Nefthys

Wow! This is looking fantastic! Really excellent looking mask you have so far. Can't wait to see what this will look like when it's completed! One thing to take into consideration while making your mask is how it will end up being attached to your head. When I sculpted mine I left little, tiny holes in the side where I could feed through thread to sew it to the elastic straps. Another friend of mine just used really strong glue to attach his elastic and had no holes. Up to you how you want to do it, but always a good thing to have in the back of your mind when making a mask. Cheers, Nef

Here is the one my b/f snapped, but it's not a very good one. You can also find some more on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=2307 Cheers, Nef

This whole costume is looking amazing so far! Just love seeing the progress on it! Cheers, Nef

That is looking very good! Great job on the stitching. I always struggle getting a straight line on thicker fabrics and leathers. Cheers, Nef

An obi and some new gloves will certainly be needed. It's hard to tell from that picture, but your "cat ears" may need to be adjusted as well as the cloak knot in the front. Post up some more pictures when you have worked on the costume some more if you want any advice. Looking forward to seeing your progress! Cheers, Nef

Glad I could help! Looking forward to seeing your progress on your Nihilus. Cheers, Nef

It's a shame you won't be able to come out to the Calgary one. Looks like it's going to be a blast! The Edmonton one is run by the same organizers though, and it's already going to be double the size from last years. It is a really great con and I hope you can make it out! I just moved to Edmonton a few weeks ago too, so maybe by the time the Expo comes around I'll be able to show you cool places around the city with the rest of the 501st gang up here. It's also nice to have another Nihilus in the garrison finally too! Cheers, Nef

First off, welcome to the Darth Nihilus section of the Flagship! Being a girl, and therefore shorter then all my male sith lord counterparts, I know how you feel. I kept the same measurements for the belt, the 2" blank, and got a boot with a heel to get some extra height. Knowing that I added some height to my lower half, I wear my belt and obi lower on my body to give the illusion of being taller. I wear the belt very low on my hips, almost around my bottom. My 'skirting' it also super long and goes all the way to the ground to hide my feet entirely. If you add height to the lower half with heels, then wear the belt and obi lower to keep a somewhat proportional look. The best thing to do if you are unsure, cut strips of paper into different widths and take a look in the mirror and see how they look on you. Cut a piece of paper that will represent the obi width, and one that will represent the belt width. If they look like they are taking up your entire torso, then you will probably need to go with something smaller. I go through a lot of paper in my costume making process. In the end it needs to fit you and you alone. If 2" ends up looking ridiculously large on you, then go with something smaller that will give the costume the most accurate look. While it is good to try and follow the CRL as closely as possible, sometimes tweeks and adjustments have to be made to fit the person wearing the costume to make it look good. I hope this has made sense and has been helpful! Cheers, Nef

Welcome to the Badlands Garrison by the way. Looking forward to trooping with you! Cheers, Nef

If you know how to sew, or know someone who does, they are fairly easy alterations. The tricky part is getting the black fabric to match. It can be very noticeable if you have two different types of fabric sewn together. Cheers, Nef

You will see plenty of MWA Nihilus masks around in the 501st. Like any costume for approval into the 501st, you will need to do some adjustments. It also depends on which version of Nihilus you want to go for. The MWA is the KOTOR version, so it would not work for the COTF version without a whole lot of changes. Some of the changes I've seen mentioned on the forums here in regards to altering the MWA costume are mostly related to the robes, cloak and 'cat ear' hood. The Nihilus robes for both KOTOR and COTF have a lot of fabric and volume. The MWA seems to be a bit lacking in the layers of fabric needed, so addition panels have to be put in. The 'cat ear' shape is also sometimes commented on as not being quite right with some slight alteration to them. As well, the fabric coming down in front from the hood that sits below the face doesn't have quite enough volume or drape that the KOTOR models show. So more fabric usually has to be added to the front of the cloak for a better drape. Those are just a few things I've seen pop up a few times. There are also the additional things you would need to pick up such as the gloves, and for the KOTOR version the 'under armour' or 'padding' look for the chest. Most people pick up the mask and make the robes themselves. Hope that is helpful information! Cheers, Nef

I see. I was curious as I am visiting California this summer for a whole week and we are planning what day to go to Disneyland, hehe.

I was wondering, do Star Wars days only take place at Disney World in Florida, or do they also happen at Disney Land in California? I've never been but have always wanted to go.

For my Nihilus I ended up using about 16 meter's of fabric, which converts to 17.5 Yards. I'm 5'9 and have a small heel on my boot to try and get a bit of extra height. Still makes no difference when I'm standing next to our 6'6" Vader though, hahaha. For the crown I made mine with the top of a plastic bowler hat (cut the rim off), chicken wire, cardboard, tape, and acrylic molding paste (or Bondo works too). I placed the chicken wire on the top of the bowler hat and bent it till I got the shape I wanted. I then punched holes through the plastic hat top with an awl and threaded the wire ends through to secure the chicken wire down. I then taped strips of cardboard along the edge of the chicken wire to re-enforce it and to make sure it kept it's shape. Then I taped the whole thing to fill in the holes and have a smoother surface to work on. This is what it looked like: [/url] I covered the whole thing in a few layers of acrylic molding paste (or bondo) to make it hard. Once it was set I used an awl to poke holes along the front edge. These holes are where I attached the fabric of the cape too. Looked like this before I sewed the fabric on. [/url] The mask is mainly held on around my head with a wide elastic band, but at the very top, behind the silver part I glued on 2 snaps. They snap to the fabric at the centre of the crown and keep the mask from shifting. Hope this helps and good luck with your Nihilus build! Cheers, Nef

