TMNT Classic Shredder and April custom figures
 

I always wanted to do April. Since i was a kid watching the cartoon.
Ok, that said, I also always wanted to make an April custom figure :)
Those 2, April and Shredder, hold very great emotional importance for me, you see, Shredder and April were my first custom figures when i was like 8 (Shredder was a he-man with a rambo enemy guy that had a cloth thing on his head and April was Cheetarah)
So, since the world was supposed to end, i had to come full circle and make those 2 :)

April was a Legendary Legends..hmm, that doesn't sound, oh, heroes Ann O'Brien, for her size. However, Ann is quite tall and muscular, so i used her height, but i had to re-sculpt her everything to be in scale (interesting how i always "have to" re-sculpt everything XD)
Even things i wasn't planning to (or even shouldn't): most of her joints! (remember kids, never compromise the joints - well, unless you're an adventurous fella that cries every custom thinking that this time, it will be ruined beyond salvation)

Anyway, if you wanna know specifics about the joints, feel free to ask (i don't wanna make this longer that it already is)

I made a cast of the base, wrote her name on it, and made her a camera, her mic and a working turtle communicator (so she can find them when she got her crew - no, not working, working, it opens and closes :)

so, yeah, i could say i'm satisfied with my Classic turtles - if my love for those wretched reptiles ended there - so i guess you can wait for Splinter, Rocksteady, Bebop and Krang (and what about a sewer den diorama, huh?) if the world doesn't end

I'm adding shredder in this thread too cause you've prob seen him on figure realm, if not, enjoy! :)

ps: sorry for her second pic, she didn't have her thingie on her belt yet when i was trying desperately - in vain - to take pics to post her in time for the contest (i will take a pic of her finished, can't promise it will be updated here tho :)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8...dc3ba7dc_z.jpg
april5 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8079/8...b499abc2_z.jpg
april7 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8211/8...c4e8cd77_z.jpg
April2 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8...0b4198d9_z.jpg
April1 by hugo!!, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8...522731a3_z.jpg
april6 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8...680cb3d9_z.jpg
destruidor1 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8...c3e42273_z.jpg
destruidor2 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8072/8...1c7e9eba_z.jpg
destruidor3 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8...72bcb132_z.jpg
destruidor4 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8503/8...3a0f9ae8_z.jpg
destruidor5 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8...8a216692_z.jpg
aprilnews by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8...9f4cbf0d_z.jpg
aprilnews2 by hugo!!, on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8222/8...f09acaea_z.jpg
tmntclassiccollection by hugo!!, on Flickr

Wow! She looks amazing! Great Job! :tgrin:

They really do look great, perfect fit with the playmates classics

The Shredder is AMAZING but I'm actually far more impressed by April. She looks sooo good, dude. It's really hard to do figures of chicks, I think, and you really nailed her look. It's so spot on. Great work.

thanks guys!
i'm actually glad you find April accurate, i took quite some liberty on her, the oc model sheets being the laziest ever, i followed them very loosely and went quite "me" on her (almost super a bit maybe too anime, ... maybe you can say she's based on peter chung's style on the intro :D)

WIPs
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...79952711_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...11979751_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...42128445_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...39148195_n.jpg

Please say you cast those heads and pieces.... Or are willing to do a commission? Please PM me!

They both look perfect Playmates would be hard pressed to do better. Great accessories as well! April is best though, I think it's her distinct hairstyle that you've managed to capture so well that makes the figure look so accurate!

It's hard to believe that anyone could be this talented. It's like they jumped right off the screen! I second the notion that Playmates would be hardpressed to do better, and say that they couldn't if they tried.

Awesome work, man. Some of the best I've ever seen on this site, or anywhere.

WOW!!! Dude those are amazing!!! Do you do commissions? I would love to have one of those Shredders made!

Do you work for Playmates Toys? I swear it looks like something that would come out of the Classics line! Perfect!

If all I could type was wow. That's what it'd be. Those are awesome man. Looks like I could go to the store an purchase them off a shelf. Great job.

me first me first! :)

LOL... we need a take a number dispenser.

:lol: totally! What scale are these next to the NECA turtles? 7.5 inches seems the right scale for them but I thought the Classic series was much much bigger?

Oh man, if we ever get Shredder and April from the Classic line, I hope they look just like that.

it sounds like we will get a wave 2 that will be shown at toy fair in February. I'm hopin' we see Casey Jones, Shredder and Splinter..

I must know how much you would charge for these figures...they look awesome!!!

