhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hP1yJGbDI/AAAAAAAAAHc/e_slMtMI_7w/s400/verm-mike+006.JPG

His gun is from Panda Khan, just repainted it.

EDIT: Oh, here's my uncustomed Neca view, thought I'd take a photo of that too
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S7hSUd_cHFI/AAAAAAAAAIE/rLgMk9G3CLc/s400/verm-mike+007.JPG

[Loco]

great customs dude !! i like the tmnt neca custom , one of my friend do that also in france, and he's good ad that , keep up the good work this is the new turtles generation , i luv your leonardo he's nice

[Patraw]

Very nice Mikey--I like the work you did on the jacket, although I think the back could use some wrinkles/folds, as it appears too smooth/shell-like. The new shots of Verminator X look good as well--it would never have crossed my mind that was Panda Kahn's gun until you mentioned it.

[Lordmylar06]

Love that Mikey. I wish the torsos on the Neca TMNT were interchangeable with some other regular action figures. Don't get me wrong, they're perfect, but there were so many different art styles for the TMNT.
When I think of future Mikey or any of the future TMNTs I think of Chris Allan's art style and it's hard to get that art style with the Neca TMNT.
I think you did an awesome job though, you made it look as good as possible without torso or arm swapping.
So is Don next?

[Topsu]

When I think of future Mikey or any of the future TMNTs I think of Chris Allan's art style and it's hard to get that art style with the Neca TMNT.
...
So is Don next?

Well, I went with that semi-Neca, semi-Archie look, I think it fits these characters. Don's next, altho all I need is to get coatfabric and take it to my friend who promised to do that. And I also need to paint his remote.

Altho I do have next custom planned, and figures are coming to me, I won't tell more about it yet, since it'll be hardest to do yet. Archie one nonetheless.

[Topsu]

For Contest, putting more finished pictures later, this one's a bit unfinished...(maybe in summer....)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/S9iAkX9rZWI/AAAAAAAAAI0/Qm25g2iLqO0/s1600/NinjaracustomWIPbf.jpg

[turtlelife]

She looks great man, just knowing how much you had to put into her too, wow. I am very impressed, damn she looks good, lol. How tall is she in comparison to the Neca TMNT?

Very awesome job you did on her head. I wish we could get that from Playmates. Good luck in the contest!

[Topsu]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TAkmcVRl3xI/AAAAAAAAAJU/k5Tupcdbmkc/s1600/FutureTMNT+026.JPG

Group picture :)

[TheCanadiandrome]

sweet man, u do good work

[rayfillet101]

Ninjara is amazing!

[MAXtDie]

Your future four looks great! I like Donnie best of all, though.:tthumbsu:

[Topsu]

Couple of pics of my Shredder, I really blame Wes for this...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TG1nsCxfuZI/AAAAAAAAAMM/pLkDPfvxyHA/s320/Shredder+002.JPGhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TG1n0OFQnuI/AAAAAAAAAMU/ARppa04mCjY/s320/Shredder+005.JPG
There's still minor paintscraping and I'm fixing that, but otherwise I really like it. ML Wonderman with sculpted head and Super Shredder blades.

[J Mondo]

You have some pretty nice skills there. The turtles look great! Shredder lookin' good too!

[909 Turtle Fan]

cool shredder!!!

[TuЯco]

that shredder looks great man

[Samhain]

Awesome Shredder!

[Eiko]

Cool Shredder looks amazing.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Couple of pics of my Shredder, I really blame Wes for this...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TG1nsCxfuZI/AAAAAAAAAMM/pLkDPfvxyHA/s320/Shredder+002.JPGhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TG1n0OFQnuI/AAAAAAAAAMU/ARppa04mCjY/s320/Shredder+005.JPG


awesome! good Shredder :tcool:

[Wes]

That looks fantastic, Topsu! You did an amazing job sculpting the helmet, and the Super Shredder forearm spikes actually don't look too horrible on yours. I really like the color scheme, too. :)

But PLEASE don't tell me you painted over the original Wonder Man arms! Good flesh-colored arms (or at least the fairly easily removed variety) are so hard to find these days. :/

[Powder]

Whoa! I missed this! Gnarly Shredder, dude! You're getting better with each custom.

[Topsu]

That looks fantastic, Topsu! You did an amazing job sculpting the helmet, and the Super Shredder forearm spikes actually don't look too horrible on yours. I really like the color scheme, too. :)

But PLEASE don't tell me you painted over the original Wonder Man arms! Good flesh-colored arms (or at least the fairly easily removed variety) are so hard to find these days. :/

Yep, I painted over those arms. :D Only thing I've been thinking to change, is to change that loincloth into same cloth as his cape is.

