Q&A with Matt Hammond

Ever wanted to make a set of Spartan armour – or a Viking’s get-up? Matt Hammond will no doubt inspire you with his larger-than-life cosplay heroes. Off The Leash caught up with Hammond in the lead-up to GeeCon, where he’ll be wearing his latest creation.

What characters do you portrayin cosplay?
So far I have only cosplayed video game characters. I remember when the game Halo: Reach was released and I thought, ‘how cool would it be to have a set of Spartan armour?’ And now I have one.

What’s the most difficult thing you've created?
My greatest achievement is proba- bly my Spartan suit. It's more of a childhood dream coming true. Over time, I have faced a lot of challenging builds, each requiring a different skill level. The most recent one was my T-600 Terminator skull. It turned my mind to jelly a few times during the build.

Tell us about the scene in Darwin – is it growing? Have you taken your work to any other conventions or festivals?
With big franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Comics movies becoming so popular, "geek culture" is becoming more widely accepted and with it, cosplay. But there are still a lot of "closet geeks". I certainly don't think people would think I was a geek, let alone an accomplished prop replica builder. I haven't even been to a convention, let alone gone in cosplay – GeeCon is going to be my first, so I'm pretty excited about that.

What costume are you working on at the moment for GeeCon?
I have for the most part been keeping it a surprise to the wider community. I'm not sure yet if I will do a reveal or go for maximum shock value. I’ve been working on it for two years now and I'm making haste to get it finished in time. You might just have to get down to GeeCon to find out. I can tell you that it will be "out of this world." 

Photo is of Matt Hammond in a Skyrim-inspired costume, photography by Tam Nguyen.

See GeeCon's event listing.