Geek Creek TMNT Kitbashes and Photos
 

If I had 5% of the talent some of you lucky folks have I'd try my hand at painting, but instead I have my buddy Milt do it for me.



For a better sense of the extent to which heymilt transformed these toys, compare Mikey's unpainted neck peg in the following photo to the rest of his skin:



There's no way I could follow that, so I contented myself with gathering unlikely accessories and vehicles for my badass Turtles.

More in the second post...

First off, while they can't fit inside to utilize the turret bubble, the Turtles look pretty cool with the Acid Rain Stronghold, which is so convincingly weathered right out of the box (similar to 3A's World War Robot rust aesthetic) that it looks like something one would put together from assorted scraps and debris in a sewer, so...



I reckon it's an all-purpose sewer transport, but the fact that it transforms into a robot mode could also suggest it's an updated approach to Metalhead.

More unlikely choices from the 1:18 scale: the RDA Grinder from James Cameron's Avatar and G.I. Joe Retaliation Firefly's sled:



I've also been putting together lots of accessories, both because I want to maybe try to build a custom sewer eventually and just for the hell of it. In the next post you'll see some random weapons and things, plus a work-in-progress science lab station.

More in the next post...

Ninja Turtle motorpool:



And a very recent addition to my vehicle fleet, in the form of a garden toy I bought in Istanbul a few years ago for my Joes. Since it's designed to rest in a garden it's not a proper toy; there's no way to open it, so I can't place the Turtles inside, and they wouldn't fit in the front seats even if I could. But for background fodder it looks pretty cool.



A better sense of the scale:




Thanks for checking out my humble efforts, everybody, and keep browsing the thread for more posts, including tons of photos of my work-in-progress sewer set!

THAT VAN!! Ohh la la... So classic

Thanks! And for a lazy kitbasher like me, it was perfect, 'cause setting aside the fact that I can't place the Turtles inside it, it required no modification.

Found art has always been my favorite breed of "custom". :)

Yeah, that V dub can fits perfect!

Cool. Really like what you've done here--everything looks fantastic.

Follow you on Flickr, some of these pics aren't there, so despite toy not doing the paints, your photos are fantastic.

Thanks! Eventually I'm hoping to commission someone to customize a Cowabunga Carl van so I can actually place the Turtles inside their ride. :)


Thanks, man, much appreciated.


Thanks so much! Since my customizing efforts range from minor to nonexistent, I try to compensate with my photography to the extent that that's possible.

Thanks again, everybody!

Really like these, also enjoyed seeing if i could remember where the additional items came from. nice work :)

Thanks, Connor!

Can I ask: are TMNT figures readily available in Glasgow? I only ask because I traveled extensively for a few years, and it was always fascinating to see which toys were available in a given place. At the time I was mostly hunting G.I. Joe figures, and I assume TMNT is much more widely available than Joes. (For some reason, the most dominant toy everywhere I went was Ben 10).

My most surreal find was this pair of G.I. Joe Sigma 6 figures:


...in Islamabad.

Sweet find :)

TMNT toys are pretty common place in Glasgow, it used to be you could only really get them in comic shops initially (wayyy back first time round) but with the recent incarnations its pretty easy. spotted the stelth turtles going for cheap in a local B&M store* just not had any cash to buy them :(

*bargain/cut price store

That's cool that you have access; I know how discouraging it can be to live vicariously through friends online 'cause there are no toys within a hundred miles!

Meanwhile, I aim to slowly (ever so slowly) put together a gargantuan sewer lair for my Turtles. It's something I've thought about off and on for many years.

For the bare-bones structure of my sewer lair I intend to get some lightweight plywood "walls" and attach them to a thicker "floor" piece to create a simple room with three walls and no ceiling, much like the 2003 Sewer Lair, only considerably larger.

If I can figure out how to perform some basic weathering tricks I will dirty up these wooden bits as thoroughly as I can, but first I'll hit them with some of that spray paint that's textured. I'm hoping it'll look convincingly concrete-like.

I also hope to add some long, narrow pieces of PVC pipe to the walls. I'll probably paint the pipes to make 'em look rusty... this is, again, assuming I somehow learn to do any of this stuff with anything resembling competence.

Meanwhile, I'm already gathering secondary structure pieces.

First up, I bought the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Pit/Mobile Command Center thing a few years ago as a poor substitute for all the bigass, badass playsets I missed out on when I was a lad... and the thing has just been gathering dust, so I'm taking it apart and using its pieces as random electrical sheds and panels and whatnot.

