The harsh and unrelenting tundra of a perpetually frozen Colorado calls for harsh and unrelenting fashion statements, and we’re continuing the character customization cornucopia in Patch 1.3.3 „Death & Taxes“ with just shy of two-dozen new options. With Permadeath coming as a feature that you have to enable when starting a new game, there’s no time like the near future to dress up your dolls of doom’s destruction.
Like the Wizard and Knight pieces, we’re again working with renowned post-apocalyptic costume artists to help us design and bring these pieces to digital-life. This patch features new pieces from Dimitry Zaitsev, as well as Oliver Bindel of Aesthetic-Apocalypse.com fame—where they sell post-apoc pieces you can own! In real life! In honor of bringing these new pieces from Oliver into the Wasteland 3 experience, we asked if he’d be amenable to a short interview, and amenable he was!
Q: How did you get into post-apocalyptic costume work?
It all started in 2015 at a large fantasy convention right around the corner in our hometown. There was always a small group of post-apocalyptic larpers who showed their costumes and cars. I was not very familiar with the genre at the time, but I was stunned. It wasn’t something you see every day; the idea was fresh. The first year my wife and I were just visitors, but on the 2nd event I said to my wife this time we will go in costume! People liked our costumes; this was a magical moment and I was addicted. So we started our label „Aesthetic Apocalypse“ to make more and better costumes. Now we don’t make costumes only for ourselves, but sell accessories, weapons, helmets and full costumes for private people as well as for video shoots and now also video games ;). We want to do high class costumes which look like they were right out of a movie. Crafting in the workshop is also a good counterpart to my full-time work as a software developer.
Q: For these helmets, or for any pieces you create, where do you begin? Is it with a specific item you want to incorporate or a more holistic idea?
Usually, I have just a rough idea how it should look at the beginning. I often have one piece I want to use, for example a lamp shade as helmet, the rest is like a puzzle. I have tons of stuff I’ve collected from flea markets and junkyards and I try different parts in various angles and look what fits the best. Sometimes I completely discard a build I was sitting at for hours. I also have lot of unfinished works which wait for the missing piece.
Q: Post-apoc can be approached in a lot of ways, do you have a prevailing theme or story you think about while designing your pieces?
I normally don’t think of existing franchises. I have my own post-apoc setting in mind where the costumes and characters I create begin to live in my imagination. Sometimes I have to do commissioned items that have to fit in a franchise, in this case I have to be close to a theme.
Q: Anything else you want to share with readers?
Crafting post-apoc costumes is not all about “take old clothes, bust it and add some dirt.” Things we normally don’t even notice can be turned into art. It is a wonderful hobby I can recommend to anyone who has a liking for fantasy stuff. Especially if your partner also has fun with it. You can even start in your living room, but be careful, you will become a messy person who collects piles of trash. And also your friends and family will bring you trash. I remember the day my father gave me a rusty bear trap as a birthday gift or friends who throw sawblades into a gift basket.We would be happy if you visit us at our website www.aesthetic-apocalypse.com or on Facebook. We have also an online store where you can buy post-apocalyptic gear like the helmets used in Wasteland 3 as well as some vintage military stuff that can be used as crafting supplies: http://darkfuture.shop/
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions Oliver, we hope everyone loves donning your creations in-game!
