About Goombah Squad Props
Salve! I'm Johny Driessen and I make prop swords, guns, armor, and uh, whatever strikes yours or my fancy. It's not my day job just yet, but I'm working that.
Who's the Goombah Squad, you ask? The Goombah Squad's my family cosplay group. We've been dressing up as a family in custom costumes for a looong time. Around 2010, when the kids got "too big" to dress up for Halloween we naturally journeyed into the cosplay world. My wife took up the sewing duties, and I started building props in earnest. After long people started telling me I ought to sell my work. I was hesitant, but when we won our first awards as a group I decided my props must be quality enough for others. I've been officially building props for nearly 5 years now.
I've always loved making things. In High School, my entire senior year was spent knitting chainmail, crafting medieval thrones, painting castle walls, and building other set pieces. I originally went into university for art, but eventually switched to history, so I have a strong foundation in arts education, but the majority of my training is self supplied, through research and trial and error.
I have a strong desire to build things, to make things that exist in our fantasies, and turn them into something we can hold in our own hands. I love talking props, processes, materials, and I love teaching people. I try to document my projects as closely as possible, and I promise to share as much as I know and can figure out with the community. When it comes down to it, when one of us gets better, we all get better.
So if you want to figure out how to make your dream prop and you've got a question, send it my way! If you don't have the time or the skill to do it yourself, send me a commission request and let me bring it to life for you!
Who's the Goombah Squad, you ask? The Goombah Squad's my family cosplay group. We've been dressing up as a family in custom costumes for a looong time. Around 2010, when the kids got "too big" to dress up for Halloween we naturally journeyed into the cosplay world. My wife took up the sewing duties, and I started building props in earnest. After long people started telling me I ought to sell my work. I was hesitant, but when we won our first awards as a group I decided my props must be quality enough for others. I've been officially building props for nearly 5 years now.
I've always loved making things. In High School, my entire senior year was spent knitting chainmail, crafting medieval thrones, painting castle walls, and building other set pieces. I originally went into university for art, but eventually switched to history, so I have a strong foundation in arts education, but the majority of my training is self supplied, through research and trial and error.
I have a strong desire to build things, to make things that exist in our fantasies, and turn them into something we can hold in our own hands. I love talking props, processes, materials, and I love teaching people. I try to document my projects as closely as possible, and I promise to share as much as I know and can figure out with the community. When it comes down to it, when one of us gets better, we all get better.
So if you want to figure out how to make your dream prop and you've got a question, send it my way! If you don't have the time or the skill to do it yourself, send me a commission request and let me bring it to life for you!