Twi'lek Pam

Nice start on the mask! In addition to the suggestions made by Nefthys, I would add that the eyes and nose openings look a bit oversized, and the "cheekbone" structure needs to be more dominant. Remember, the game version of the mask is quite flat, while the COTF version is much more sculpted. When we sculpted Scott's mask, it was a real pain to make the eyes and nose symmetrical... but it's worth it to keep working on the details until you're happy with the results. If a family member announces that you made a creepy skull-thing, then you know that you're on the right track! Pam

I think half the fun of costume making is to have an eclectic variety of costumes on the to-do list, so you never get bored. Happy costuming, and we'll be looking forward to seeing some build threads! Pam

Oh my goodness, you must have posted your pictures while I was away from the forum last year. I missed seeing them before. Nice work! I do highly recommend Reel Creations. It's good stuff! Pam

Impressive... most impressive! Since the shoulder pieces stick up so high, I think everyone but Wookies should be okay. Chewie will need neck armor around that costume!

Hi, Nice job on the leatherwork! At this time that version is not an approved 501st costume. Darth Krayt is an approved character, however, which means that the costume COULD potentially be approved, provided that: 1. You can provide a full 360 view of the outfit, so you can prove what the front AND the back should look like. 2. You make a costume that matches the references! I haven't read the Legacy comics in a while, so I can't remember how many images there might be of that particular outfit. The main difficulty with comic costumes is usually finding consistent full body shots of both the front and the back. Often we see only the front, or only the upper body, and cannot prove what the entire costume looks like, or the details change drastically from one issue (or even panel) to the next. But, whether it can be approved or not, as I always say... if you really like that costume, make it for your own enjoyment, not because some group may or may not approve it sometime down the line! Pam

Hi, When I'm heading to a local event I carry my lekku in a large pillowcase, mainly to keep them clean. When I'm traveling with them over longer distances I put them in my suitcase, with the head of the lekku near the handle so they're at the top of the suitcase, and I tuck my clothes around the headpiece to keep it in place. They've traveled back and forth across the country quite a few times that way, and they're in better shape than my poor beat-up suitcase at this point! To store the lekku, I put them in a big cardboard box with a layer of pillow stuffing on the bottom to protect the rounded shape of the lekku, and I put a handful of pillow stuffing in the head area as well, just to protect the forehead area from folding over due to gravity and getting a crease. Pam

Hi, Either of these wigs would be fine. The one on the bottom looks like it would be a better quality. The one on the top looks a bit rough in texture, which I've found tends to lead to a lot of tangles and frustration! Pam

I've written and rewritten dozens of CRL pages over the past six years as each new round of legion leadership wanted things redone their own way. First it's a bullet list written this way, then it's a paragraph format, then it's back to bullet lists with modified wording; first it's written in forum format, then web page format, then change all the text over to wiki coding. First the pictures are posed this way, then change it to that way, then change it again to detail shots on a white background. First add text to all of the pictures, then take the text back off all the pictures; not to mention the frustration of begging repeatedly for photos that models wait months or even years to take. I've given up an immense amount of my time to working on the CRL, and spent so many countless hours answering so many hundreds of costuming PM's and emails that I rarely get to work on or finish costumes of my own anymore. By accepting the DL position, I give up much of my free time in order to help others better enjoy their free time. It isn't fun, it's often frustrating, and sometimes I wonder why I do it. Repeated disparaging comments about my sense of responsibility don't help at all. If my sense of responsibility was so dismal, would I have finished the text and repeated revisions for 32 CRL entries, and the photos for 14 of them, with another 7 well on their way toward completion? Quite frankly, I have never felt comfortable with this Sith Acolyte thread so I have avoided posting in it. By becoming a "you don't get approved until you finish the CRL" ultimatum, this costume changed the tone of the Flagship forum. We've never dealt with that before. Plus, there was an active group working on this CRL while others were completely ignored, so I've spent my time working on a couple CRL entries that nobody else is working on while a group effort was making great progress here. Because this CRL was required by the LMO as a special case, I feel that he needs to be the one to approve it. Well, technically he approves all of them when we feel that they're finished, but this one needs an approval earlier in the process. Last week when the text appeared to be near completion, I sent both a PM and an email to Muppet, asking him to come check the text and give suggestions or approval. I told him that the text has my approval, though I question the part about the red sleeve stripes being sewn on instead of using dye or paint. That doesn't look accurate to me. I then went on a nice, much needed vacation with my husband to Disneyland. I returned this week to find that my email had bounced back because of a full mailbox, and the PM has not yet been read. The LMO job is a massive undertaking with people all over the world demanding his attention every day, and he simply needs time to get caught up. Since my return, I have answered 137 costuming emails (yes, I did the math), 16 PM's, and I haven't turned my computer off for the last three days because I have so many forum windows open for threads (including this one) that I want to reply to but hadn't yet found the time. I'm doing the best I can, and I'm sure Muppet is as well, so please be nice. Pam

