Stan Sakai style Leonardo custom action figure
 

I’ve been a fan of Usagi Yojimbo and Stan’s rendition of the TMNT ever since their first crossover. That crossover was also my introduction to the Usagi character and I grew to really like him. By no means was I diehard fan like I was with the TMNT. In all honesty the availability of the Usagi Yojimbo comics at my local comic shops was random at best and I didn’t go out of my way to get them. But when I saw a copy on the comic rack I would buy it and it always proved to be an enjoyable read.

Over the years my appreciation for the character and Stan’s story telling has grown tremendously. TMNT, UY, and a few choice issues of Cerebus are the ONLY comics that I keep in my small but prized collection. Lol, I guess I have a thing for talking animals… I’m hoping that Stan will do an alternate cover for the new IDW TMNT series. That would be too cool. I can’t say that’s very likely but it’s always possible. At any rate, here is a custom figure that I was inspired to do to show my love and appreciation for Stan’s contribution to the TMNT world and all of his amazing art :)

Initially I went with a standard aggressive kind of facial expression, but while I liked it, I wasn’t getting the full fledged Stan Sakai vibe, so I came up with head sculpt #2 which is much more reflective of Stan’s personalized style. Art is like water; ever changing and adapting. Stan’s rendition of his characters has changed over the years. Most of the differences have been minor, such as the shell pattern, the plasteron design, and the heel of the foot. It was tuff to chose, but I went with his Mirage rendition. I know he didn’t color the issue (that was done by Tom Luth if I remember correctly) but I liked how clean and vivid the colors were and it just seemed to fit well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/FUGAYZIE/022.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...YZIE/017-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...YZIE/018-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/FUGAYZIE/019.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...YZIE/013-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...YZIE/014-2.jpg

Here are some reference and work in progress pics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...agiTurtles.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E/sakaileo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../sakaiwip1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../sakaiwip2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Sakaiwip3.jpg

Each one of these you do is more amazing than the last:tcool: This looks like an unproduced Neca variant. The sculpting you do is fantastic, I can't sculpt very good, and have only been sucsessful with hair and minor body mods.
The only thing that gives it away as being hand made is the leather-ish belts and straps not being plasticy.

Very nice. I like the expression you did on the second head. I hope you keep making these.

-ms

Great job!

Perfect. I think this is my favourite of your turtles so far. From the sculpting to the paints to the colour choices, everything is spot-on.

Holy crap dude. This is awesome. NEVER QUIT DOING THESE... EVER.

Nice custom, dude. :)

Gotta say I like the second head best. Really cool as always.

That is awesome man! I envy your skill!

Zarana-x- thank you :) keep practicing and working on your sculpting! And never be afraid to try something new. That’s the best way to improve. I remember when I first began customizing, I wasn’t a very good sculptor at all. At first I barley had the ability to sculpt minor additions or details on a figure to change the look of its body/clothing. After a while I tried hair and other types of head wear. Over the years I’ve progressively gotten better. My biggest weakness is human faces. I can’t draw them or sculpt them AT ALL. I’ve gotten ok at making small modifications to them but that’s about it. At some point I would like to take a formal sculpting class to learn some real technique.

Master Splinter-thanks! I’m still having a blast with these so yes, I am planning to make more :) I have two others in mind at the moment. Both of them are very different, so I’m not sure which one I will do first. Either way, I believe they will be well received because I remember their issues were pretty popular ones.

Donnie Dberg-thanks man!

Discogod-thanks for the high praise bro! your candid opinion is much appreciated from a fellow customizer :)

Lordmylar-thanks man! As I mentioned before, these are insanely fun and I am planning a few more.

Turtletitan-thanks dude!

Powder-thanks man. Yeah, the second head actually made me laugh once I painted it. It always amazes me just how much different the figure looks before and after it’s painted. It’s incredible what a little paint can do.

