CLASSIFICATION: KITBASH
BASE FIGURE: USAGI YOJIMBO
MATERIALS USED: ACRYLIC PAINTS; FABRIC; NEEDLE AND THREAD; HOBBY KNIFE
FIRST APPEARANCE: "USAGI YOJIMBO" (TMNT)

"I should warn you, I have never lost a sword fight!"
"That is because you have never before faced a samurai rabbit!"

Preamble:  I'm not really sure what the deal was with Usagi Yojimbo's appearance in the Ninja Turtles cartoon.  Both made their start in black and white comics, of course, and Usagi's success can be at least partly attributed to the black and white comics explosion spawned by the TMNT book in the mid-1980's.  Usagi also had a guest shot or two in the Turtles comics, and I've read that Turtles creators Eastman and Laird were pals with Usagi creator Stan Sakai, which may have led to Usagi Yojimbo's inclusion in the Turtles cartoon, not to mention becoming part of the TMNT action figure line.

The problem was that the Usagi Yojimbo action figure isn't actually wearing the costume he had on in the TMNT show.  It's quite possible that the toy was modeled after one of his comics appearances, but his cartoon outfit also appears in the comics, so I don't know why they didn't just go with that look instead.  (It's especially disconcerting that Playmates Toys made him blue and purple, which made him look more like a Foot Clan reject than anything else.)  In any event, I wanted a show-accurate Usagi, so I figured the best way to about that would be to make him an outfit.

Construction:  All I really had to do to the toy itself was pull the armor plating off his arms and legs, and I also cut off the wrist guards.  I repainted his eyes, nose, and sandals, and also gave his fur a new coat of white paint since the original figure was cast in more of an off-white color.  (My ex-wife was also a smoker, so I was concerned about the bare plastic turning yellow if I left him out for display.)  I also painted his swords, which were originally cast in plain brown plastic, to make them a bit more realistic looking.

Making the costume for him was the tricky bit.  I briefly considered using a modeling compound to sculpt a new outfit around the existing toy, but since I'd already had a couple of good experiences with making cloth outfits, I figured I'd give that another go.  The deliberately-oversized outfit is a three-piece deal, hand-tailored from scratch.  The pants don't actually fasten anywhere, so I had to pop his leg off in order to get them on. The tie on his belt is also fake; it actually fastens in the back with a strip of hook-and-loop fastener.  I also included a loop on the belt to store his swords.  For the symbols on his kimono, I borrowed some tiny buttons from a set of doll clothes and painted them gold before sewing them in place.

Comments:  For the most part, I'm very pleased with him.  His shoulders are a little more broad than I'd like, but that's more an artifact of the original sculpt than anything else.  If I had to do it over again, I might have made some changes to his face to get rid of that menacing scowl of his.  (They say that projects are never completed, only abandoned, so maybe I'll come back to this one some day.)