Just's a head's up... I'm moving this thread to the Arica forum, rather than the forum intended for Mara's black jumpsuit. Pam

Hi, I'm afraid those wouldn't work. Ideally, Mara doesn't wear any shoes at all with this costume. The point of allowing the boots or sandals is to give a chance to protect a girls's feet while out and about at conventions or events. The crochet... I'm not sure what they are called... would not serve that purpose at all, and don't look like any reference images we've seen for footwear in Jabba's palace. For a barefoot look without the truly bare feet, there's always options like this, trimmed down so they're not so visible: http://stickysandals.com/disposables.htm The preferred footwear would be sandals like those Mara is already shown with: Or sandals like those worn by Oola or Lyn Me. Or, in a pinch, Slave Leia style boots, in black. Pam

Welcome, Trenton. I think a one inch heel is indeed fairly standard, and would be fine for a Traya costume. Pam

The general rule is that you can wear prescription glasses while trooping, but you need to take them off for your official membership pictures. Glasses do detract from the look of costumes since you don't see anyone in Star Wars with them, so a lot of people prefer to wear contacts, wear something that hides the glasses, or go without... but, on the other hand, some folks do wear their glasses while trooping. Pam

I really don't have much to offer beyond "go with what you think looks right to you." This is a territory that not many have entered, and I don't have any personal experience or the wisdom of others to offer you. I'm pleased to see you going the extra mile on your costume; make it a choice that you personally will be happy with! Pam

Here's a trick for application of the piping that lets you add the line to a pre-made shirt without having to add a seam there. First, put on the shirt and armor and figure out where the line needs to go. Chalk it in, or mark with safety pins so you'll know where the line goes after taking off the shirt. Fold the fabric on that line, and stick a length of piping cord in the fold. (Piping cord goes on the back side of the fabric.) Pin the fabric close against the cord, or use a washable/removable fabric tack glue or tape to hold it in place while you sew. Use a foot on the sewing machine that lets you get in close against the piping, and sew a line close along the cord. Finish the edges, and you've got a piped line along the front of the shirt. Granted, that's the quick and dirty way to do it. It's more professional to sew a line of actual piping into the shirt, but since the edges are hidden behind the cape and it's not a major detail, I'd be just as content with the easy way. You can get the fabric cording, or premade piping at most stores that sell sewing supplies. Pam

Most of the folks I've talked to wore underarmor or something similar under their hakama, to match the tight fitting look of the reference images. Since the hakama covers the top of the boots there is no EXACT height that they need to be, but I can say that short boots would not be acceptable. Clothing moves as we do, wind flutters the fabric, and Revan's not supposed to show off his sexy ankles as he's moving about. Reference image: CRL image: Pam

Hi guys, YOU are the CRL team for this character. While I and others may hold titles in the detachment, who else could possibly know the costume better than those who are striving to create it? In the six years that I've been working on the CRL project, there have been two distinct situations. First, there have been the characters who nobody really gave a rip about creating a CRL entry for them. For those, I wrote the entries myself (typically after requests for help went unanswered), asked the LMO to check the writing over, and it was done. For others, there was a person or a group in the detachment who really cared about the character and getting a CRL entry written for them. Those people developed the standards together, debated a while to figure out all the details, and when it looked like everything had been figured out I took what they had written and converted it to the format required by whatever CRL display system we were using at the time. The LMO checked it, and once again it was done. That team effort has worked out really well over the years. (Though I must admit to going nearly postal when a team writing effort led to a long debate over the proper internationally recognizable name for a certain shade of red!) Honestly, I'm still holding out hope for some better reference images, so we can have more certainty on some of the details. I've been searching the internet, looking through screen grabs of the trailers, and studying the high-rez Jedi images to see what similarities and differences there are with the acolytes. I don't feel like we can make a solid call on some pieces yet, though that kind of uncertainty hasn't stopped us from just doing the best we could with other costumes over the years. The simple fact of costuming is that it's sometimes pretty much impossible to figure out all of the details, and what we do know tends to change as we glean details from from one reference to the next. One thing I did with other CRL entries over the years was that I included an image or two with the description of each piece. (Typically the sharpest and most detailed image I could find of that one piece of the costume.) This allowed me to check my words against the picture one piece at a time, and also let the LMO compare them for a faster approval of the CRL text. When they don't have to flip back and forth between the text and images scattered about in another window, it helps streamline the process. You may, or may not be interested in trying this out with the acolyte standards. You can see a couple samples of this here, and here... viewtopic.php?f=73&t=1518 viewtopic.php?f=89&t=1918 Pam