Wow. You've gotten a lot better since I first seen your stuff on Fwoosh a few years ago.

Great job. It takes a lot to impress me, and you've done that with these two.

Wow, those are just amazing dude!

April is AMAZING. That's all that needs to be said - you nailed every detail perfectly.

Shredder is just a work of art. I know how much of a pain it is to customize him, but I don't think you could improve on yours at all - he looks like he's stepped straight out of the cartoon. It might just be my favourite Shredder custom, ever (and I'm shocked he didn't take 1st place in the FR contest).

These are aweinspiring :teek:. Fantastic job thank you so much for sharing!

Beautiful work on all accounts!

Most excellent!

im in awe. your sculpting is spot on. wow.

i would pay good money for these

I saw that Shredder on FR and I noticed April in one of the shots, but seeing every detail is fantastic. You've done some good work there. When will we be seeing more TMNT customs from you?

Holy Crap, those are awesome. I agree, Playmates won't be half that good.

dude, I too am going to have to commission you....in every way, these are simply masterpieces- and I too doubt the new Classics line may reach this level of detail for these guys, its good to see April OS getting a cast she deserves- i cant say much more on how perfect these are man. congrats.

These are the finest customs I have seen so far of any turtle figs. Well done man! April is dead on, and the Shredder is obviously amazing.

I HOPE that we get sculpts this amazing from the classics line, and these are the benchmarks.

PLAYMATES TAKE NOTICE!

Hire this guy now!

By gosh these look sick! Great job dude

These are both excellent customs, they fit in so well with the Classics line, they look perfectly in scale and you did an outstanding job capturing Shredder and April's on screen cartoon appearance. Can't wait to see more customs from you. I must agree with those who say it looks doubtful that Playmates will ever make figures as good/accurate as these ones. Of course they have the ability, but it just seems like it will not happen for whatever reason.

Amazing work all around- these easily look like licensed figures.

:oApril and Shredder look amazing!

omg, too many replies :trolleye:
well, i'm terrible at this forum thing XD
first thank you everyone, i pretty much subscribed to the forum cause when i was looking for ref i would stumble here so often... then also i could show these up here to see if they pass the test with nitpckier fans :tgrumble:

for people asking about buying, well, i don't wanna sound rude, but these 2 are kind of a dream project of mine, so selling them is just out of the question, though, if you see in my wip pics, i made shredder already thinking of a way i could cast the most painful pieces.
On April though, a lot of on the fly design happened, so i didn't think of her in separate pieces, and i made quite a lot modifications to the base body - and the very dangerous type, custom joints - i don't think replicating her would be much easy, even though i might already know the "right spots" (kinda like having to meet your girlfriend all over again - one could say, "hey but it's all worth if you love her" yeh but i'd be doing that for another guy to date her in the end XD) i don't think anyone could come up with a sum to pay the time, labor and love involved (unless it's Playmates - gimme a call) I'm trying to figure out a way i could cast some parts of her.Well, if i manage to make more that i could sell, i'll definitely let everyone know (though i imagine it will be complete figures on ebay or cast "kits" cause i cannot fulfill all the requests for commissions, i'm not a factory after all XD) so that's not the last you hear of them

and something i've been thinking about, though, in february playmates is gonna announce the new classics (or, as they said on their facebook page - "we are exploring some new characters for the Classic Collection line for Fall 2013.") so they might extend the cartoon line, and i have no doubt they can do an even better job at those (my only doubt is if they'll risk budget on all original sculpts, so i believe they might just go for more turtles - though they could do a club thing like motuc) i kinda hope they don't though, cause i'll buy them too XD, anyway, we'd better all wait for february then. (i'm sure everybody prefers to spend 25 bucks on the official releases then hundreds on me)

well, thanks again everyone, i love them on my shelf and can't wait to make Rocksteady, Bebop, Krang and Splinter (though i should wait for playmates first, too) -- and i'm planning on nick turtles and april :)

Im not a pro by any means, haha (trial and error for me) but the little i do know of detailed sculpting work is that it takes hours and hours possibly weeks - to get that accurate look, in some cases a total re-do if things aren't aligned right, scale, color etc....its totally understandable. :) defo made your dream into a reality, keep up the good work dude, thanks again for sharing these.

Now that's a boy who LOVES his work!:tlol::tlove::tanime:

What materials did you use when creating these exceptional figures?

well, just the usual, but my guess is you're asking what i sculpt with
i use epoxi, mostly for parts that don't need to be flexible or don't move over other parts