This weekend is Wizards World. I was thinking of going, so I thought I would try to get together an easy cosplay outfit. One of my favorite games is Viscera Cleanup Detail. I call it my defragging game. In most games you frag - kill. In this one you are cleaning up after the battle is over. After Santa has killed all the elves. After the murder house is completely murdered. After the terminators have all killed and been killed. It is really fun and cathartic, in a different way than my fragging games.
So the janitor is the main character. You play as the janitor. I thought it would be simple enough to get together. Brown or yellow overalls, red boots, gloves and hat, 2 shirts. It has not been as easy as I thought it would be. Here is it as it stands now.
So the janitor is the main character. You play as the janitor. I thought it would be simple enough to get together. Brown or yellow overalls, red boots, gloves and hat, 2 shirts. It has not been as easy as I thought it would be. Here is it as it stands now.
 | I found almost everything on Amazon this time. I had the brown long sleeve shirt that is under the green one. But I got the overalls, green shirt, red boots, gloves and hard hat from Amazon. Altogether I spent $80. The belt I already had. It came with a dress I got previously that really doesn't need a belt. |
| This is generally what the janitors in VCD look like. The colors vary. In the map VCD: Santa's Rampage, the boots and gloves and hat are red. The gloves also have white stripes.  |  |
The first item to show up were the gloves. When I ordered them, they were labeled as red. There were 2 in the pack. When they got here, they actually were hot pink. I mean obviously really, really hot pink. They are real rubber industrial gloves. I tried searching online for how to dye them. All resources said it was not possible. I started thinking about it, and remembered watching videos of people dying synthetic wigs by spraying them down with rubbing alcohol then coloring them with sharpie. The theory is that the rubbing alcohol breaks down the outer layer a bit so it can hold the ink.
So I thought why not try it with the gloves? I went and got several red sharpies and 91% isopropyl alcohol and got to it. It worked a charm.
So I thought why not try it with the gloves? I went and got several red sharpies and 91% isopropyl alcohol and got to it. It worked a charm.
 | I then added white 1/2 inch white duct tape for the stripes. I like the way they turned out. The only real down side is that every time I put them on my hands turn pink. My guess is the rubbing alcohol made them permeable. If anyone decides to try this technique, do not try to use them afterwards for thier intended use. They would not be a very effective barrier against chemicals or toxins. The other thing is close up you can definitely tell I colored them with a pen. I think next time I will try putting it into a spray bottle with the alcohol. Try to get a more even coat. |
The next thing I worked on was the belt. It was about an inch too small for me. So I decided to remove the middle tine thingy and glue it to the outer part of the belt buckle to give me some more room. That worked great. However when I put it on over the overalls, it didn't really fit. Much less have room for the accoutrments that will need to be clipped to it. This stymied me for a while. I tried looking for a new belt. Belts are expensive. And small. Even extra large was too small. The cheapest new one I found was $40. And that was a men's belt. I could not find a single womens belt to fit me. Then this Wednesday I was waiting to start a job interview, and it came to me. I could cut my existing belt in the sides, add eyelets and tie it together. Then I can just hide the holes with the clippy stuff.
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I also made a cover for the buckle out of 1/2 inch EVA foam. Then I rubbed it all down with brushed iron gilders wax to make it closer to the correct color. So now, belt sorted.
So the next thing I tackled was the boots. While they are red, they were plain. If you look at the janitor's boots, he has silver things on them. So I cut 6 elongated rounds out of 6 mm EVA foam. Usually I seal the EVA foam with Plasti-dip. This time it was rainy outside and I didn't want to deal with it, so I sealed them with Mod Podge instead. It worked ok. I wouldn't use it for pieces that could squish. Like armor pieces. They turned out a bit crackley. But as they will be near the floor, I think they will be fine.
So the next thing I tackled was the boots. While they are red, they were plain. If you look at the janitor's boots, he has silver things on them. So I cut 6 elongated rounds out of 6 mm EVA foam. Usually I seal the EVA foam with Plasti-dip. This time it was rainy outside and I didn't want to deal with it, so I sealed them with Mod Podge instead. It worked ok. I wouldn't use it for pieces that could squish. Like armor pieces. They turned out a bit crackley. But as they will be near the floor, I think they will be fine.
 | I also rubbed them with the same brushed iron gilders wax. Then I glued them on with Superglue. See? Not too bad. They are a bit wide, but I think that will be ok. |
The next thing I need to work on are all the clipped thingys and the front pocket. I made an attempt at it last night. And failed miserably. I will take a step back for a bit then try tackling it again.
Overall, so far it looks ok.
Overall, so far it looks ok.
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