These, too, will benefit immensely from some weathering, but one can already get a sense of the potential, I think:



Again, there's a surprising amount of cool texture and detail that should convincingly suggest maintenance sheds or whatever.

Meanwhile, recently at the local thrift shop I spotted a big plastic bag filled with Tech Deck skating ramps. I always wanted some of these, but never enough to pay for them... and these were only $2 for the lot. Whoo-hoo!



More in the next post...

I'm considering using the skate ramps simply as elevated surfaces, rather than skate ramps.

Also for $2: a comically incomplete "Shellraiser" Turtle van, from the Nickelodeon cartoon. I had no interest whatsoever in this strange vehicle, but for $2, you bet I'll grab it!



The thing I dislike most is the wheels... and it occurred to me that, without the wheels, the vehicle might serve instead as yet another maintenance room or what-have-you. Again, it'll look much, much better weathered, but I like to think you can smell what I'm cooking:



Here it is on its side atop a skate ramp, behind another skate ramp, and with the computer console from the Rise of Cobra Pit bringing it all together as a workstation for Donatello:



I also paid a dollar for some random hunk of crap that had no business taking up space on the shelf (it's just a piece from some forgotten toy, and it can't possibly have any value or purpose to anyone but a dork like me):



It too has cool details that should pop nicely with the proper weathering. I'll probably use it as part of a wall rather than the floor, although it has some tools sculpted onto its surface (I really can't imagine what the hell this thing was originally), which might look goofy stuck to a "wall".

And now a hasty look at some of the props I'll use to make the place feel lived-in. First up, a Millennium Falcon ornament I got for fifty cents:



I'm gonna make a toy collector of Michelangelo, you see.

And some of the other props:



That's it for now, and it's likely there will be no further progress for a few months, 'cause I can't even afford to buy the spray paint and boards at the moment, and my highest priority right now is shipping more stuff to my long-suffering buddy heymilt so's he can paint it for me.

But eventually I'll build the primary structure, and along the way I'll keep an eye out for hunks of metal and such that can serve as sewer detail and debris, and someday, hopefully, I'll have a kickass lair for my Turtles!

Wow - those came out looking really good! Your friend did a marvelous job on the repaints, and those props work really well with the scenes you set up. Good work. :)

Thank you, pennydreadful! (Great username, incidentally).

That's alot of junk that could really turn into something awesome. It'd take some time mind you, but it could really come together, I'd go over to figurerealm, they have some excellent tutorials for weathering, and bringing out detail in sculpts.

Thanks for the suggestion!

No prob, that site helped me learn the basics, and one the years I've still managed to pick up tips from the tutorials.

Cool work sir! loving the use of the shellraiser and looking forward to seeing how the lair progresses.

I have just started work on a turtle lair too, found a toy parking lot on the street and in the process of cleaning it up.

Excellent, Connor. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Thanks for the kind words.

Thought I'd share my G.I. Joes-as-TMNT-characters kitbashes and some of the McFarlane figures I use as modern versions of vintage TMNT figures.

I've posted some of these before, but I want this to be my master thread so's I can spam one thread rather than the whole forum.

First off, G.I. Joe Retaliation Jinx with a 25th Anniversary Lade Jaye head for a simple, lazy April O'Neil:



And here she is taking on Groundchuck, in the form of McFarlane's Tremor II:



Giant Monkeyman Build-a-Figure as Sgt. Bananas:




And finally, Sigma 6 Casey Jones:

Here's a photo (from Seibertron, I believe) of Groundchuck.



It almost can't be an accident how closely he and Tremor parallel one another.

Today I took my daughter's Monster High Sweet 1600 Draculaura Roadster out for a shoot. If you squint and then get really drunk and then pass out or die, it's passable as a wildly stylized take on one of the Neutrino flying cars:



To suggest the car is floating, I simply balanced it on this barrel accessory:



If and when my daughter finalizes her long, drawn-out process of outgrowing Monster High, I might conduct some painting and weathering experiments on it to make it more viable.

You can never outgrow Monster High; once you're in, you're in for life cuz that show is awesome. :D Though I'd definitely be interested to see any customizing you could do on MH bases!

Maaan, are you hijacking my brain? was thinking about the heap and poacher for those very characters Ha!

