Darth Nihilus COTF - WIP

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi guys,

 

I just started researching and working on my boyfriends' Nihilus COTF costume for 501st approval.

 

There is still something that puzzles me: Just how high should the split in the outer skirt be? On the picture it could be like 50 cm high, or it could go all the way up. Is there any specific measurement required or is it up to the creativity of the costumer to decide this length? My boyfriend thought it could be a hakama (martial arts pants), but I'm not sure myself. (and making a hakama seems to be very hard..)

 

Nora

[Twi'lek Pam]

Hi guys,

 

I just started researching and working on my boyfriends' Nihilus COTF costume for 501st approval.

 

There is still something that puzzles me: Just how high should the split in the outer skirt be? On the picture it could be like 50 cm high, or it could go all the way up. Is there any specific measurement required or is it up to the creativity of the costumer to decide this length? My boyfriend thought it could be a hakama (martial arts pants), but I'm not sure myself. (and making a hakama seems to be very hard..)

 

Nora

 

As long as you achieve the look of the references, it doesn't matter how the skirts are sewn. Our interpretation was that the split should go all of the way up. Both the inner and outer robes of Scott's Nihilus are completely open in the front, and the fabric overlaps on each layer to close the gaps and provide a stronger layered look.

 

http://www.chucrew.com/nihilussite/robes.htm

 

Pam

[Guest Anonymous]

Hello,

 

Sorry for the slow response. Thanks for the help, I decided to get a full split.

 

Here are some pictures of my progress

 

All fabric (except for inner tunic) is silk noil. I was inspired by Scott's costume.

 

(oh and... the thing at the back is an Alien. xD )

 

 

Skirt 1 prototype. Have swapped rope for elastic and skirt is now cut off to the right length. Will do weathering at the very end phase of the costume.

 

Skirt 2 is also cut off and has an elastic waistband.

 

 

First my mask looked too 'kitty' (and wide) so I decided to lower the sides a bit, more like the KOTOR version - although, the second reference picture shows this type of horns too (!)

 

 

A little try-out... I plan to replace the silver elastic with something less visible and have it run at the behind of the jewel.

 

 

I got a ninja style mask to have a good view of the surroundings of the face instead of this loose hanging fabric.

 

The shown fabric is just a tryout piece, it is too small to be representative.

 

 

'Bump' in fabric is caused by not pulling the fabric down enough. Absolutely no problem, will not happen any further.

 

Rivets for the belt. Forget the fabrics that lie under them; I wanted to use these for the inner tunic but I found wool too warm altogether and fake leather is not allowed (I asked the costume judge).

That did confuse me a bit though; 'Similar to Darth Vader' ... What is more DV than leather?

 

Tunics concept... Four strips of fabric of the inner tunic (will use a stretchy cotton for that now), so it looks like there are two ninja jackets underneath (think Anakin / Obi Wan front of tunics).

Or... Are only two strips allowed?

 

 

Sleeves. As you can see there is batting sewn inside.

 

Decided to try them on myself and see how they look in the typical DN pose..

 

 

 

 

Shirt shown under belt will not be used for the costume. There is also just one skirt showing (just to get the idea).

 

More rivets in the back... What you see on top of the leather is simply the top of clothing rivets. I painted them black. At the back of the belt I used the complete system for easy dressing.

And those funny little wires are pieces of elastic thread. These are used to keep the belts flat as they lay down, for easy packing. And as the belt is worn it is nice and tight.

I also used a system of velcro at the front (which you can't see). I felt glue was too permanent and I was afraid I might spill some on the big part of the leather.

 

Close-up of velcro system;

 

 

Closure part at the back;

 

Back side.

 

 

And some other things:

 

 

Biker boots without straps (cut them off simply) and medieval gloves. Both made out of leather.

 

 

 

Well, that's all for now.

 

I'm brainstorming a bit about the capes... I am considering Pam/ Scott's method, though I personally would like to have the capes even wide... I'm thinking about cutting a strip of fabric in two and add the sides to the capes, like this. |/| + |_| = /|_|\

And then have the seam lines start under the mask. But I am not sure I will have enough fabric for that, considering I need to make the outer tunic yet and my two heaps of fabric have a slightly different colour of black. :-/

 

 

@ Pam / Scott: Did you pull the fabric of the outer tunic together at the shoulders or did you leave it the way it was? I'm thinking it might simply slip off the shoulders... ?

I tried making a ''tunnel'' at the top of the shoulders but that looked rather ugly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(@moderators; can someone have a look at the annoying 'flashing' thing that happens when I am typing longer parts of text?)

 

I'd love to have any comments/suggestions etc.

[Twi'lek Pam]

I must admit, I'm rather fond of seeing Nihilus with a bow on his forehead!

