Mirage Comics Style Ninja Turtle Custom Figure

[KirkyMonster]

I had a few extra classic Ninja Turtle Figures so I thought I would give them a repaint to resemble the original Eastman and Laird comic style. I started by painting the entire figure flat black. Then I decided what color to start with for my base coat for the front shell and the rest of the figure. Several drybrush and paint wash applications later with a few highlights painted here and there. His real metal sais are made from nails wrapped in leather. His Nunchukus are wooden dowels with real metal chain connecting the dowels. I then Made a belt out of leather with hoops to store his weapons. This was alot of fun to do and I'm looking forward to painting more. I will be posting Casey Jones, Rat King, as well as the other 3 Ninja Turtles soon. Comments are appreciated. :tgrin:

[Jester]

Looks pretty good. The chucks' chains seem a bit long, but that's a minor gripe. :P

[KirkyMonster]

Yeah I actually made the chucks awhile ago and wanted to be able to switch them out for the several styles of Turtle figures. They are just long enough to work for the classics figures up to the 2007 CGI movie figures without looking to out of place on any of them, though they probably look best with the 2003 animated series figures. :tconfuse:

[Eiko]

Looks really good. :)

[The Purple Dragon]

greit repaint one of the best i have seen of the old playmate line

[Plasticplayhouse]

nice stuff man. look foward to seeing more :)

[RadicalPat]

Wow, that looks good.I'm thinking about repainting some action figures to make em look like they are from the comic more.

[TheCanadiandrome]

nice stuff man. look foward to seeing more :)

ditto and ditto :tcool:

[psychoandy]

Looks pretty solid!

[KirkyMonster]

Thanks for all the compliments. I just finished Rat King last night and I think he came out incredible. I am also almost done with Casey Jones too so that will be posted soon as well. :tgrin:

[Samhain]

Love it. Those original turtle sculpts are very Mirage to begin with. So painting them up like this just looks very natural. Nice job!

[KirkyMonster]

I wanted to show you guys how cool Rat King looked after just a black wash before I showed you the final custom.

[KirkyMonster]

I really like how this guy turtned out. There were so many details sculpted in that I took for granted, for example did any of you guys know Rat King has an ear ring? I painted Rat King with the idea that his patchwork would be made from any scraps he could find living in the sewers/abandoned warehouse depending if you go by the cartoon or Mirage comic book. Hope you guys like it any comments would be appreciated as always.

[Eiko]

God damm thats amazing. Really really well done.

[marcelangelo]

hey, the work put in was really worth it, dude.they are looking remarkable!!!I especially like the turtle there...for my own taste, I liked the rat king better in the brown paint job, the green is too much color for me, but nevertheless great!
hey, why don't you post these pictures over on the ask pl page.peter laird loves when people take so much time and effort for fan work and show and tell him about it...he would not only be happy but give you good hints on how to still improve on that!

[KirkyMonster]

Thanks for the compliments! I had a lot of fun painting Rat King. When I saw how much was already done by just the first black wash, I thought I really dont have much left to paint. But that felt like a cop out. So I went to work on any detail I could find to try and make them stand out. I would still like to do the spiders and roaches something a little more interesting then just black though. I finished Casey last night and just took a few photos then the camera died. So after it charges I will post him. I also decided to post a few more pics with my preferred method of photographing my customs, of the custom Raphael I posted a few days ago. Also I don't understand where I'm supposed to find the ask Peter Laird thing you mentioned. Could you post a link or is that against forum rules?

[Wes]

LOVE the Rat King! Your paint job really brings out the gruesome qualities of the sculpt. Excellent work. :D

[Jester]

Indeed. It's always nice to see someone bring out the buried details of the classic Playmates sculpts.

EDIT: Oh...and here's the Ask PL link:
http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/ask-pl-7.html

[KirkyMonster]

For Casey here I gave him the red hoodie from the Mirage comics and the silver mask from the 3rd Ninja Turtles movie.... at least that's where I think I have seen Casey Jones with a silver facemask. Since Psycho Andy already did the awesome Body Count style Casey Jones with the flag mask I wanted to do a different mask from the basic white mask, the only other one I could even think I had seen was a silver one. And my custom Casey comes with a hockey stick from I think Slapshot Leo that I painted as well. :tsmile:

[KirkyMonster]

And here are a few Raph vs Casey shots I took. :trolleye:

[RadicalPat]

Wow that is some amazing stuff... I would pay for this kind of work!

