A lot of people have talked about the event, and made up their own dialogue of our conversation, but I thought I would post here the TRUE story of what happened when we met.
First off, for those who don't know (and if you don't know, you should not be on these boards!), Terry English is the man who made the original Colonial Marine Armor for the movie Aliens. He also will make a set of hand hammered Aluminum (or Aluminium) armor for you on request, but it's a bit expensive (but is also one of the ultimate, and most covetted prizes in Aliens collecting).
I also make Colonial Marine armor, but out of plastic, and it costs a lot less (
http://www.spatcave.com/). I've made a lot of suits over the years, and I know that at Sci-Fi Weekend in the Uk this past weekend, there were at least 20 Marines in armor there, and only 3 of those were not made by me. One set was a Terry suit, and the other 2 were made by other "fans" like me who make replicas of these costumes.
I also know that Terry has seen my suits at other conventions, and has apparently even asked who it was that made them. But I had never heard anything about whether or not he approved of what I was doing, or if he was angry about it.
Malika, from Sci-Fi Weekend even asked me if we should have Terry and I at opposite ends of the convention, just in case, or if it was even a good idea for us both to be at the same event. Sadly, I didn't know what to tell her. I had no idea how Terry would react to me being at the con.
My first day there, I saw Terry in the restaurant of the hotel, and walked up and told him that I was a huge fan, and had always wanted to meet him. He was very polite. I asked if I could take a photo with him, and he agreed.
He noticed that I was an American, and since there were not a lot of them here at this show, he asked what made me come all the way across the pond. I mentioned that I was here doing panels and demos on masks and costume making. He asked my name, and I told him it was Spat. He thought for a moment, and then asked, "You're not the same Spat that makes those plastic copies of my armor, are you?". I kind of shrugged and said, "Yes, I am."
And then suddenly, BAM! Sucker punch, smash to the face!
I hit the ground, pretty hard, and was hoping it was over, but before I could get my hands up to protect myself, I got a tiny little boot to the face.
And then afterwards, he had a small, victory dance, while saying things like, "Damn, yankees think that they can do anything they want! I'm Terry English, man!!"
I blacked out after that, and the rest of that night is a bit of a blur.
Ok, in actuality, Terry and I did talk, and at first, he was a bit apprehensive about me, but after a few drinks, he did comment that my armor was nice, but put together wrong, mostly in the shoulders. I asked him what he hell did he know, and who the hell he thought he was, telling my that my armor is made wrong, and he sucker punched me again.
When I came to, we sat down again, and spent quite a while just talking about armor and comparing my armor to his.
I think the thing he liked most about my armor, as opposed to many other suits out there is that my sets are not direct copies of his suits. They are lovingly hand sculpted based on photos and screen caps, and later, some measurements off an original suit owned by a member of these boards, who probably wants to remain nameless. (cough.. harry... cough). My suits may not be 100% accurate, but they're also not copies of Terry's in the traditional sense. They are more of an "homage".
After looking over my armor for a while, he broke out some paper and a pen, and re-designed the shoulder strapping and connections for my armor to make them lay correctly, and to prevent them from breaking (the only part of the armor that ever breaks is the shoulders, because of the way they are attached, they take a lot of stress and abuse). He made it a combination of the way I connect them, combined with the way the originals were connected, combined with a way he would have liked to have connected the originals if he had more time to play with them.
So, thanks to the Master of ALL Colonial Marine Armor, my next batches or armor will have the new, experimental shoulder assembly on them. I will also be working on a retrofit for older suits, which may require you to ship back your chest, back and shoulders, to have them upgraded. Though, there is a chance I can make a small "upgrade kit" that can be ordered and, with a little drilling and riveting, get your armor up to spec without having to ship it back.
And as for all the pics that have already been posted of Terry and I. I must say that I do find it amazing that any time Terry and I were sitting together, people were snapping pics like mad, possibly in the hopes of catching him actually smashing me in the face!
So, big thanks to Terry, and to Malika. And finally, the question of what Terry thinks of Spat and his armor is put to rest!
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one of the highlights of the weekend....Terry English ROCKS!!!!!.... 
