Kevin Eastman visited the set of the show back when the Chiodo Brothers were first working on the series.It's wicked cool to have had them work on the live action TMNT show! The Chiodos also made their mark with the nifty dinosaurs on the updated Land of the Lost show, thus the TMNT were in good hands with the brothers Chiodo!
Kevin took some cool pix while he was there, so what follows are some snapshots that'll give ya a glimpse at what it took to put together a costume for the live action Turtle show!
The first step taken was to make the plaster molds that the actual TMNT costumes were cast in. Foam latex has been the material used for years and years to build costumes, and the technology is really advancing. The material is more durable than ever, which is a good thing, since the suits took one heckuva beating during filming! Here we see a few molds and to the left are several latex legs that have already been cast.
Here's a better look at those legs.
Swell gams, eh?
Here's some of the very talented staff of the Chiodo Brothers' workshop. That's a Turtle head the guy on the left is working on. Kinda eerie, isn't it? ;-)
An animatronic Turtle getting fitted for his eyes. The Turtle suits were extremely complex! Underneath the foam latex masks, the robotic parts allowed the TMNT to talk and move their eyes. Wearing those costumes was quite fatiguing... and funky!
This mannequin is being fitted with the "new-look" plastron.
A better look at the plastron. Pretty wicked detailing! The Next Mutation TMNT had very fashionable washboard stomachs! They must have been doing lotsa crunches and sit-ups!
The shellback's back shell.
The Venus de Milo face mask.
Here's Kevin with Edward Chiodo and the beginnings of a Next Mutation costume!