HotJuicyBurgers- dude, every time I read your name I crack up. Not to mention I think of Five Guys (one of the absolute very best burgers I’ve ever eaten and I’ve been ALLLLLL OVER the US) and then I get hungry :( where the heck did you come up with that name? thanks for the praise man :)



i just got word back from Stan Sakai himself! he said that it looks great and he really likes my sense of coloring and details :D wow, thats a feel-good compliment coming from a master artist/story teller such as himself!

plasticplayhouse, you are the man!;)you...you're good you!!;)
from one usagi admirer to another, wow!really great to see such a project come to fruition!;)
keep on, your work always manages to make me smile.

thanks marcelangelo! its nice to get confirmation from another usagi fan. it lets me know that i was able to hit my mark :)

It's great, altho Ibursted into laughter when I saw that second head, didn't see that coming. It's very good interpretation of Sakai turtles, keep up the good work!

very cool custom

Great as always Playhouse. I agree with Powder, the "shocked" head really hit me and I loved it.

It's actually a pretty long story lol

I used to play counterstrike a lot, and for some reason the default name on there was george. Now, most people would change it, but for some reason I just kind of left it. It's not my real name nor is it even remotely close. After a while I thought it would be funny to change it to George Foreman, (Boxer/guy with those grills). Anyways I was playing one day, and some guy asked me to make him some Hot, and Juicy Burgers. I changed my name to that and it kind of stuck lol. And I have had five guys before, and they are indeed delicious

And please continue making customs lol. Everytime I see a new one from you I am literally amazed at what you have created

Also, what was your base? the original action figure you started with?

looks more like raph and the comic style shade on his plastron looks cheap...

The turtles all had read masks back when they appeared in the Mirage comics. And the plastron looks fine, that's how he's suppose to look.

no no not the red mask... leo is still leo even in red mask. but this is raph!

can you be so kind to elaborate? i'm not quite getting what you're saying.

all the turtles look the same, they always have. the only exception to that is when they wear the toon style masks. Stan never drew them with the multi colored masks, only red. just because he has an aggressive expression (i'm guessing why you think it’s raph) doesn’t make him raph. the styling of the paint and the comic shading on the plastron are based directly from Stan Sakai's comic renderings. I emailed pics to Stan himself before i posted publicly and he stated that he really liked my sense of coloring and details. that was good enough for me.

yes the plastron comic markings are cheap...they only cost me about three drops in black paint :P

i dont think all the turtles look the same.

Awesome job as always dude! You should make a full set of all four turtles sometime (all based on the same style), it would be really cool to see them all together! Keep making these!

these are great, love the facial expressions!

it seems that this custom got overshadowed by your ross campbell leo... nevertheless... this custom is awesome.

Lol, yes, pretty much most of my other customs have been overshadowed by my Ross Campbell Leo and Jim Lawson Mikey. It's easy to tell that they are by far the fan favorites of what I've done thus far. It's all good though. While it does feel really good receiving feedback and praise from people, ultimately I make these figures out of my sheer passion for the Turtles :)

thanks guys!

Awesome work man :)

truly amazing work, id love to see all four turtles

this is probably the best custom you have ever done.

good job.

ever thought of opening your own action figure company?

if i could properly cast all of my figures, i would just for the sake of making all 4 turtles. i would have to split the torso and dismantle all the remaining parts for casting. as far as making a real business of it...having deadlines would probably take the fun out of it.

Where did you get the swords from, or did you make them?

If you ever did, you would put playmates out of business

Very professional looking, I love it.

i forgot where i got the swords from. i had like 8 of them in my fodder box for years. i think i only have one left.

thanks guys :) playmates has nothing to worry about with me. their sculpters are far better than i am. i just make toys that are more in line with what I and some older fans have always wanted to see. i'm just fillin the gap :)

You are really a master at your work man, just checked out the rest in your DeviantArt account. Also love the Dan Duncan and Michael Zulli customs.

And how awesome that Jim asked you to make that John! Congrats man!