Meet Quoc Ngo | Prop Maker and Craftsman

We had the good fortune of connecting with Quoc Ngo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Quoc, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Well my business started off more as a hobby than anything else before it spiraled into essentially a part time job with full time hours. It was in high school when I wanted to surprise a friend with a birthday gift and I had asked her what sword she wanted and she said, “I want the sword from Skyrim that explodes.” It was one of my first and worst projects to date but that was what started my journey. From then on my focus went from wood working with nothing but weapons to eventually 3D printing and processing custom one of a kind pieces for my clients. Even though I’m a business in regards to most aspects, I wanted to provide a service that is reminiscent of a craftsman who takes pride in his work to provide his very best no matter the project. I strive to give my clients the very best piece that is worthy of their story that is being told. From then on it’s just one piece after another and even though I’ve only been in the scene for about 2 years after my break, I’ve been nothing but grateful for the success of my business through my patrons.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I got to where I am today in life by persistence and reputation. The factor that I believe is the most important in my success is the reputation that I carry with me both in person and online as well as providing results comparable to replica grade finishes. Anyone in the cosplay community can present good results/products either online or in person but how they carry themselves can lead to very mixed/varied results so to provide a professional courtesy in a very casual environment/community goes a long way. Oftentimes locally I would see a few cases where other prop makers would either let the idea of fame get to their head, bloated sense of self importance ruin themselves, combined with a severe lack of quality as well as under delivery just leads to them shooting themselves in the foot. I have done no advertising at all aside from business cards that I hand out to chance encounters that are somewhat interested in what I do from conversation. All of my business from the past 5 years have been through word of mouth and recommendation and with it I am grateful. Even though my numbers and statistics through my online sites are less than subpar I usually am always booked for a month or two on end. This is one of the factors where many of my friends and clients are always trying to consistently push me to focus on things like treating it as a business first before a passion. In the end, a man must enjoy his job and if he has his doubts along the way, as long as he has four friends to call upon then he has the will to carry on. There was one quote by Walter Payton that I believe deserves to be heard more and it is, “When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.” I always believe that I can do better so I am my own biggest critic no matter what my patrons tell me and with it I can constantly improve myself for them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend visiting the area, the first place I would take them to would be the foodie capital of Houston being Bellaire to eat their heart out and after I’d take them to some local temples to give some peace and mind. In my opinion, the place that you visit doesn’t matter much more than it does the company that you visit with be it with friends or yourself. I could go to a junkyard or a basic park with either myself or with friends and as long as there’s a good mindset in place then I would enjoy myself regardless.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shout out my good friend Coco or by her online persona @queenccbean on Instagram or by email . She’s been with me through the start of my journey in the local community and no matter the situation she was able to be a irreplaceable friend to me that not only pushed for me to do better but remind me that I wasn’t alone in life. She’s been in the local cosplay community for a while and she doesn’t really understand her potential while holding herself back in fear of not being good enough. I would like to repay her the same favor of breaking past her limits as she did for me tenfold

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabledqt/?hl=en

Image Credits
Attached are a few photos of my props as well as the one photo of me I would like for you to use as my main profile picture. The captions will follow the order of photos. The first one is the Virtuous Treaty from Nier Automata with the model being @belmarie_58 on Instagram with the photographer @rc.cosplay_photography. The second photo is Battle Bunny Miss Fortune from League of Legends with the model being @queenccbean and photographer @cruzcontrolphotography_tx. The third photo is Lilith horns and crowns from Hazbin Hotel with the photographer being me. The fourth photo is the Maiden shotgun from Nikke and 5th photo has it held by the model @_nicoolinn. The sixth photo is the character Space Groove Lux from League of Legends with the model being @queenccbean.

For any kind of inquiries please contact me on either Instagram @FabledQT or by email at FabledQT@gmail.com and shout out to @creativerain for his recommendation of me to this team at Voyager!