 

It looks like you've made a lot of progress on the costume. I'm not entirely sure of how to answer your questions because I'm not sure what you're asking. I read them and read them again, and couldn't get a solid understanding of the questions. (I blame the cold medicine for turning off too many of my brain cells... my students have shared yet another bug with me!)

 

 

Thank you for saying something about the flickering problem. That issue has nearly driven me to tears several times now, but since I was the only one complaining about it, it was assumed that it was just a problem with my computer and not the forum itself. I'll let our webmaster know that you're having problems with it, too. It's frustrating!

 

Pam

[Guest Anonymous]

I should have used a pink polkadot ribbon after all, shouldn't I

 

The concept of using strips of fabric to create another jacket look for the inner tunic:

 

 

I'll be making a col shirt underneath these strips (of that same fabric as the tunic) to not have any skin shown.

 

 

 

Very schematic drawing of the capes with cutting and seaming patterns...

 

 

 

There will be no horizontal seam on the back as I can simply expand the length of the cape. ( S0 )

 

 

 

Oh and if the flickering thing annoys you try typing your text in a textwriting program such as Word and then copy-paste.

 

I hope you understand this ^^

 

 

And if more people have ideas/critique/comments etc feel free to do so... I need to make this costume up to standards so everything has to be perfect.

[Guest Anonymous]

So far and so good!!!!!

good work!!!!

hope to see the end soon....

i have finish my KOTOR version and i'm working at the COTF....

Good luck!!!!

[Twi'lek Pam]

Oh my goodness, you managed to make Nihilus look even more adorable that time! Look at that cute little round face... I love it!

 

I see what you're saying now. (Pictures really can be worth a thousand words!) As long as you get the correct look, you are more than welcome to experiment with different ways of achieving it. Fewer layers of fabric is always a good thing!

 

Pam

[Tags]

Hmm I dunno Chibi Nihilius is pretty cute. ;>

[Guest Anonymous]

[slightly irritated comment removed]

 

 

Base for the outer hood / cape, and inner tunic base is shown also (made a wider one today). Edited the ninja mask a little; I added fabric on the down side so there will be no skin showing.

Will add see-through 'blackout' fabric on eyes part.

[Twi'lek Pam]

No fair sending mixed signals. Ya can't say something about pink pokadot ribbon and make us assume that you're enjoying the kidding around, and then say in your next post that you're irritated by it. If you don't want us to kid in your thread, then say so. I'll still think Chibi/Playskool Nihilus is adorable, but I won't admit it online anymore if you don't like it. I come from a household where we joke about Nihilus all the time. My husband makes me laugh every time he announces that he's going to put on his Nihilus skirt and sunbonnet. We mean no offense when we joke around; we're simply having fun and not taking any of this too seriously. We're grownups playing dressup, afterall.

 

I've been known to use laundry pins when assembling costumes, too, though I've developed a greater fondness for binder clips lately. Those things reeeaally hang on!

 

Pam

[Tags]

Hmm at the Steel City Con, my first troop, I got chibied by an artist... Looks cool, and too damn cute. ;> As for joking, hell were going to try and make a friend the chubby rancor keeper, if that isn't funny what is. It's still possible to poke fun and respect the hard work someone puts into a costume.. After all most of them are held together with spit, rubber bands, and happy thoughts... ;> Heh my face fell off at SCC... ;>

[Guest Anonymous]

It bothers me that this is the forum for the experts but I get little critique on what I'm doing. I'm trying to work to the standards. The standards take my creativity away and that's why I need the critique more than ever. I'm happy when someone has posted here but then I only see a joke and am like; why was I posting the costume updates again when the only response is purely a joke?

 

Also, I was angry at the moment I posted due to something not related to the forum. Sorry.

 

I need some time to regain my spirits as some things haven't worked out the way I liked and I don't know how to fix it. I may have to remake the inner tunic with its sleeves. There are 5 'bars' at the one front of one sleeve and on the other there are 6. When I sewed it all together it got too wide at the shoulders, I'm afraid someone will see that when the costume is done.

[Tags]

For my part Nihilius was particularly taxing, being that it was my first costume, the hardest part I found working out the hood and horns to look right... The inner tunic was not much better. At any rate, when it's all said and done it comes down to the opinions of your peers, so exactly what is right and what is wrong leave allot of room for interpretation.

 

I don't recall what pattern I used for my inner tunic, how ever for the sleeves, I simply laid out two sheets of fabric and sewed some batting onto one side, then attached the other sheet and adding the lines of stitching at regular intervals for the quilting effect, as for the shoulders well one trick we used was to measure the length of my arm while it was bent at the elbow, and I added some stirrups made from elastic in the ends to keep the sleeves from riding up.

