Google+ Cosplayers of the Week: Cosplay Interview #3

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Cosplay Interview #3

Bill Doran



Home: Seattle, WA, USA
Age: 31

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CosWeek: What kinds of stuff do you Cosplay?
Doran: I usually cosplay things from video games. I've done stuff from Dragon Age, Team Fortress, and Mass Effect.


CosWeek: When did you start Cosplaying?
Doran: I started back in 2009 when some friends and I decided to go to PAX as the blue team from Team Fortress 2.

CosWeek: What got you started?
Doran: I've always been into costuming; I used to go to renaissance faires frequently as a kid. I got into it more recently as a fun thing to do with my friends and I very much enjoy the craft.

CosWeek: Why the prop-making business?
Doran: I started taking commissions on a whim as people from the internet started asking me to make things for them. Before I knew it, I had more commissions than I had time to finish, so I quit my job to build props full time.

CosWeek: What kind of props do you make?
Doran: I tend to go for weapons from video games.

CosWeek: What is the wildest thing you've been asked to make?
Doran: I haven't actually had too many outlandish requests yet. Some things that I find a little weird is when someone will ask me to make a prop of a real gun that was used in a TV show or movie. Something that is already available to buy, either as a functional firearm or an Airsoft gun. I prefer to make things from scratch don't exist in the real world yet.

CosWeek: So why is your commission store closed for 2013?
Doran: My commission schedule for the entire year filled up just a couple of months in, plus I ran a Kickstarter campaign. I'll be spending 2-3 months fulfilling the rewards from that here soon. Since I'm a one man operation, I decided to close my commissions for now, since sorting through those emails was eating up a lot of valuable crafting time.

CosWeek: Tell us a little about your Kickstarter Project.
Doran: I tried out something new by designing my own prop space gun and running a Kickstarter to get the funds for the tools and materials to make a whole bunch of them! It was a resounding success and I will be making many of them in the coming months.

CosWeek: How many of the gun kits did you sell?
Doran: About 130.

CosWeek: What was the gun kit named?
Doran: The gun line will be called the "Dracogen STV-1". An absolutely amazing and generous man named Steve Dengler backed my project at the highest level, earning him the reward of naming the gun line. He chose to name it after his extraordinary investment company over at dracogen.com. I couldn't be happier.

CosWeek: Would you do a Kickstarter again?
Doran: I most certainly would!

CosWeek: What are you wearing to this years cons?
Doran: The big one right now is Dragon*Con in less than a month. My wife and I are working on something really rad, but we're keeping it a surprise! I'm also going to BlizzCon, so I think I might do a Ghost costume for that one.

CosWeek: Which Con do you consider your "HOME" con?
Doran: It's gotta be Dragon*Con. That's my favorite and I get to hang out with all of my very best costuming buddies!

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