I am incredibly proud of this costume, I realized a character I have loved since I first picked up the Song of the Lioness Quartet. If you too want to be the Champion of Tortall, the Lioness Rampant, then I hope this walk through is helpful.
You can see more images here, and check out my video tutorial!
This cosplay would not have been possible without the amazing support of my Patrons over on Patreon.
Shirt
The underlayer is a basic peasant style shirt. I didn’t go for historical accuracy, rather more vaguely historical, you can grab the pattern for the shirt in my store. I used an off white linen blend fabric to give it some texture but still keep it breathable under all the layers.
Gambeson
The gambeson was both aesthetic and functional, I needed to padding to help carry the weight of the chainmail, and I needed something to look good between the shirt and the chain. I used purple cotton fabric, with a layer of quilt batting in between. It’s a similar shape to the shirt pattern, though I flared it over the hips as it is a longer line, designed to hit mid thigh. At the shoulder I added a second layer of quilt batting. The edges are finished with bias tape and it snaps together at the front.
Chainmail
I played around with trying to make fake chainmail for this cosplay. But after a lot of spray paint and several failed attempts at getting anything close to what I wanted, I committed – if I want to be a champion I’m going to need to go big. And 7,500 rings later….
I used 14 gauge ½ inch internal diameter rings from the Ring Lord, in gold anodized aluminum. This was much easier to work with than steel, and had the necessary color without me having to worry about paint. I needed about 7,500 rings, or 7 lbs of rings. There online calculator will give you a pretty accurate number of rings. I chose to use a smaller gauge which made the rings a touch easier to bend and a wider internal diameter so I would needed fewer rings. Overall this gives a very wide and loose chain, so I wouldn’t recommend this if you are actually planning on getting hit by a sword.
Vambrace
I made decorative vambraces rather than full length chainmail sleeves, you can guess why…. I used EVA foam wrapped in worbla, with the raised designed made in a second layer of worbla. I then spray painted them gold and added the weathering/patina in darker acrylic paints. These were then glued directly to pleather bracers with E6000 glue. The bracers lace together.
Necklaces
The pregnancy charm necklace was made of sculpey carved with runes based on norse runes. This was then painted bronze, with lowlights made with black acrylic, and strung on a piece of black cording.
The ember stone necklace was made out of cast resin. The silicone mold for the resin was made from a large crystal I had on hand. The resin was colored with orange inks, and iridescent powder. I left a hole in the resin to insert a small LED light. The cap is made out of EVA foam painted silver, with a whole to fit the screw cap from the LED light. This is then strung on a chain.
Lightning
The blade was based off a wooden sword I found at a renaissance fair, I sanded the blade smoother and used gesso (and additional sanding) to smooth it further before painting it silver and using rub n buff to add highlighting.
The hilt was reshaped to be thinner and more realistic, and then smoother in the same way as the blade before painting. I decided to go with black because it seemed more dramatic and hid the blemished batter, as well as gave good contrast to the blade. The grip was made by wrapping it in EVA foam and then in pleather to give an even tapered finished.
The pommel was made of two sections of PCV pipe that screw together to allow me to access the LED light I was putting inside. I used two large rhinestone gems with the backs removed and replaced the iridescent film to create the crystal. The edges were made with a combination of EVA foam and worbla, smoothed with gesso. I also added some extra iridescent film to diffuse the light from the LED.
Shield
The shield was made from foam core that I served and then covered in worbla to stabilize. The raised edge was made from EVA foam, and the back was covered with black cotton to hide the less than smooth side… The straps were made of brown pleather loops and glued directly to the back, one has snaps to allow me get it on and off more easily over the vambraces.
The shield was smoothed with Flexbond, and then painted with acrylic paint, silver for the edges with rub and buff used to add the weathering, and red for the interior. The Lioness was done in exquisite detail by the amazing Sour Fruit Junkie with gold, brown and yellow acrylic. The whole thing was finished with a clear coat spray.
Finishing Touches
The belt and frog were purchased from Dark Knight Armories. I wore a pair of brown workers gloves along with the bracers.
The wig was the Scyla wig in Copper Red from Epic Cosplay Wigs. I styled it into two warrior braids, and a low bun, then I pulled down some tendrils of hair to cover the hairline. I would have gone with my natural hair had it still been red or a shorter wig but I already had this one on hand for another cosplay.
At the conventions I wore purple FreshLooks contacts from lens.com.
