Soul Calibur IV - Tira
Photography: Elite Cosplay
Ring blade: Azure Props
Awards: Anime Expo 2015 - 3rd Place overall
Tira was a deceivingly challenging project which took nearly every skill that I had learned thus far to complete. This costume though debuted at Anime Expo 2015 continued to see improvements until 2016 in which I took photos with the amazing photography duo at Elite Cosplay!
Materials used were lambskin leather, cotton velvet, faux suede, and worbla. Many armor and accessory details were sculpted, then later cast in plastic, painted, and attached to the costume.
How it was made
The wig is made from a short white base wig with wig fibers sewn in for the colored streaks. The pigtails are made from carved and braided furniture foam with embedded wire, covered in wig fiber, and held in place by wire inserted into a worbla understructure inside of the wig.
The cat skulls, foot armor, belt buckle, bones, and raven skulls were made by sculpting them first in monster clay, then molding and casting them in resin. Some pieces were cold casted using aluminum powder, while others were painted to match. Detailing/distressing was added with acrylic paint. Finally, the neck and shorts triangle details were added by cutting the prongs off of pyramid studs, then gluing them onto strips of fabric, which were cut flush to the stud to appear as if they were suspended from the garment.
The blue shorts, sleeves, and boots are made from a metallic lambskin leather— which included a lycra lining in the shorts and partially in the sleeves for effect and comfort. The bodice is made from a cotton velvet, piped with a thin lambskin leather, and lined. To achieve the distressing a belt sander was used on the bodice and purple scarf. Purple and forest green lambskin was used for the belting and cotton velvet for additional details on the belt.
This costume has sported two different ring blades, neither made by me. The first was “Azi Dahaka”, made as a stage only prop by I Like Donuts Cosplay and the second was “Eisern Drosel” made by Azure Props.