Really liking the sigma six Casey Jones, looks like he got the stealth treatment the turtles got but better and you need to do something with the monster high car, tell your daughter a bigger boy ran away with it*


*thats an excuse we use in scotland "a bigger boy done it and ran away" ;)

Great stuff! Really looking forward to seeing your Turtles' lair, you have a great eye for useful figures and diorama pieces!

Thank you very much! Coming from you that's high praise indeed.


For some reason I have spent many happy hours seeking modern updates, usually from McFarlane, of vintage TMNT figures. Here's some suggestions I came up with:

http://twofistedtoytalk.wordpress.co...n-day-mutants/


Not pictured is a weirder, more recent notion: the NECA Prometheus Engineer as a new take on Krang's android body.


I've never seen the show, oddly enough. I just saw Monster High photos on Flickr and loved the designs. Indeed, I got my daughter into them; she didn't care for them at all until I brought one home.

Alas, I learned that I hate rooted hair, so I eventually gave all my MH dolls to my daughter, who in turn recently placed them all in the garage.

Seriously, though, I would buy dozens of the damn things if they were reinterpreted as an action figure series by NECA or something (with sculpted plastic hair). A NECA Robecca Steam would be the greatest toy ever!

Here are some of my MH photos:



They're photogenic little buggers!

those are some great quality custom figures youve made there! gotta admire your hard work and dedication, you are truly talented :D

For a good Comic TMNT Van I think that this Dickie Toys Surfer Van it's very good...

http://www.amazon.com/Dickie-Toys-Su.../dp/B004QM8XS4

Aw man, I didn't know about that one! I have one of their RVs:


http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...ay-camper.html


Their vehicles are amazing, although much like my garden toy, these would only work as background vehicles for the Turtles.

Sorry, man, I hadn't seen your comment when last I posted. Belated thanks!

Now then, I have many new portraits to share.

First, new photos of McFarlane's Poacher as Doctor El, both utilizing the same pose from the same angle, which I didn't realize until I pasted them here:



Mikey's new friend, McFarlane's Code Red:



Here's an older Code Red portrait from before heymilt weathered the Turtles, and man does Donatello look weird and unfinished and wrong to me now:




Two nearly identical portraits of Leonardo, both of which I felt compelled to keep because I am fascinated by how a slight tilt of the camera can leave a massive chunk of the backdrop obscured in shadow:



More in the next post...

Generic portraits:



A new adversary in the form of Mandarin Spawn, who I may use as an evolved, power-up version of Shredder:



Finally, the Nickelodeon LARP Turtles series brought us Donatello as a wizard and Michelangelo as an elf. And now:

You really do take lovely photos. :)

Thank you! Your kind words are much appreciated.

Now then, I've got a Sewer Update: I went back to the thrift shop, and hit the jackpot!

First up, a few more skate ramps (not pictured so's I can accommodate the ten-photos-per-post rule) and some weird tiki mask thing, not particularly exciting but potentially useful as a prop in Mikey's room:



Next, a giant friggin' race track, also not exactly thrilling, and I probably would have opted not to spend five bucks on it if I'd had a clearer sense of what it was (it was all wrapped up in a baggie; I thought maybe there would be other parts besides the track, but no luck), but I might incorporate a few pieces into the sewer setup:



More relevant to the sewer project is this goofy but charming Fisher Price tower:



And best of all, for a whopping four dollars I nabbed all of the following (as well as the skate ramps and tiki item at the start of this post):



Bigass skate pool!



Mysterious Hot Wheels thing! It's about as random and nonsensical as can be, but the basketball hoop alone makes it worth the four dollars.



Man... the scale of this thing is getting out of hand. Also, the more cool items I find, the steeper the burden of accountability; I kinda feel like I can't back out now.

I just hope I don't screw it all up once I start trying to paint!

I find it easier to paint props, settings and such, versus figure repaints, plus it's alot more fun in my opinion. I hate painting figures, I like piecing them together mind you, but I love painting buildings, walls and such.

That makes sense. If you're weathering a wall, a bit of slop here and there will just look like more weathering. I am in awe of people who paint the eyes on tiny G.I. Joe heads, but hopefully I won't mess up giant props in a sewer playset too badly.

Monte, where are the Leonardo katanas from?

Others have asked before, and unfortunately I can't remember their origin. I'll say this, though: what they boast in aesthetics they lose in functionality; the hilts are too narrow to rest firmly in Leonardo's hands.

I'd have happily given him the NECA Leonardo swords, but one of mine broke at the hilt.