Meet the Grimsby men who design and 3D print their own comic-con props

A man from Grimsby has been making waves at comic cons for his own 3D-printed creations.

Drawing inspiration from his favourite video games and films, Reece Yates and pal Adam Morrow, also from Grimsby, set up their own YouTube channel to document their latest creations - from Halo-related cosplay to Five Nights at Freddie's animatronics.

Since attending his first comic con nearly ten years ago, Reece has become intertwined with the culture and is now standing out from the crowd with his lifelike replicas of familiar props - often being the first to create such items.

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Speaking to Grimsby Live, Reece explained how he became involved in Comic Con culture. "I wasn't into comic cons, but my stepdad took me to my first ever one in 2015. I didn't understand why I loved it so much, but I kinda got the point of it and enjoyed it."

Over the following years, Reece became more and more involved in the life. He would make little bits and bobs, but his stepdad unfortunately passed away from prostate cancer. After he left Reece his "nerdy" collection, he kept going to comic cons.

"I've been designing and making everything myself."

Designing things from scratch, Reece's standout prop is a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog's classic 2D era. " There's no real-life reference [to make it]. I've had to figure out my own scale, and I think I've done a pretty good job considering it's meant to be 2D."

After getting in touch with a local cinema through a friend of a friend, Reece's design will be on show to coincide with the release of the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, although it is not his only design. Whereas the Sonic project took two to three months to complete, some projects can take months to design to the finished article.

"A lot of it is just half-built or started. I'm building Cupcake from the Five Nights at Freddie's. It's fully animatronic; the eyes blink, and it can look around and open its mouth, just like in the franchise. I've made Ghosttraps - the RTV from the newer Ghostbusters movies, I've done quite a few things - I've sold on or given away a few of them."

A link to Reece and Adam's YouTube channel - DraconiumProps can be found here.