My next 2 customs won't be from TMNT, but I guess I'll post them on that non-TMNT customs thread. Just bought some chains for these next ones, Last Czarnian and trasformation of Al Simmons...
But I'm also working on doing Cyber Samurai suit for my Don, it isn't too easy, but so far I've managed to sculpt the helmet that stays in his head and can be removed.

EDIT: Closeups for the helmet:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TH-vNK7OhNI/AAAAAAAAAOs/dugmIYgn2NQ/s1600/Shredder+002head.JPGhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TH-vQU54elI/AAAAAAAAAO0/Y4HTQYBMp48/s1600/Shredder+005head.jpg
EGH, seems really weird in that first one, how did I angle my pic...

[Wes]

*weeps for the beautiful fleshy arms*

Oh hey, another question -- what "pattern" did you use to make the cape?

[Topsu]

Oh hey, another question -- what "pattern" did you use to make the cape?
"Pattern"? You must mean how I did it? Better if I draw a picture...
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TICFIEhv-HI/AAAAAAAAAO8/aq912CD0iuM/s1600/cape.jpg
Something like that, that front piece is just rolled towards his head and tucked under th back of his shoulderspikes... Looks good for me, since I really wanted the front look like that :D

[Luzmagica]

Awesome Shredder!!! Nice cool work! :):D:twink:

[KittenBunny]

Sorry about responding to all these old threads but I have to respond to this one to say wow these look totally spectacular, i love the shredder, and future don, and now that I think of it I like them all! Has anyone done customs of the original tmnt costumes that didnt make it into the comic as their official costumes, other than the risingsun donatello? I have seen Tokka's risingsun donatello and he looked great, and also the wrestler Raph that Vaugh Michael did on here as a comission, but I'd absolutely love to see a Michaelangelo, but ESPECIALLY a Leonardo. Leonardo would look totally amazing in figure form.:teek:

KBx

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

Sorry about responding to all these old threads but I have to respond to this one to say wow these look totally spectacular, i love the shredder, and future don, and now that I think of it I like them all! Has anyone done customs of the original tmnt costumes that didnt make it into the comic as their official costumes, other than the risingsun donatello? I have seen Tokka's risingsun donatello and he looked great, and also the wrestler Raph that Vaugh Michael did on here as a comission, but I'd absolutely love to see a Michaelangelo, but ESPECIALLY a Leonardo. Leonardo would look totally amazing in figure form.:teek:

I know someone has done them...but I don't remember who. I'm thinking it was Vaughn though.

[VaughnMichael]

I know someone has done them...but I don't remember who. I'm thinking it was Vaughn though.
mmmhmmmmm ;)

[Topsu]

mmmhmmmmm ;)
Yep, that's Vaughn alright. I gotta admit, his customworks were one of the reasons I started doing these customs. Just haven't done any TMNT-ones lately, all I have done is Lobo, and he still needs a bit of work. I do have plans for Mirage Splinter in some point tho, I finally know what to use as basefigure: super-articulated Gollum.

[KittenBunny]

Hey Topsu, ever thought of doing a next mutation custom? heheh hook me up if you do! PM me if you do...

[donniefan2009]

i love this custom stuff man

diggin that raph bro

[Topsu]

More than anything, this was a test for making wearable accessories. I have no idea if I'm making it better or if I do the whole armor at some point. So here, Dons Cyber Samurai helmet from Adventures series.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TQiXr0YIE_I/AAAAAAAAARQ/qNPQwUszWCs/s400/Lobo%2B009.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TQiXxJHbnUI/AAAAAAAAARY/Y9jThO78I4M/s400/Lobo%2B010.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TQiX2sDQzoI/AAAAAAAAARg/S1pSsbpGlMs/s400/Lobo%2B011.JPGhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TQiX7eLzcnI/AAAAAAAAARo/Hr-wKEWNvRs/s400/Lobo%2B012.JPG
This was small project, but it took lot of planning at first and I'm happy how well it turned out. :)

[Topsu]

Here's Usagi, he has LCBH Madman body with modified vintage Usagi head. Sculpted the expression and made him new ears. He's still a bit unfinished, but sitting on my shelf like that for now.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y5U66WkCCtM/TSl17OwtIBI/AAAAAAAAAS4/c1YlxAZTGZw/s1600/usagi600.jpg