The casey jones, and rat king looks amazing!

[KirkyMonster]

I know I said I was going to do the other 3 Turtles first, but I jjust got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures issue #38. I already know what happens at the end of the story ark with Null the demon because I had issues following this one. So when I started reading through it for the first time, I saw the mutanimals lying on the ground I remembered that at some point they all died so I thought this issue took place after they were killed and I always found that depressing that all the Turtles sidekick/spin off characters got killed off. A few pages later and the Ninja Turtles arrive on the beach in witness of all the defeated Mutanimals laying on the beach not moving. The Turtles attack the robots responsible for defeating the Mutanimals in the chaos some sparks fly and land on Ray Fillets shoulder. To my surprise the Man Ray himself is alive but not only that all of the Mutanimals begin to rise and fight back the robots. I was so pumped seeing Ray Fillet open his eyes for when I was convinced he was dead at this point. So next up Ray Fillet Man Ray :teek:

[mysterycolor]

Wow that is some amazing stuff... I would pay for this kind of work!

The casey jones, and rat king looks amazing!

agreed- those are really cool- keep up the amazing work!

[KirkyMonster]

Hi Guys. Sorry this one took me a little longer then the last couple. I have been fighting a cold and studying for midterms last few days. I had a hard time doing Ray here. Before paint even hit figure this one had me scratching my head. I wanted to do a custom paint job on Ray because I had just read an issue with him in it. But the figure and the comic art look barely alike. So I looked online for any images of Ray Fillet that might help me decide on how to color him. When I came across a greeting card with Ray and Leonardo on it and the artwork was clearly based off the figure so I went with the color scheme from the greeting card. Only other problem after that was the greeting card only showed Ray from the waist up, I had to wing it for his lower half. So I decided to give him a kind of classic super hero look with the matching boots, Trunk and cape. Only his case Flippers, Trunks, and Fins. After that was decided I began to decide how I could make him look more like a real sting ray while trying to stay close to his color scheme, I found a few blue and green sting ray photos that gave me the impression that they use camouflage for a defense mechanism. So I tried to paint Ray's fins a sort of an ocean green with highlights and lowlights In Blue and teal. Hope you guys like him any comments or critiques are welcome and appreciated. Now I'm going to go fight this cold.

[Powder]

Pretty sharp, man!

[psychoandy]

uh oh. Someone's about to give me a run for my money, in terms of gruesome TMNT repaints. I'd better start posting some new ones!

[KirkyMonster]

Heck yeah you should Psycho Andy! Your repaints were what motivated me to try out mine. Thanks again everybody for the compliments and feedback. Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while but I am close to running out of green paint lol. I am starting on a Marvel Legends style Ninja Turtle that is taking up alot of my free time, hopefully I will have it posted here soon. :twink:

[Shreddhead]

I really like the rat king custom. Its so perfects, with all the rats and centipedes crawling all over him!

[Plasticplayhouse]

that ray fillet is NICE! well done.

[Ewan]

dude that is freaking awesome. Ratking and Casey are my two favourite classic line figures! Well done!

[psychoandy]

Heck yeah you should Psycho Andy! Your repaints were what motivated me to try out mine.

AWESOME! That makes me so glad to hear!

[Lemonjuice_McGee]

I am loving all of these repaints! You do a terrific job and I can't wait to see more!

[KirkyMonster]

Just so you guys didn't think I fell off the planet or anything I wanted to share some of the projects I am currently working on, as you can see some are further along then others. I am still close to running out of green paint which is why I haven't finished the other 3 classic Turtle figure repaints like I said, that and I want to save the green I have left for the custom Leo in the picture. I have been really busy with school lately studying for finals and all that fun stuff so I don't know for sure when I can finish these guys, that's why I am showing the W.I.P. pics. Let me know what you guys think and thanks again for all the constructive criticism and feedback. :tgrin:

[BigApple3AM]

That Rat King looks brutal, I would definitely not want to cross paths with that guy. Ray Fillet looks awesome as well. Great job on those. And I'm looking forward to seeing your finished custom Leo!

