I'm having XTREME DESIGN FX make a Donatello..

[NinjaTurtle01]

I live about an hour from "Xtreme Design FX" studio, which as you all know, they build great TMNT movie style heads and a full costume. Since the full costume mold is no longer perfect, I had an idea.

I talked to Lance and asked him what parts of the costume mold was still in good shape. He said the hands, legs (from the knee, down to the foot), heads, neck and shell are in great shape. The upper torso, bicep and fore arm area is ruined, as well as the upper legs. Lance is building me a Donatello head (with movie 1 paint job "spots"), a pair of hands, a pair of lower legs and a custom neck piece to hide my skin. I'm going to wear all this with a trench coat, back pack and a fedora hat.

I should have it all in a few weeks, in plenty of time before Halloween. I'll show everyone when it is all put together.

[Venom]

Damn, that's a lot of money for a one-time use Halloween costume. Badass, yes, but expensive!

[NinjaTurtle01]

I'll use it for a lot more than just Halloween, Halloween is just where I'm going to debut this costume. It really isn't that expensive...the entire costume is expensive, I think he was selling them for between $4,000 - $7,000 at one time. With only buying the (1) head (2) hands (2) legs with feet (1) neck piece (2) leather wrist wraps (2) leather knee pads...I'm not even spending $1,000

This is a more affordable way to have an awesome Ninja Turtle movie style costume, just don't take off the trench coat! Since we never saw Donatello with a trench coat in the movies, we don't know if he would have carried his bo or not...but I'm going to fit a bo on the back of the coat anyway.

[Powder]

Their heads aren't accurate at all, dude. I know the locality of them being in Spartanburg or whatever is a cool factor but its not worth it. There is a guy here on the board who has a thread right now in the fan works section who does better work.

[Rise1184]

Awesome! Looking forward to the picture!!

[BoggleKng]

I will be interested in seeing what they come up with..Good luck..

[Samhain]

I look forward to seeing pics. But I do gotta say these are not movie accurate. But they will make an excellent costume.

[Bmaga123]

I look forward to seeing pics. But I do gotta say these are not movie accurate. But they will make an excellent costume.

Agreed, the head shape looks very odd to me with the front being really wide but the side of the head not being long enough and the mouth doesnt come out nearly enough. Still a cool costume though

[NinjaTurtle01]

Here's my feelings on xtremedesignFX "ninja turtle" costume/head stuff....

Most of us all grew up close to the same decades...we were kids in the 80's and/or early 90's. During that time the only ninja turtle costumes or masks available were either plastic with a rubber band, thin rubber masks that left the back of your head open, or probably the nicest ones were the Don Post masks.

I haven't researched "prop/costume" builders around the country like many of you have and I've always wanted a "professional looking" ninja turtle mask that didn't look like it came from a Halloween store or K-Mart. I wanted a turtle mask that would look worthy to be a stunt head used in a film/TV commercial quality. As soon as someone here finds a costume builder, another person finds a BETTER costume builder...then later on someone discovers a secret guy somewhere else who builds masks/costumes even better than the other 2 guys...and so on. Sooner or later you just have to STOP and go with who you trust or know.

I realize the difference in "movie accurate" turtle heads...shape, skin color, turtle spots, bandana length, movie:1 movie:2 movie:3...etc. I think the guy (Erik Porn) that's building that movie 1 RAPHAEL head is doing an amazing job, and I can tell that it is definatley looking like a Jim Henson original Raphael head...but I can't spend $2,000 on a mask. The guys at xtremedesign build ninja turtle heads better than anything you'll ever find in a Wal-Mart or Halloween store. People will see my mask and say, "Man, where did you get that, it looks real." Xtremedesign "turtle heads" are certainly worth the $250 they charge. I'm sure that if I commissioned them to build a "Jim Henson movie 1" style head of Donatello, and I supplied them with tons of pictures of Donatello's head...I'm sure they could do it just as well as anybody else. But I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars in a commission for a head sculpt when, in my opinion, the turtle heads they produce currently look good enough to me. I did make some specific requests on the mask...I want them to color match the shade of purple to "movie:1" Donatello as much as possible...a good medium purple. Also I requested a skin color paint job with "turtle spots".