Welcome to the forum. I see you've already discovered the greatest danger of joining the costuming clubs: Once you get one costume, getting more of them quickly becomes an addiction! Pam

Quoted for truth. Thanks for sharing; I'm really enjoying this thread! Pam

Congratulations, and welcome aboard! Pam

Do you have a picture of the miniature? They tend to have low detail and don't always match the other references, but from time to time they can serve as potential references. One way or the other, this will be a tough costume to figure out since the references are so scattered! Pam

Unfortunately, no. The fellow no longer works for the company, but he said he will try to get some images from a friend. I know the images have to be out there because we've seen bits and pieces of them... it's just a matter of finding someone who has the images, and permission to share them! Pam

Hi everyone, I've been putting in a lot of time behind the scenes lately, but I wanted to give an update on some of the changes and plans that are in the works. First off, I would like to thank and congratulate our XO for this year, Kevin, who goes by kimballk here on the forum. He has been serving as the detachment's membership officer of late, and will be adding another job to his duties. Thanks, Kevin! Katie/Aysel has agreed to stay on as one of our costume mentors, and she will be managing the detachment's facebook stuff as well. Michael/ionicdesign has agreed to help us out as webmaster when emergencies arise. He's got a lot of jobs across the legion and can't work here full time, but he's been a big help here on Flagship. If anyone else has plenty of experience with phpBB forums, or knows someone who is willing to help out, please let me know. It's always nice to have a backup plan when things go wrong! Some of my top goals for the coming weeks include: - Create a new reference image gallery. Our current gallery crashed almost a year ago, and multiple attempts to bring it back to life haven't worked. It's been heavily modified over the years, it's quite old, and I think it's just so outdated that it's better to start over from scratch with a clean, updated gallery. We cannot add any new images, but we CAN still view images in the old gallery, so I'll leave it in place so the links all over the forum will still work. Along with moving the images to a new gallery, I'm also hoping to collect more reference images for some of the characters who don't have many references yet. - Update the "Links and Info" threads across the forum. Some of them are outdated, and none have been created at all for some of the newer characters yet. I think they're useful, and need some TLC. - Keep working on the CRL. It's a neverending job, but we're making great progress. - Organize a run of t-shirts. - When somebody posts a question or request on the forum, make sure it gets answered! - Update the detachment's roster at the local and legion level to stay up to date with the legion's requirements. - Create a forum and start discussions about Savage Opress. The character has been a hot potato, and after being tossed back and forth between Flagship and the Sith Lords detachment for some time, he has finally landed here. We're going to represent him, so it's time to make him a home! - Makes sure our standards threads match the legion posted standards, and include links to the main site, since it has pdf capabilities. And, there's plenty more.... but that's a good start! Pam

The colors are beautiful, and I love seeing things like this come together! The color gradation on the inner pieces is fantastic. I'm wondering/worried that an approval might be held up by the lack of gradation on the outer piece, though. There's a more abrupt transition between the brighter red on top and the darker color at the bottom. Is that one of the things you were hoping to airbrush? Someday I really, really want to try some ombre dying techniques. When I do, I'll know who to ask for advice! ::bounces:: I'm gonna have a Dark Force Witch model for the CRL! Woohoo!! Pam

I put in a request for some high resolution render files... now waiting. I hit a wall initially, but have been offered some hope that some images might become available. Keeping my fingers crossed. Pam

Hi everyone, Just a head's up: we've been under another spam bot registration attack lately. Our forum's bot countermeasures haven't been able to stop them all, so the detachment officers have been checking over the dozens of new registrations and activating only those accounts that appear genuine. If the new registration is for username "Darth Fluffy" out of Florida, it's probably a real costumer... while "Fruinuouxuxub" out of China probably is not. Hopefully we've managed to catch all of the real registrations, and booted the spam bots. We did have a few bot posts over the past week, but we've caught and deleted them asap. If you attempt to register on our forum and your account is not activated within a day, or if you know of somebody with this problem, please let me know at Mitji@aol.com and I'll see about getting things fixed for you. We're trying to delete only the spam bot registrations, but I'm concerned that a genuine registration might be missed along the way. The best way to ensure that new registrations get their accounts activated is to make sure the user name LOOKS like a user name, and not some random bot gibberish! Thanks Pam