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Teenage Mutant Ninja Restoration!

Tom Morrow

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Hey all,

Not sure exactly what category this fits in, but since this was a Henson creature shop piece, I figured fellow Henson/Muppet fans would enjoy seeing photos and reading about the project.

Below you'll find photos of a recent head-to-toe restoration and display project that has just been completed.

Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had spent many years stored away. Our client felt that this Henson Creature Shop piece used in the 1990 film, deserved better and sent the costume to my company for an evaluation.

Condition on arrival is shown in the lower picture. Overall condition was generally "good", but it had a great deal of cracking and some areas/components were extremely brittle. Further, some areas, like the neck, crotch/inner shell and inner thighs, had major tears and areas of missing material.

A customized display body was created to support the piece and fit it properly in a dynamic pose. The costume was mounted to the body and most of the restoration work was performed on the form. Some areas were repaired and sealed (cracks and such) but others needed to be rebuilt, then retextured and repainted to blend into the surrounding areas.

At the client's request, the snout was repainted and blended to the paint style on the rest of the head. This was to improve upon repainting/repair that had been done many years ago which had left the snout too yellow. The head was also repaired around the neck, corners of the mouth and lips as part of the restoration process.

A custom manhole cover display base was created to give the display a little extra pop.

Last but not least, artist Kelly Delcambre and I recreated the missing the elbow & knee pads, the wrist wraps, and his belt & straps to complete the display.

As always, the entire project was discussed at length and in extreme detail with the client. The goal was to make it look "good for its age" and not "brand new". Great care was taken to ensure paint touch ups matched the surrounding, aged areas and any skin repairs or recreated accessories were visually consistent with the rest of the piece's "feel".

This was a long, difficult project but both the client and I are extremely proud of the completed display.

Enjoy the pics. There are more photos and information on http://www.TomSpinaDesigns.com

regards,
Tom



 

Zack the Dog

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Man talk about shell rot! I'm glad they were all fixed up and repaired! I loved the Gremlin too!
 

CoOKiE

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SWEETNESS! That must be an honor to have worked on him
 

Tom Morrow

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Thanks! Indeed it was an honor to help preserve and display a piece originally made by the creature shop!

Just to clarify (as it doesn't look like I can edit the first post), this was a single costume in a private collection... the work was done for a collector who's had the costume for quite some time and not the Henson company.

Not sure what became of the other costumes from the first two films, but no doubt many of them could use a little attention.

I've now restored a few pieces that were used in Henson related productions and it is ALWAYS an honor to do what I can to help preserve these pieces of history.

Tom
 

ravagefrackle

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Nice job, can be lots of fun rebuilding, and refurbishing old puppets
 

Tom Morrow

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Thanks James... definitely was a great project to work on!

To the JimHensonHour, indeed the owner's a lucky one. I'm just glad I was able to help him get this thing better preserved and displayed with a bit of life :smile:

Tom
 

Teenager's

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Great Job fixing it up Tom! Looks Great!

I remember that 5 or 6 years ago the original Michelangelo and Splinter were on ebay for $6,000 a piece.....it was a great deal & I always kick myself that I passed it up....
 

Frogpuppeteer

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my second love the tmnt...man im am so jealous of who ever owns that
 

Redsonga

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OMG, I never knew Henson made them..TMNT was the first movie I ever went to see :3.
 
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