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

Hey dude...if you need baby turtle heads/scrap Mutatin' Turtles, I'll hook you up for cheap.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Just so you guys didn't think I fell off the planet or anything I wanted to share some of the projects I am currently working on, as you can see some are further along then others. I am still close to running out of green paint which is why I haven't finished the other 3 classic Turtle figure repaints like I said, that and I want to save the green I have left for the custom Leo in the picture. I have been really busy with school lately studying for finals and all that fun stuff so I don't know for sure when I can finish these guys, that's why I am showing the W.I.P. pics. Let me know what you guys think and thanks again for all the constructive criticism and feedback. :tgrin:

what u using for Shredder's body?

[KirkyMonster]

I actually bought a HHH WWE Deluxe Aggression figure since Hunter Hemsley played Super Shredder in the Secret of the Ooze. I'm a nerd like that :trazz:
Ground Chuck is what I believe is an Over Kill 2 figure from Spawn with the classic Ground Chuck head. April is the head of Meryl Silverburgh from Metal Gear Solid by McFarlane toys with the body of Vennessa Kensington and arms from Felicity Shagwell both of which are from McFarlane Austin Powers figures. And Leonardo is an Age of Apocalypse Wolverine body with Head, hands, and lower legs from the classic Mutating Raphael, and front and back shell from the 2000 Ninja turtle Figures. These are my first Frankenstein type of customs I have ever done and are quite a learning experience for me. I am almost done with the April figure and Shredder is pretty close to complete as well, I hope to have her up in a few days if not tomorrow. As always thanks for the comments and feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome too. :tgrin:

[KirkyMonster]

Hey dude...if you need baby turtle heads/scrap Mutatin' Turtles, I'll hook you up for cheap.

I'm good on the Mutating Turtles for now thanks though, I don't think I will be doing the other three turtles like this because I don't have enough fodder parts. Also I couldn't figure out a way to use the other "Masked" turtle head, it was my intention to have 2 different heads but the masked one doesn't look right to me because the neck looks so long and weird. I should mention that I got the idea for this custom from xxBlackMouthxx on the REALM. I just used a different turtle figure obviously, his looks great with the head he chose but I can't figure out how he made the head look right on that long neck. I will show you guys a picture with the alternate head just so you can see what I am talking about.

[Wes]

Also I couldn't figure out a way to use the other "Masked" turtle head, it was my intention to have 2 different heads but the masked one doesn't look right to me because the neck looks so long and weird. I should mention that I got the idea for this custom from xxBlackMouthxx on the REALM. I just used a different turtle figure obviously, his looks great with the head he chose but I can't figure out how he made the head look right on that long neck.
I'm guessing he hollowed the head out a bit -- pretty standard practice for splicing heads with cut joints onto ball-jointed necks. How were you planning to get the Super Shredder/baby Turtle heads to work? :)

Those WIPs look excellent, btw. Looking forward to seeing April and Super Shredder very soon! (Though re: SS, he was played by Kevin Nash -- not HHH. Not that it matters for the custom, of course!)

[KirkyMonster]

I'm guessing he hollowed the head out a bit -- pretty standard practice for splicing heads with cut joints onto ball-jointed necks. How were you planning to get the Super Shredder/baby Turtle heads to work? :)

Those WIPs look excellent, btw. Looking forward to seeing April and Super Shredder very soon! (Though re: SS, he was played by Kevin Nash -- not HHH. Not that it matters for the custom, of course!)

DOH!!! :x Now that you say it I realize you are right about it being Kevin Nash heh heh heh oh well. I did hollow the Super Shredders head almost to the point I was expecting the dremel to come shooting out of the top of his head but I managed to get a good tight fit in the end. I will try to dremel out the masked Turtle head to see if I can get it to sit lower on the neck but there isn't as much room in the turtle head as the Shredder head, the only reason the baby turtle head works is because I had to turn the Wolverine neck peg as low as it can go till the peg points straight forward as opposed to straight up like most figures would have. The neck still looks long but it's in the other direction which in my opinion makes it look more turtle like.

