Zaiburst

Costume :	Eric Draven
Variant :	Brandon Lee version
Source :	The Crow
Progress :	Complete
Worn At :	Ayacon 2011

Photos
Information
Comments (15)
Journal (1)

Costume Photos

crow's kiss

hangmans joke

Solace

presenting

Black wings

"I just want him"

I say I'm dead, and I move

Showtime

victims, aren't we all

It can't rain all the time

Reference

Eric in the sun

Costume Information

Description
Introduction: This year marks the 20th anniversary of the original comic of the The Crow by James O'Barr. Not many people know this, but the original comic was written as a means for the writer to deal with the personal tragedy of his fiance being killed by a drunk driver. The tragedy doesn't end there of course, since Brandon Lee, the actor in the film, died during the making of due to a gun malfunction. I loved the movie though when I first saw it in the 90s, very cool character design, and great soundtrack, with a lot of rock undertones. Brandon Lee seemed like a nice guy, quite philosophical. Since I'm also half caucasian and half chinese like him, I thought I could pull it off his look pretty well. I tend to choose cosplays that I think would suit my physical appearance, I think that helps you get an authentic end result. Costume making: The crow: The toughest part of this costume was making the crow. I've never really made any kind of sculpture before, so I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants What I did was buy some wire mesh that I managed shape into the body of the crow, and then 2 more strips for the wings. Using a picture of a real crow with spread wings as the template. I chose to have the wings spread as opposed to a regular perched crow for a more elaborate look. The second stage was the papier mache which I did in 2 layers. One for the main body structure, and the 2nd for texture. I then used black ink to colour the entire bird. The third stage was inserting feathers into the papier mache structure and then supergluing them in there. Again using a real photo reference. Magnets: Among the questions I got asked, was how I was able to attach the crow to my shoulder. Well I had already designed the base of the crow to be able to sit snuggly on my shoulder with some of the wire mesh exposed. I bought 4 neodymium magnets, that I taped the inside of the jacket, and also in the taped wrist segments, so I could transfer the crow to different poses. I was glad to say that the magnets didn't cause any problems at the expo. Since they are very strong magnets I have concerns that metal objects would be flying in my direction, but thankfully not :) Main body: The main body is comprised of a spandex/lycra long sleeve shirt, which bullet hole rips and tears on it. Followed by black tape wound around the stomach and the wrists. The white streaks around the body I found out how to do by pure accident. I originally thought it was some kind of white masking tape, but then by accident the black layer of the tape came away revealing a white fabricy tape, that I'm sure was used in the original. Hair: I bought a rather cheap long hair wig from ebay, and although never done any hair dressing before, I managed to cut it down and thin it out to make it suitable. However it was still quite straight, and since it was a synthetic wig, I used a lot of wet-look gel and used rollers in order to make a lot of it wavey and separated. Face: Quite straight-forward. Coating the face with a couple of layers of white, and then following the reference closely. It helps to merge rather than separate the black with white at the edges to give a subtle grey transition that looks nice. Trousers: Black leather that I bought from ebay, which I then modified by sewing on some metallic buttons. They are slightly larger than the original, but they do the job. Black tape with white is also used on a part of the leg. Trenchcoat: Although this takes up a lot of the costume, the least was done to it. It basically entailed the removal of buttons and straps. Conclusion: This is the biggest cosplay job I've done so far, and I'm grateful for all the compliments and encouragement. It was interesting doing this as my first masquerade, but a lot of fun. I may do it again. "sometimes the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right"

Description

Introduction:

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the original comic of the The Crow by James O'Barr. Not many people know this, but the original comic was written as a means for the writer to deal with the personal tragedy of his fiance being killed by a drunk driver. The tragedy doesn't end there of course, since Brandon Lee, the actor in the film, died during the making of due to a gun malfunction.

I loved the movie though when I first saw it in the 90s, very cool character design, and great soundtrack, with a lot of rock undertones.

Brandon Lee seemed like a nice guy, quite philosophical. Since I'm also half caucasian and half chinese like him, I thought I could pull it off his look pretty well. I tend to choose cosplays that I think would suit my physical appearance, I think that helps you get an authentic end result.

Costume making:

The crow:
The toughest part of this costume was making the crow. I've never really made any kind of sculpture before, so I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants
What I did was buy some wire mesh that I managed shape into the body of the crow, and then 2 more strips for the wings. Using a picture of a real crow with spread wings as the template. I chose to have the wings spread as opposed to a regular perched crow for a more elaborate look. The second stage was the papier mache which I did in 2 layers. One for the main body structure, and the 2nd for texture. I then used black ink to colour the entire bird.
The third stage was inserting feathers into the papier mache structure and then supergluing them in there. Again using a real photo reference.