Either way, this mask will be better than the Don Post masks that I have in my collection. I have other hobbies that take more of my money (restoring classic TV show vehicles) I'm currently finishing up my "A-Team" van. So if "ninja turtles" was my only hobby, then I'd probably sink some serious money into a "movie quality/accurate" full costume by some of the guys from this board...but remember, I just found this forum about a week ago!

Thanks for all the response with the Donatello costume pieces...I'll throw some pics up when I get it all together...

[Samhain]

!

Thanks for all the response with the Donatello costume pieces...I'll throw some pics up when I get it all together...

I very much look forward to seeing some pics.

[Lynn]

Good luck!

[agliarept]

dang this is the like the 5th person doing a full turtle costume from professionals. pretty crazy its all happening on the same time lol. everyone wants to be a turtle for halloween lol.

[BubblyShell22]

Sounds like an awesome idea. Can't wait to see pics.

[twopinacoladas]

Very nice, I cant wait to see it I have been following CustomPropSculptorGuy's thread and saw the other rapheal head that someone had commissioned. I'd love to have a turtle suit but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money. I would like a Raph head once CustomPropSculptorGuy has them available tho =)

[KittenBunny]

Here's my feelings on xtremedesignFX "ninja turtle" costume/head stuff....

Either way, this mask will be better than the Don Post masks that I have in my collection.
Thanks for all the response with the Donatello costume pieces...I'll throw some pics up when I get it all together...

How much do these Don Post masks cost, and did they only come in raphael red? I cant find any for sale or any info on their worth.... also any thoughts on who the best customiser is that you have seen that has made full turtle suits?

KB xx

[raphfan84]

I think Xtremedesignfx does really good work and if you supply a pic of how you want the head to look im 100% positive they could do it. I live here in NC. and are looking into them doing a Raphael head for me to look like the Movie 1 Raph. Good luck with the costume def put pics up when done.

[Nelson]

Our good friend NinjaTurtle01 asked me to post some pictures of the finished costume. Here they are:

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/9862/1004389.jpg


http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2973/1004393l.jpg

It turned out pretty cool, in my opinion.

[agliarept]

that's a really nice costume. im glad it turned out well. was the body and mask a new sculpt the donny head reminds me of their raph mask. can you post more photos of the head? it looks very nice.

[twopinacoladas]

That is awesome! Only thing I could say is the fedora could be a bit bigger tho no one has heads the size of at TMNT so it would be impossible to find one unless it was custom made so your forgiven ;) edit its actually pretty good fit just a little tall compared to the one Raph had in the movie I thinks =)

Very nice costume, just like the action figure =) congrats!

[drewizzle88]

That is really cool, looks great and I love it!

[Bmaga123]

Looks great, the head appears to look much better then the Raphael Head they had made.

[raphfan84]

That looks really good man! I love Raphael but it's good to see a Donny suit every suit I see it seems like it's Raph no pun intended cause Raph is my favorite just good to see something different. And I do agree the head looks better than the Raphael they did.

[TheMasterTurtle]

So how much did this entire costume cost you and how would one go about getting one. Go through the custom order process I assume?

[nwafreak]

I absolutely love that don costume!!! Its so fantastic!! I would've been just as excited as I was as a kid, if I saw you walking down the street in that thing!!! I live for stuff like this. If I had access to a costume like that, i'd be playing make-believe all the damn time!!

[raphfan84]

Haha yeah same here id prob have to kick my little brothers a** in it just to say I kicked someones a** as a Ninja Turtle.:lol:

[Bmaga123]

I just ordered a Raphael head from Extreme Design they are only 240.00 shipped and he is going to put a movie 1 style paint job on it. Killer deal for a nice looking head I would say.

[raphfan84]

Let me know how it turns out man. I'm talking to them now about doing a Raphael head also to look like Movie 1. Def post some pics when done.

[agliarept]

240 is pretty cheap for a head like that. their raph doesnt look like movie 1 but its still a nice custom job on it. I think the Donny head looks a little sharper tho. If im correct, you see through the eyes and not under right? I can't remember if the Xtreme heads used glass eyes?

[Vegita-San]

How does one order? and where? :)

[Bmaga123]

240 is pretty cheap for a head like that. their raph doesnt look like movie 1 but its still a nice custom job on it. I think the Donny head looks a little sharper tho. If im correct, you see through the eyes and not under right? I can't remember if the Xtreme heads used glass eyes?