 

Personally I found open front tunics for the inner and outer tunics to be the best bet, much easier to slide on and off, adding some ties will help keep the tunic closed, perhaps some Velcro as well. The obi will keep things closed as well. The hood and horns are the toughest part I found. I used an old East German hat to hold my horns and secure my tunic, I want to refine the hood but the build I have now feels more durable. I used the flaps on the sides of the hat to tuck the hood in to keep it close to my face, and my mask actually sits over the outside of the hat with the strap over the flaps. The hat keeps the hood in place and well tucked behind the mask, so the mask is actually free from the hood.

 

As to my belt, well I used two pieces of leather, and placed black rivets along the middle of the center leather strap. With snaps in the back to keep it tight, the back is buried under my capes so no one will ever see it. The skirts were the easiest part, I just took to looooong lengths of cloth and placed a tube in the top to house and elastic cord.

[Twi'lek Pam]

It bothers me that this is the forum for the experts but I get little critique on what I'm doing. I'm trying to work to the standards. The standards take my creativity away and that's why I need the critique more than ever. I'm happy when someone has posted here but then I only see a joke and am like; why was I posting the costume updates again when the only response is purely a joke?

 

Also, I was angry at the moment I posted due to something not related to the forum. Sorry.

 

I need some time to regain my spirits as some things haven't worked out the way I liked and I don't know how to fix it. I may have to remake the inner tunic with its sleeves. There are 5 'bars' at the one front of one sleeve and on the other there are 6. When I sewed it all together it got too wide at the shoulders, I'm afraid someone will see that when the costume is done.

 

 

Thank you for the explanation. This is one of those common no-win situations for me. While we might be experienced with making the EU costumes, we are by no means experts, nor are we mind readers. One person will post their progress pictures here, and get mad at us when we have the nerve to critique their work. I end up having to deal with "how dare you people pick on my costume when it's not even finished yet! You're ruining everyththing!" messages. Other people post progress pictures, sometimes every five minutes of their build, and they get mad at us if we don't analize every stitch for them. Then there are those who fall somewhere in between those extremes. (And don't get me started on the heartbreaking extremes of "The standards are evil!" vrs "You people aren't working on the standards fast enough!")

 

We simply don't know what people want until they tell us. Sometime we just try to be friendly, so people who are still basically strangers to us won't think that we're ignoring their thread, or just because we really don't have much else to say yet. Sometimes I really get burned out by the fact that it's a 50-50 shot that I'll say what people want me to say, and it takes them getting mad at me before they let me know what they want to hear. It really does happen a lot more than I like. I answered each of your direct questions as best I could. Beyond that, it would help if you would tell us what you need a critique for when you want one. Otherwise, we just don't know.

 

It took nearly two years for my husband and I finish our Nihilus and Visas costumes, and that includes quite a bit of pulling stitches and trying over and over agin to get things right. There were times when Scott and I got frustrated, so we put them away for a while. If a costume because stressful and not fun, then it's time to step back for a while and take a breather. This is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby, afterall. It might take longer that way, but I think the results are more rewarding in the end.

 

Pam

[Guest Anonymous]

I understand now, I needed some time.

 

 

Here are some pictures of my progress:

 

 

Need to finish the seams at the wrist and add some pushing buttons to keep the upper tunic in place.

 

 

I'm modelling it here with the actual gloves. Boyfriend's arms and shoulders are bigger.

The shirt is from tricot / lycra and the sleeves are from 'microtex' with cotton lining and fiberfill inside.

[Guest Anonymous]

The costume is done, awaiting approval

Approval pictures should be on their way to the Costume Judge.

 

 

 

 

 

I replicated the capes idea from Scottrooper It's also the same fabric (silk noil).

I feel the ragged edges look a little on the simple side & the obi tends to curl up behind the belt, so I might have to replace that one with an obi with leather inside or something to keep it stiffer, if necessary But this is the costume, for now. We might add a Nihilus saber in the future when there's money for that kind of stuff

I hope covertec clips are allowed when trooping?

[Scottrooper]

 

VERY Nicely done!

 

Advice on the obi, don't put leather in there, that area gets hot already. Instead, put a piece of stiff batting / interfacing in the obi. It holds it stiff, without adding weight or retaining a lot of heat.

 

Definately add some more weathering. Hit that sucker with the cheese grater around the bottom edges of the cape, skirts, and tunics. It'll rough it up nicely. (a handy hint I was given, get it wet first and the fibers won't go everywhere.)

 

The cover tec clip is fine for trooping, but take it off for your submission pics. Also, set the Maul saber aside for the submission pics.

 

When this shows up on the Approval thread at the legion level, it'll be one of the easiest reviews for Nihilus.