Magnets:
Among the questions I got asked, was how I was able to attach the crow to my shoulder. Well I had already designed the base of the crow to be able to sit snuggly on my shoulder with some of the wire mesh exposed. I bought 4 neodymium magnets, that I taped the inside of the jacket, and also in the taped wrist segments, so I could transfer the crow to different poses.
I was glad to say that the magnets didn't cause any problems at the expo. Since they are very strong magnets I have concerns that metal objects would be flying in my direction, but thankfully not :)

Main body:
The main body is comprised of a spandex/lycra long sleeve shirt, which bullet hole rips and tears on it. Followed by black tape wound around the stomach and the wrists. The white streaks around the body I found out how to do by pure accident. I originally thought it was some kind of white masking tape, but then by accident the black layer of the tape came away revealing a white fabricy tape, that I'm sure was used in the original.

Hair:
I bought a rather cheap long hair wig from ebay, and although never done any hair dressing before, I managed to cut it down and thin it out to make it suitable. However it was still quite straight, and since it was a synthetic wig, I used a lot of wet-look gel and used rollers in order to make a lot of it wavey and separated.

Face:
Quite straight-forward. Coating the face with a couple of layers of white, and then following the reference closely. It helps to merge rather than separate the black with white at the edges to give a subtle grey transition that looks nice.

Trousers:
Black leather that I bought from ebay, which I then modified by sewing on some metallic buttons. They are slightly larger than the original, but they do the job. Black tape with white is also used on a part of the leg.

Trenchcoat:
Although this takes up a lot of the costume, the least was done to it. It basically entailed the removal of buttons and straps.

Conclusion:
This is the biggest cosplay job I've done so far, and I'm grateful for all the compliments and encouragement. It was interesting doing this as my first masquerade, but a lot of fun. I may do it again.

"sometimes the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right"

Comments

Ooo i remember seeing you!!! Wicked costume, you've done it really well ^_^

by Feather-to-Earth on Wednesday, 27 May, 2009 - 20:29

Congratulations - you are one of the only (if not the only) Eric Draven cosplayers to actually look like the bloody character!

Pleasure to meet you!

by on Wednesday, 27 May, 2009 - 20:40

Thank you both very much. Very nice to meet you too.

by Zaiburst on Wednesday, 27 May, 2009 - 21:08

I loved your costume! And the crow was the perfect touch. Very well done =D
"Is that gasoline I smell?"
XD

by Leonie Heartilly on Thursday, 28 May, 2009 - 00:49

WIN

by sherbetsprite on Tuesday, 2 June, 2009 - 21:16

Awesome cosplay and photos. Haveing the crow was a nice touch and I love the make-up.

by Sephirayne on Thursday, 4 June, 2009 - 22:35

The Crow is one of my all time favourite films I am so gutted I didn't see you at Expo. Great photos you have captured the character perfectly. The crow is a nice addition to the costume.

by Bunni on Thursday, 4 June, 2009 - 22:47

very nicely composed costume. a rarity for the crow.

good job!

by xaerael on Friday, 5 June, 2009 - 12:08

xD Nicely done!
(Y)

by Bambi. on Thursday, 28 January, 2010 - 14:34

Just fantastic!

by FairyPorchQueen on Friday, 29 January, 2010 - 11:51

Amazing make up and overall brilliantly made. Absolutly Ace :D

by gaming_goddess on Saturday, 8 May, 2010 - 10:00

All your cosplays are so well done. *__* adore this.

by SachikoYumi on Tuesday, 20 July, 2010 - 00:11

wow this is awesome! love the crow movie and u pull off eric really well!

by InfiniteJester on Tuesday, 20 July, 2010 - 22:35

Best Eric Draven's I've ever seen!! I think I remember seeing you actually because my mom spotted you and was like "GFJKHFJHFDHFD!! SOMEONE HAS DONE BRANDON JUSTICE!!!!!!!" She's a brandon lee/the crow fangirl

by FuriePhoenix on Sunday, 12 December, 2010 - 20:47

thank you very much :)

by Zaiburst on Monday, 20 December, 2010 - 10:38

Journal

Ayacon 2011 (Posted 28th August 2011)

I wore this costume again for ayacon. I performed some music in it as well (guitar with my friend masa-kun).
I was running out of black tape this time so the wrist parts are not as long as they should be, also didnt have time to fix the 3 buttons to his fly. I went without the trenchcoat this time, and I have to say I was freezing sunday night, but was fun anyway. I'll pop some photos on here soon.