None of the heads resemble the movie to accuracy but they do appear to be very nice quality especially for 240.00 bucks. I special requested darker brown eyes like the movie and movie 1 style paint job. I think the bandanna looks fantastic on these heads. Also the eyes are not glass they are a printed eye covered in clear apoxy to give them the wet look. Glass eyes would cost much more to make. Lance the owner of Xtreme FX email me pics of basic turtle heads and they revised the sculpt since the first Raph which I thought looked pretty bad but these new heads look good. All the same sculpt you can tell but Raph has the scar.

http://www.xtremedesignfx.com/tmntgroup2.jpg

[raphfan84]

Dam! I like the look of those. I wanna get all 4 made cause I am just gonna use as display only, and never plan to wear them.

[Bmaga123]

Dam! I like the look of those. I wanna get all 4 made cause I am just gonna use as display only, and never plan to wear them.

yeah I wont be wearing the Raph I purchased either just for display :-)

[agliarept]

hey that tmnt group shot you included looks pretty sweet. I think im going to get all 4, maybe 5 so i can wear one of them at least. How's the vision on these?

[raphfan84]

After they do the Turtles I want them to make me a Shredder helmet and a Casey Jones mask. I have yet to see a Shredder helmet done anywhere.

[NinjaTurtle01]

To answer some questions.....

The Donatello head cost me $250. Lance at "XDFX" only made (1) turtle head sculpt...all he does to make a different turtle, is add the different colored bandana, and a scar for Raph. I have talked to Lance about doing a movie 1 "Shredder Helmet", and he said that he'd love to do it...but only if he could change one thing. He never liked the huge size of the "mouth piece" of the helmet from the original movie, and he told me that he would only build me a Shredder helmet if I allowed him to scale down the size of the mouth piece. He told me in an e-mail that he could do the Shredder helmet sculpt/build for about $1,500. I still have that e-mail he sent me...but maybe he will charge more now...that was about a year ago.

The turtle head is very thick rubber/latex and is hollow/empty inside. There is NO fiberglass core or any foam support inside. The eyes are painted to look real...they are NOT glass. You see through the mask exactly like the actors in the turtle movies...through tiny slits under the bandana below the eyes. The head is pretty solid and does not "squish" in easily at all. It will stretch to go over your head, but ALWAYS maintains its form/shape.

The (2) pieces of bandana that hang down in the back, for some reason are very "curly". If you want the cloth to lay FLAT like in my pics, you will have to spray "starch" on the bandana pieces in the back and IRON them for about 15 minutes...then put a few heavy books on them over night. The next day, the bandana pieces should be very flat and look great!

The original turtle costume mold built by XDFX is mostly still OK. The areas on the mold that are ruined is the fore arms, upper torso/shoulder/bicep area, upper legs, from the knee to the crotch. Other than that, the rest of the costume can still be made. Here is the breakdown that Lance gave me on the pieces I ordered.

1) The Head...$250
2) Neck Piece...$100
3) (2) hands...$150 (for both)
4) (2) lower legs with feet...$200 (for both)
5) (2) leather wrist bands (2) leather knee pads...$105

Obviously, I did not order the shell. Lance told me that the shell mold was still OK...but VERY expensive...$1,000.

I also plan on ordering the other 3 Turtles' heads from Lance over the next year to display. I wore the head for about 2 hours on Halloween night and after about one hour, I was sweating so badly that my sweat was somehow pouring through the bandana of the mask between the eyes, and sweat was running down the outside of the mouth of the head. It looked like "Donnie" was drooling over April.

I'll try to e-mail a few more pics of the head to Nelson, so he can post them for you to see.

- Trevor

[raphfan84]

Cool deal man. I would def like to see more pics of it. Is it fairly easy to see out of it? I would imagine it would be as being in the movies they seem to be able to do there ninja moves pretty easy. About how long did it take him to do your head? Sorry for the questions just getting a little info before I do mine. Thanks!:D

[NinjaTurtle01]

October is his busiest time of year. His wife told me that everything slows down very much in December, and I imagine that his work gets slow through March or April as well. So now would be the best time to buy your Ninja Turtle heads...you'll most likely get them faster now.

Remember, I ordered all my costume pieces during his busiest time of year. I needed everything before Halloween, so I ordered everything in August...2 months in advance.