I use Pros-Aide for almost all my prosthetic work and really love it. Been using it for over 2 years now and it is fantastic! It's easy to use, great for anyone with sensitive skin, sweat resistant, fairly inexpensive, and comes off with a remover. It's better to use then latex because latex will stick to itself permanently, so each time you use it to blend the edges down on your latex lekku, the edge will grow bigger. So you will have to keep trimming it back, but it will get a thicker ridge over time and be harder to blend. Latex also has no remover, so you just have to peel it off your skin at the end of the day (and will also take any hair with it that it has attached too). Lastly, latex does shrink a small amount when it dries, giving you a "tight" or "pulling" feeling on your skin. Pros-Aide comes in its original adhesive form for sticking down the prosthetic, and then it comes in a Creme form for blending the edges down. To start you would paint a thin layer of Pros-Aide Adhesive along the edge of the latex lekku where you want to stick it down, let it dry to clear. This is important, Pros-Aide is one of those rare adhesives that becomes sticky AFTER it dries. Once the first layer has dried to clear, put a second thin coat on the latex lekku and let it dry to clear again. Now the edge of your prosthetic should be nice and sticky, so go head and put it on pressing down for a few seconds along the edge. As this is the back of your neck you will probably need someone to help you. Once the lekku are glued in position, you can use the Pros-Aide Creme to start blending down the edge where the lekku ends and your skin starts. I usually use a small make-up spatula for this part, or a silicone tool from Ben Nye (OMG best tool ever!) but you can use a make-up sponge too. Stipple small amounts of the creme along the edge in thin layers. Let each layer dry to clear in between (you can use a hair dryer to speed this up) until you have enough layers to cover the seem between the lekku and skin. It will be sticky when it dries, so just use any make-up power (I use Ben Nye Translucent setting powder) you have handy and powered over the creme to take away the stickiness. Then you can put what ever make-up you need over the top. It is very strong stuff and will last days if you don't take it off. I've slept with a prosthetic on my arm and it was fine the next morning. That being said, since it is strong, you will need a good remover to take it off with. There are a number of different products out there you can use. I use either Ben Nye Bond-off or Telesis Super-Solv. In a pinch you can also use Isopropyl 99 alcohol (not highly recommended) but this is very hard on your skin so make sure you moisturise afterwards. I always tell people it takes just as long to take make-up off as it does to put it on. Give the remover time to work away at the Pros-Aide, it is not an instant process. Put some remover on a cotton pad or tissue and gently wipe over the Pros-aide creme until it starts to soften and you can begin to work the edge of the lekku back. Use a q-tip soaked in remover to start working your way under the latex edge to get at the Pros-aide underneath. It sounds like a long process to take off the Pros-aide, but it is well worth it. Mainly you don't have to rip it off your skin, as you would with latex, so that is a bonus. Also you can use the remover to clean off any excess Pros-aide so the original edge of your lekku remains the same. You can get info on Pros-aide website ( http://www.pros-aide.com/index.htm ) as well as a list of retailers that sell it. Pros-aide is ideal for sticking down prosthetic pieces, but it is also really great stuff for creating your own skin effects. I use it with tissue paper or cotton to do scars, cuts, wounds and all sorts of other nifty stuff. Hope this has been helpful! Feel free to ask any questions if you need more info. Cheers, Nef

I love the general "Clothing = Costume Padding" that is always abundant in costuming circles. Hahaha!

Looking good! An excellent overall shape of the mask. One thing I'll point out (as I made this mistake) is not to go too high on the top of the mask. It should go to the top of your forehead, not the top of your head. I did this on the first mask I made and then when I went to try a fitting with the "cat-ears" hood it was waaaay to tall and didn't fit at all. Ended up having to take about an inch and a half off the top. Just want to give you a heads up so you don't have the same problem I did. If you take a close look at images of Nihilus' mask, the eye holes should sit about in the middle. There is roughly about the same distance from the top of the eyes to the top of the head as there is from the bottom of the eyes to the bottom of the mask. Hope this helps! Cheers, Nef

Looking good, but one thing you might get held on is the hood around the mask. It should drape inwards more. The fabric comes inward towards the mask to give a thinner look to the fabric drape. Other then that, it's a great costume! Good luck with your submission! Cheers, Nef

Very awesome character and a great start! I look forward to seeing the progress on your costume. I'm also putting together a Twi'lek costume, but it's a custom one. Hope your build goes well! Cheers, Nef

Looks like you are very close to complete! Yes, having the knot in the front would help, hehehe. Cheers, Nef

Hey Jag! I thought this post looked familiar, saw it over on the Badlands forum. I'm glad Fangs and TK-Lisa could give you advice on the gloves. Those two are easily some of the best costumers in our garrison. Really looking forward to seeing you at CCEE! Cheers, Nef

Well, Alberta has been hammered with quite the snowfall in the last 24 hours. So I was thinking, 'why waste a perfectly good snow storm!' Kitted up in Nihilus and went and had a bit of fun in the snow. Snow Siths! I think sith would use the force to guide snowballs for that perfect 'in-the-face' hit. Deep deep snow! Also took some pretty funny video as well. I'll see if I can mash up something and post it eventually. Cheers, Deez

Great pictures, and she is super adorable. Get that kid a mini Nilihus costume ASAP! Hahaha! Cheers, Nef

Awesome pictures! You guys look like you have a great set up going on. It's always great to have the backdrops for photos. It just makes them that much more epic on top of the already excellent costumes. Cheers, Nef

Awesome work! Welcome to the detachment! Cheers, Nef