Hey guys, this is my first post here, I just got back from FanExpo in Toronto this past weekend where I debuted my recently finished Rorschach costume. There were a few other Rorschach costumers as I expected, but I did get a lot of positive reaction to the effort I put into mine, which apparently it shows compared to others. I modelled my costume after the scene in chapter VI page 24 when he throws the murdered dog at Gerald Grice and stares down at him - a particularly menacing shot of our favourite psycho.
Here are some photos snapped outside of the convention centre on Saturday night. I'd like to have gone a few blocks north to downtown where there is a lot more urban decay, graffiti and trash, but we did get some shots that were evocative of Watchmen's New York.
As for the costume construction itself, here is a brief rundown:
- Trench coat from Goodwill, dyed darker brown and removed a couple buttons, and hemmed to knee-length. Splattered with black and brown spraypaint, while the "violent new continent" is red spraypaint.
- Grey pinstripe wool suit from Goodwill, dyed purple (this caused it to shrink, so I cut the sleeves off and pinned them so they just poked out from the sleeves of the trench coat)
- Fedora from thrift store, put a purple ribbon around it, shortened the brim by a couple centimetres
- Brown leather gloves, white scarf from Value Village
- Black leather boots from Value Village, spray painted brown and dirtied up
- Mask was made by wearing black nylons on my head, followed by two layers of opaque white nylons. The black one obscured my face, while the white ones layered up left no black showing. The pattern is just permanent marker. For the record I can see, but not terribly well.
A lot of people commented on how realistic it looked, like I didn't borrow my mother's trench coat and promise to bring it back in pristine condition. It's tricky, but look for a trench coat that has all the right details like the placement of the pockets, buttons, flaps, belt loops, etc, then dye it a darker brown. After that I misted and splattered spray paints on it to grub it up, then took it to the driveway and beat the hell out of it. The neighbours will think you're crazy for attacking a trench coat with a rake and a hoe, but it doesn't make much sense for a nutcase vigilante like Rorschach to have a perfectly clean coat. I used the same methods of weathering on my hat and suit, even lightly misting the mask with some brown and black.
I planned on doing up several more masks that I could switch between, but time ran out for that idea. I think it's pretty much useless to rack your brain over how to make an animated mask like that from the comic, which exists only because of Dr. Manhattan. Just focus on the rest of the costume, and the mask is actually the easiest. It makes a big difference to actually have the right colours or reasonable alternatives (you can instantly tell who has the "Seriously, who's going to notice" attitude towards their costume). Just don't use a t-shirt, and avoid cutting eyeholes in it to see. Sometimes you have to suffer for your art!
Let me know if there's any other questions. I did it in less than a week an it cost me less than $100.
Holy shit, I haven't been to this thread in months...but you sir, are a badass. Thanks for all the great info too! The costume is amazing.
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That is a really,really nice mask josedacuban! What method did you use to make it? That looks better than some of the professional masks I've seen! Love how you hid the eye-holes.....
You can never say never and never say always.
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. As far as type goes I paid no attention and had no trouble with any of the tights I bought.
