Wibbly-Wobbly Introductioney-Wintroductioney... Thing.

[spencerxxxi]

Hey, all. I'm Spencer. I’m from Rhode Island, but I’m currently living in Georgia and soon to be moving to DC for grad school and work. I'm on here mainly because well... why not? Seemed like a good idea. Meet some people, maybe meet someone in particular at some point, but I'm not looking to rush into anything.

I'm a lot of varieties of nerd. Primarily, I'm a sci-fi, cyberpunk, and steampunk nerd. I have a small prop-making... business...thing based off of those genres. I also like to indulge in these genres through their movie and TV incarnations, especially those two or three worse-funded screenings that actually have my props in 'em!

I'm a huge Whovian and Trekkie (especially for TNG) and a fan of campy old sci-fi like Twilight Zone, not to mention sci-fi cinema of all kinds, though being a full time student for the last four years has compromised the time I have to enjoy these visual delicacies of the mind. On the side, I’m an Otaku, a remnant of the days when I thought Cosplay was the only prop-making I could do and thus gravitated towards it. Still a big Satoshi Kon/Hayao Miyazaki/Katsuhiro Otomo fanboy.

I tend to be a bit on the sarcastic side. I’m a good student and a dedicated artist, yadda yadda, but despite my apparent competence I’m an incredible ditz both in conversation and mannerism, and this dichotomy often means I’m quiet unless you know me (but then, nerd forum, so I think this is pretty common here).

So… anything else you wanna know, go for it. ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE.

[alikakadri (deleted)]

`nice to meet you Welcome to passions

[bowlercapfairy]

`Hello, I'm also relatively new here, & it seems we share a number of interests. It's very nice to meet you! May I ask what sorts of props you make?

[spencerxxxi]

`I make a lot of costume accessories- gauntlets, weird contraptions, bionic limbs, some jewelry, etcettera. But mostly I make prop firearms, sometimes out of toy blasters and sometims out of whatever junk I can find, or from scratch less frequently.

[bowlercapfairy]

`That's so cool! I always love seeing bionic limbs on people at steampunk cons. Also, prop firearms are the best. Aesthetically pleasing & functional! I've definitely seen nerf guns turned complex & intimidating enough for it to be hilarious when they shoot & the innocuous foam bullet pops out. What's the strangest piece of junk you've used in a project? Where do you usually find stuff to make contraptions out of?

[spencerxxxi]

Hm... strangest... there's been so much. . I'd say the ones that stick out, to name a few are: A laundry detergent bottle, various bits off of a busted vaccuum, parts of a food processor, and pieces off of an old very much busted record player. I usually come by my parts just 'around', either on the street, at thrift stores, in the back lots of industrial areas, wherever. I have a website if you wanna see some of it; I'll put the link below.

(removed)

[feedback]

We were going to remove the link added above, because the general rule within the forums is not to add links.

But it is clear that the site referenced is on theme with the discussion and that it wasn't added in a 'spammy' way.

We would recommend that all members remember to add their favorite sites (even their own sites) into their 'Favorite Websites' section, linked in the Account area.

This will place a link (and an image...after our system creates one), to your favorite sites on your profile page.

Member's 'Favorite Websites' also (automatically) go into the site's Website Directory (ie. Cool Sites) section, which is another way for members to let others know about the sites they like.

Thanks,


.

[bowlercapfairy]

`A laundry detergent bottle?? That's excellent, definitely something I've never heard! I'm really impressed with the stuff I saw on your website. I really love the AMR-B15 DPVC. That paint-job must have been a B----, but it looks fantastic. Also, for some reason (maybe the color scheme?) it makes me think of Portal. ^_^

[spencerxxxi]

`Thanks! I've often thought of going back and adding in some blue for exactly that reason. ^_^ But in the end I had to decide: do I declare my incredible love of Portal and The Orange Box, or do I stay steadfast and let the color scheme and design work together to show the original inspiration from District 9? And in the end, design cohesion won out over blatant squeeling fandom, and District 9 theme it remained. I'm actually giving that one off to its buyer tomorrow morning, just confirmed it tonight. I hate to see it go, but I love to watch it leave. Plus, I can't ship the thing conventionally, it was never meant for transport, so I'm just lucky I found a buyer in the area before having to send everything back across the country by air next week.

By the way, I usually don't 'talk shop' like this, it's just that that particular piece is leaving my hands and, y'know... I put a lot of work into 'er. S'like pushing my hatchling out of the nest and hoping it doesn't break in transport. :p

[bowlercapfairy]

`District 9 had so much weaponry, I feel like I must have seen more than 20 different guns in it. It has been a while since I saw that movie, though. Kudos for not giving in to temptation! :b Portal is wonderful, but something tells me it would have been less intimidating if you had added the blue.

& "talking shop" is totally fine. I find it very interesting. ^_^

[spencerxxxi]

`Nice to find people that don't mind it. ^_^ Never could figure out why orange could be intimiating in that context. Always sorta figured it was, like, snake warning colors logic. *Shrug* Either way, back to the original point you made: Yes, that paint job was a massive B----. :p But hey, came out well, so I'm not complaining. Can't wait to get back home on the 14th so I can get to work on new projects.

[bowlercapfairy]

`Well, whatever the reason why it's intimidating, it makes for a pretty kick-ass prop weapon. Coming home is always nice after travelling. What new projects have you got lined up?

[spencerxxxi]

First order of business is a futuristic asault rifle for a guy in Norway. Then a steampunk-style shotgun thing with a silencer (didn't even know such a thing existed until I got the commission) for a guy doing an indie movie in the UK. At some point, I also have to make a giveaway prize for my grand opening contest next month, since technically I'm not even open yet, and I figured a giveaway was a good way to get people interested and aware that I exist. Plus eventually I want to rig up my own personal steamernetic machinist arm for my costume. That last one's gonna be a real project, but I have a lot of time on it, unlike the other three which all pretty much have to be out by the middle of next month at the absolute latest. It's a good kinda stress with it, though, the kind that comes with doing something you would have been doing anyway, but on a tighter timeline.

Oh, and, it wasn't technically traveling, in the classic sense... it was college. I just graduated, or rather, finished classes and am graduating on the 14th. I'd say even better to be home, in this situation, though I'll be out pretty quickly if all goes well.

[bowlercapfairy]

`Haha, wow, I didn't really know that existed, either. Well, you seem busy for not technically being open yet! :b That's definitely a good thing though, I'm glad to hear that things are going well on that front. A steamernetic machinist arm sounds like quite the exciting undertaking!

Also, congratulations! What sort of degree are you graduating with?

[spencerxxxi]

I'm coming out with an Education Studies degree with a focus on national policy. Eventually I'd like to end up with the ability to actually affect the policy as opposed to just study it. I'm going to be teaching for a couple of years first, though, just to get the on-the-ground experience, and I'll probably be returning for my doctorate as soon as it makes sense in order to polish the knowledge and beef up the credentials.