SAM'S PROFILE

Thanks man =)

My life's pretty good at the moment. It's looking like it's going to get even better soon.

I was always 'the good kid' and 'the weird kid' at school. I got good grades, did all my homework, and got the shit kicked out of me. Video games replaced any kind of social life and I grew up with a group of very few but very close friends and we were geeky and happy together.

I went straight to college from school and it was in college I started coming out of my shell socially, started to realise certain social etiquettes and figured out how to talk to a girl. In college I learned a lot more about myself and how to socialise than I did graphic design, but I'm glad of it.

From there it was straight to art school, and at the start of my second year I let my friends talk me into going to my first convention and I'm very glad I went as I met my girlfriend there, I got into cosplay (yes it's an enjoyable hobby), I talked to a bunch of indie comic artists at the artist alley and started to get an idea of how much setting up my own comic would cost me and got some good tips on strategies.

I was hoping to learn a lot more than I actually did at art school. I wanted to learn 3D modelling and texturing, which I now have a basic knowledge of but I'm having to build on it. What I did learn were a lot of difficult life lessons. I moved about three, maybe four times, during my time at art school living with different people and learning the difference between a good pal and a good housemate, I got thrown a few curveballs, learned how to manage money, and yeah, I got a LOT more confident in myself.

Since art school ended, me and my girlfriend have had to move into my dad's place as my student loan stopped coming in, the bills didn't and the part time job I had wasn't going to cut it. That said I've never been without a job. In high school I was a paper boy, as soon as I left high school I was working weekends in a shop while going to college and later art school and I only recently quit that job having been offered a full time office job I start next week.

Right now I'm looking forward to finally having a proper wage coming in, to being able to afford stuff rather than scraping by, to be able to save for the future, for a new place, for the baby and wedding my girlfriend's talking about (we had our two year anniversary yesterday and we're going to the convention we met at this weekend), and also to be able to print some comics, some artwork for a portfolio and to go to cons and sit on the artist alley with the others, to sell my art and hope I get noticed by a company.

The only thing that niggles me is that, last year my girlfriend fell pregnant, condom split. We looked at abortion because it wasn't the right time but we just couldn't go through with it, we were too soft. We got used to the idea, started talking about names and stuff and were looking forward to being parents when she miscarried. It was a week before Christmas, on my grandmother's birthday no less, then it was New Year's and we didn't want to bring anyone's mood down so we didn't really tell anyone until January and we could've used the support. I was so busy running around making sure Jo was comfortable and grieving properly that I never accounted for myself and broke down at work. Although we probably weren't in the best position to care for a child, I'm still gutted that I never got to meet them.

What's really nice is that Jo, my partner, has something she's passionate about too, being her ponies. I've been learning how to look after and handle them for if she falls ill, or when she's pregnant again, while she's constantly giving me feedback and advice on my art, comic scripts etc and it's nice that we're both enthusiastic about something without competing. We both do cosplay but strictly for fun, we wouldn't enter an on-stage contest against one another.

So yeah, I'm quite happy

Excellent! We have our first sign up!

My video review of Sonic 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdAVxcw-Pp4

So, a little pet project of mine I'm going to run you through, I just finished making some Saiyan armour for a Vegeta cosplay that I'll be wearing at October's MCM Expo. Entered unknown territory again by using only craft foam and cardstock.



I started out by cutting out the basic shapes (I didn't have a pattern for this, I was literally putting pieces of foam against myself, making rough markings, then going from there) until I could start gluing segments together, until I had this:



I used cardstock for the ridges on the armour and then placed more foam over the top for the 'lining' of the armour.





A test fit, which is always an important step.



Paint! I used a regular primer then used yellow enamel paint on the ridges. Cardstock with enamel on top reflects light brilliantly for Vegeta's armour!





Another test fit.



These are the three crotch plates. Made the same way as the armour.





The last step was to simply combine everything together! If you're wondering how I get in and out of the armour, I simply have a ton of velcro up one side so I can open it up then close it around me. (The tail was found on eBay)

A friend of mine got so excited, he's now coming as Android Saga Vegeta and we made the base for his armour in less than four hours.







And that's how you make Saiyan armour!