The head is somewhat difficult to see through. When the head is being displayed, no one knows where the eye slits are, so that's cool. Basically there are 2 ways to see through the mask. I recommend installing some soft foam inside the top of the head, so that the small eye slits are more placed infront of your actual eyes.

1) If you wear the mask as it is, the small eye slits will be a little beneath your actual eyes...causing you to only be able to see things that are directly infront of you. If you are talking to a person, you will only be able to see them from the chest and down to knees. You cannot see what lies ahead of you, more than a few feet, if you are walking around.

2) If you add a piece of foam on top of your head, this will "lift" the mask up some, causing the tiny eye slits to be level with your own eyes...enabling you to see people's faces and further distances infront of you. This way allows you to see better of where you are walking...but the down side is that you cannot see what is 3 feet infront of you.

I hope this helps...

[raphfan84]

Yeah that answered my questions. Thanks for your time man!:D

[Nelson]

More pics of Donatello's severed head...

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1123/1004349.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/i/1004349.jpg/) http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3649/1004356m.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/i/1004356m.jpg/) http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5281/1004363.th.jpg (http://img829.imageshack.us/i/1004363.jpg/) http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1205/1004382w.th.jpg (http://img225.imageshack.us/i/1004382w.jpg/) http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1994/1004547j.th.jpg (http://img24.imageshack.us/i/1004547j.jpg/)

I'm sorry I'm posting these so late, Trevor.

[raphfan84]

Man that is so awesome, I can not wait to get mine commissioned:D!

[Powder]

Real nifty. A little too green for my taste, though.
I will likely get one from them in the future, but I'd ask for a more yellowish color, with different eyes.
These seem to be diagonally angled to an extent (or is that just me?).

[twopinacoladas]

I agree it does look a little bit to green, I placed an order for a Leo head last week. It will be a little while before I get it tho.

Perhaps it seems more green because of the flash tho, I'm looking forward to getting mine tho =)

[raphfan84]

Post pics when you get. We have seen Raph and Don now, let's see a Leo and Mike.:D

[Bmaga123]

Post pics when you get. We have seen Raph and Don now, let's see a Leo and Mike.:D

The Raph was the old version Raph so when I get my new version Raph I will post pics ;-)

[twopinacoladas]

I'll post pics when I get it maybe make a video and put it on youtube as well. Wont be getting it for 40-60 days probably tho. Must have patience its a little easier because I know I have a Leo Playmates Statue coming in soon =)

[raphfan84]

I can't wait till I get mine comissioned but, it will be after tax time.

[Robatello]

Hey guys I think those pics of the costume are realy cool .....I had a mikey head made by lance at xtreme and heres a video of me wearing it! its realy cool I love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKFYLCPVakQ

let me know if you have problems seeing the video and ill post up some pictures for you!

because i know some of you guys have trouble watching videos from the U.K

[twopinacoladas]

Cool vid Robatello =)

I'll still be waiting a little while before I get my Leo head but if anyone is interested someone posted a Raph head on this forum http://www.therpf.com/f24/tmnt-characters-show-them-off-75244/index3.html

He is also wearing the hands in a Star Wars costume of some sort. It gave me an idea, I am probably going to get a authentic looking ninja costume and order some hands and wear it for halloween next year like tales #50.

[Robatello]

haha its so cool seeing these masks pop up! ...I like raph in the storm trooper costume with a lght saber lol :D ....and that raph mask with the teeth I have seen on youtube! thats awesome! cant wait to see your leo head mate! I waited about 3 months for my mikey head!

[raphfan84]

Cool video man. I like the way that mask looks.:D

[Robatello]

thanks mate :) I thought youd like the vid! pity we all live so far imagine us all together with our turtle masks! lol

[twopinacoladas]

3 months eh, perhaps I'll be a little luckier and get mine a little earlier. I think I ordered at the beginning of December and was told 40-60 days hopefully that means later this month =)

[Robatello]

yeah that was shipping to the U.K as well so I guess that would take a while! hope you get it soon mate you'll love it! ........I realy need the rest of the costume next!

[Alex]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

[Robatello]

No problem mate

[agliarept]

thats a neat video. the head looks a lot better then i thought it would. cool, now i can order one with no regrets.