[KirkyMonster]

The paint is still wet in a couple spots but I wanted to go ahead and share this since the figure has already been sprayed with a clear cost and it's just a couple spots of yellow here and there that need to dry. Here she is April Oniel, I hope you guys like how she turned out. I tried to give April freckles to resemble a portrait I saw of April online from a series of hyper life like Ninja Turtles characters, but I'm not sure if you can really see the freckles in the photos. I can't really say what my motivation was to make this figure. I saw how the 3 figures were a pretty close to perfect match for this cheese cake style April and I figured what the heck? I had to build a neck out of Aves sculpt other then that it was pretty self explanatory from the list of figures I made April from. Super Shredder is coming next just have to figure out how to attach his bladed armor and then a paint touch up. Let me know what you guys think and thanks for the comments and feedback you have been leaving. :tgrin:

[Drose18]

Very cool! Your customs rock!

[Andy Christ]

I love that Raphael and Casey man...

Damn..

[KirkyMonster]

I thought I would show a few updates on the figures I have been working on, as well as a couple other Turtle related projects I have done in the past and never shared on here. The Leonardo tattoo was my first tattoo ever done and I did it on myself. It is a few years old now so the colors aren't as vivid as they once were but I still love how it came out and am quite proud of the work I did.I wasn't sure if it would be ok to post the custom Super Saiyin 5 Goku so I posted it in a group shot. I also have been planning on making a Rat King custom out of a wrestling figure, but today I saw a really good figure to use for the base that for whatever reason never came to mind to use for this before. I have to make a few modifications to the interior working of the figure because of a stupid action feature before I can even show you a work in progress pic (here's a hint as to what figure will be the body for Rat King, the action feature opens and closes the mouth :twink:) I think you guys are really going to like it. And thanks again for all the feedback I really appreciate it, you guys rock! :tgrin:

[KirkyMonster]

Here is the work in progress Rat King I mentioned. I'm using a X-Men movie Sabretooth for the body with a sculpted neck and the original Rat King head.

[TurtleTitan97]

Looking good, dude. Can't wait to see it when it's finished.

[KirkyMonster]

Hi every body, I have been out of paint for a couple weeks now and am waiting on an order to arrive so I can finish all the W.I.P. figures I have showed you. But the wait is driving me a little nutty, so I decided to try and see what I could use to try and make a paint free custom figure. I made Casey with the head and shoulder pad from the original figure, the upper body from Rob Van Dam and the lower body from Savage Dragon (I know almost everybody uses S.D. for Casey Jones legs and sneakers but it's too perfect to not use honestly.) Then I made him a sleeveless hoodie out of a hair scrunchy kind of thing with a strand from the tassels on my fan pull cord, then I made his hockey stick out of a couple pop sickle craft sticks. Hope you like it, and any feedback or suggestions on how to alter this figure with paint or parts are totally appreciated. Thanks a lot guys for all the feedback and comments you have shared. :tgrin:

[Jasper-X]

very nice, i like the red on casey

[TurtleManiac]

Kool customs u got there, the mirage turtle is awesome I would like to make a set of those. And the unmasked turtle looks pretty cool, great job!

[TMNT-Collector]

very nice work

[KirkyMonster]

Here are some of my older customs I never posted here. I have some newer customs I will post soon.

[KirkyMonster]

This is my Frank Fosco Image comics style Raphael. He has a removable hockey mask and eye patch.

[KirkyMonster]

My very poseable custom Slash. I know he isn't very accurate to any particular look but I really like how he came out.

[KirkyMonster]

If you guys like my customs I have more on figurerealm.

[KirkyMonster]

Hope you like Raphael and Donatello.

[kwalsh007]

Keep up the good work. I really like your repaints of the classics.

[pennydreadful]

Here are some of my older customs I never posted here. I have some newer customs I will post soon.

Loved seeing these ones in particular - very cool! 8)

[KirkyMonster]

Here is a stop motion I did a little while back let me now what you think, this was my first project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW0srJQ57Co

And this is my second

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKgCXKbMtOM

I had never done anything with animation other than a couple flip books when was a kid so keep in mind I have no experience.

