APRIL O'NEIL
(MIRAGE
COMICS)
PROJECT #215
CLASSIFICATION: KITBASH
BASE FIGURE: APRIL O'NEIL
MATERIALS USED: SCULPEY MODELING COMPOUND, ACRYLIC PAINTS
FIRST APPEARANCE: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #2 (MIRAGE COMICS)
"Oh, come now, April...why would the mousers dig
holes in bank vaults? You helped program them, remember?"
Preamble: Most Ninja Turtles fans
know that April O'Neil, as originally conceived for the comic book, was quite
different from the character she ended up becoming in the cartoon show.
Instead of being a news reporter, as per the cartoon show and live
action theatrical films, April was originally Baxter Stockman's lab assistant,
helping him create the rat-hunting Mouser robots, which Baxter planned to
use to rob banks and commit other crimes. After April refused to go
along with his plans, she was targeted by the Mousers herself, later to be
rescued by the Turtles, who helped her shut down Baxter's operation. (The
new er TMNT cartoon show by 4Kids! Entertainment adheres pretty closely
to April's comic book origins, too.)
The first action figure version of April O'Neil
I ever owned was that horrible repainted version with the fluorescent orange
boots. I got into collecting TMNT about a year too late, so I was never
able to find the original version of the figure at retail. I did come
across the original sculpt some years later in a second-hand toy shop, but
she was very loose and the paint was coming off her outfit. Well, years
later, the miracle of eBay afforded me the opportunity to replace the toy
with one still in the package, so after a while I started thinking about
possible kitbashing ideas for the old one. I finally decided it would
be fun to create a Mirage Comics version of April, since there are almost
no figures in existence based in that universe.
Construction: Like so many of my
projects, this started out as a simple repaints that somehow turned into
a full-fledged kitbash. The jumpsuit the April toy is wearing is quite
similar to the one she's got in the comics, so at first I was content to
just paint the outfit blue and be done with it. Being the stickler
for details that I am, though, I couldn't help but make some slight changes
to the sculpt, getting rid of the breast pockets as well as the ones on the
sleeves and pant legs, and changing her boots into those little slip-on shoes
she's got in the comic. I also cut off her sleeve cuffs and reattached
them lower on her arms to create long sleeves. Other than cutting away
a little at her collar to create more definition to the sculpt, that was
pretty much all she needed. Right?
Hmm, not quite. No matter how much I wanted
to pretend otherwise, her hair just didn't look right at all, even after
I treated it with a paint wash. So, I built her a wig out of Sculpey,
shaping it first and then making some cuts with a knife to simulate that
frizzy-looking rat's nest she's got. I had some concerns about baking
the whole figure in the oven since I'd already painted her, so I decided
to cut my losses, literally, and cut her head off. I stuck her head
in the oven for only a few minutes at a time; thankfully, the paint didn't
melt off her face as I was expecting it to. All I had to do was paint
the hair (a thorough coat of black first, and then a less thorough coat of
brown, intentionally missing the grooves I'd cut with my knife) and then
glue the head back in place.
Comments: I'd thought about painting
some sludgy spots on her outfit since she was decorated with them throughout
most of her first issue, until I remembered that this was exactly the sort
of thing that I hated when Playmates Toys did it with their figures,
so I opted to leave her as is. (Of course, now I'm wondering whether
I should go back and add it anyway.)
I also wrote up a ridiculous little Playmates
Toys style biography. Read and enjoy.
PORTRAIT OF APRIL O'NEIL
Baxter's Beautiful and Brainy Assistant!
VITAL SCIENTISTICS:
Accessories: Laptop Computer, Hideaway Holster with Bite-Size Blaster;
Munchin' Mousers; Birthplace: The Valley; Height: 5'
5"; Weight: 115 lbs. (without sewer sludge); Favorite City:
New York; Favorite Saying: "Build a better mouse trap, and the world
will beat a path to your door."
April O'Neil never
thought she'd be stomping through the sludgy sewers, fleeing the monstrous
mechanical mousers that she helped Baxter Stockman bring to life. But
then again, she also never thought she'd run into four giant Turtles who
saved her from the rat-catching robots! Now she's best buds with the
bodacious foursome, serving as their link to the outside world, using her
Laptop Computer to keep the green team informed. She keeps her Hideaway
Holster on hand with a Bite-Size Blaster just the right size to turn any
remaining Munchin' Mousers into scraps of silicon shrapnel.
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