I often find myself plotting new cosplays, buying all the materials to make them and then getting carried away by other projects before I actually manage to go back to the original plan. This was the case with my Raven Branwen cosplay. As soon as I saw the character I knew that I wanted to make it and I bought the materials. However, I didn’t start it until over a year after.
How I made it
Raven was a complicated build. The fabric parts of this cosplay are technically easy but it has lots of details on it that can be tricky.
The skirt is a pleated skirt that I made with black cotton and lined with dark red cotton. The gi or top is also made with the same materials. So are the boot covers. I also handpainted the fabric of the obi or sash.
The overskirt fabric was a dark red pleather which I actually had leftover from my Lady Sif cosplay. The edges feature black bias tape and it is all assembled with velcro. Other details include trims, rooster feathers and foam.
Finally, the trully difficult part, which are the helmet, gauntlets and the weapons, I made with C65 foam airbrushed with acrylic paints. You can see more of this process on my article how to make armour pieces with foam. The lenses of the helmet actually light up as I constructed a simple LED light circuit for them which I covered with Worbla Transpa Art.
For the wig I layered a Lolita Wig 293A from Uniqso to give it more volume and I used Sweety Devil Red contact lenses for her red eyes.
Wearing my Raven Branwen Cosplay
I chose to wear Raven in a competition in the UK. Lately I don’t enter many competitions anymore but as this one was local I gave it a try. I got a special mention from the jury but nothing else. Although I love competing I don’t seem to be very lucky on stage.
I never got many pictures back at the con but a few months later I had the opportunity to shoot with amazing photographer Ian Moore.
Funny story behind the photoshoot. We were supposed to meet on a Sunday for a different shoot with another cosplay. However, we mixed the dates and Ian showed up a day early. As my other costume was unfinished and I didn’t want him to go home without shooting I hurried up and rescued Raven.
We shot in a wonderful distressed garden with ruins that could have been one of the secret passages to the relics in the series. It was very cold and it was raining. As you can see I took many photos with my cloak on. We couldn’t stay long as it was so cold my fingers and toes hurt badly, same as Ian’s. But we managed to take some amazing shots. Some more to come!
Do you like my cosplay? Remember you can support me on Ko-fi, there are no subscriptions and you will help me create more cosplays and more tutorials to share with you! Also, if you are looking for patterns and cosplay related downloadables make sure to check my collection!