[KirkyMonster]

This is my 1990 Movie Adaption Comic Shredder....... sure why not :trazz:

I sculpted the shoulder spikes myself which was much more difficult and tedious then I had imagined. I originally wanted to make all the spikes but I don't think I can make spikes any smaller than this so I can't do the forearms or shins, I may add 88 Shredder armor in these places in the future.



I like what I did here especially since had 3 or 4 of these figures and this one was in the worst shape other than the 1 I chopped for another custom but that is for another day.

I don't know why they are sideways they are normal on my computer... :(

[I Crave Pizza No More]

The Ray Fillet is boss! Also really dig the red bandana turtles you did, and that April...well, it looks like the one who occasionally shows up in my dreams!

[KirkyMonster]

My Rat King custom doesn't show up anymore so here is for anyone who missed it the first time. I waited a long time to post this Shredder since it is based on a custom I had seen on the Drome that is no longer up. I would love to give credit where it is due so let me know if it was your Shredder that inspired mine.

[KirkyMonster]

Here is my original Casey Jones and another one with legs straightened, a technique I learned from a member of the Drome by the name of Turtles in Time.

Also my head and leg swapped punk frog customs to round out the quartet. I always liked the punk frogs even if they were stupid mostly because they were from Fl which is where I'm originally from.

[KirkyMonster]

Here are some undercover Turtles customs. These figures have always had a soft spot in my heart and that whole series got a LOT of play time when I was a wee boy. I still think of every turtle in a costume figure this line would have to be in the top 3, alongside the Shogun turtles (I only owned Leo as a kid), and the Mutant Military line (I own all but Mike now).

Upon doing these customs I believe that Playmates was going to have the turtles swapped around in this line based on head sculpt.
Sewer Samurai Leo = Raph (Full wide open lipped grimace like 88 Raph)
Under Cover Don = Leo (Same sad eyed Leonardo with a hat)
Space Caddet Raph = Don? (Looks similar to 88 Donatello head sculpt with gear)

Sewer Surfer Mike = Original head sculpt and one of my favorite toys EVER. I really want to do this guy as all four turtles but only have 1 in my collection right now.

[KirkyMonster]

The Ray Fillet is boss! Also really dig the red bandana turtles you did, and that April...well, it looks like the one who occasionally shows up in my dreams!

HAHAHAHA.....weird. That April is intentionally very cheesecake.
Even though I really don't know what I was doing in her construction and the tiny parts would still give me challenges she still remains one of my favorite customs despite all the flaws just because it was the visual mark I wanted to hit with a sexy realistic April figure.

[Casey]

The images aren't showing up for me. Can't see the turtles in your first post.

[KirkyMonster]

I no longer have those photos but it's the same turtle fighting Casey Jones on the bottom of the first page. I started this thread over a year ago then neglected it for a while but am trying to beef it up with additional content.

I have more customs on the way that are waiting for some finishing touches, I will try not to take all year getting them done and posted.

[Walkabout]

Some really nice work in here, Rat King and Ray Fillet are the standouts for me although everything is great.

[pennydreadful]

Those are really good.

[Kayaktus]

Here is my original Casey Jones and another one with legs straightened, a technique I learned from a member of the Drome by the name of Turtles in Time.

Also my head and leg swapped punk frog customs to round out the quartet. I always liked the punk frogs even if they were stupid mostly because they were from Fl which is where I'm originally from.

your customs are cool. i really like ray fillet, casey jones and the frogs. how did you straighten the legs on casey and shredder? i always wanted to do that on shredder and the foot soldier.

[KirkyMonster]

your customs are cool. i really like ray fillet, casey jones and the frogs. how did you straighten the legs on casey and shredder? i always wanted to do that on shredder and the foot soldier.

Shredder has Super Shredder legs they are not straightened.

For Casey I took a hobby knife and sliced almost all the way through the back of his knees then wedged a small piece of plastic into the cut to force the leg straight, super glue, trim, sculpt, paint. I think it was Turtlesintime that was kind enough to tell me that trick originally.

[Kayaktus]

Shredder has Super Shredder legs they are not straightened.

For Casey I took a hobby knife and sliced almost all the way through the back of his knees then wedged a small piece of plastic into the cut to force the leg straight, super glue, trim, sculpt, paint. I think it was Turtlesintime that was kind enough to tell me that trick originally.

neat trick, thank's for the tip!