Nefthys

When I was down in Florida for CVI I used a really good sealer to keep my make-up on in the heat and humidity. I used Ben Nye's Final Seal; 3 coats over top of my body paint, and it was fine. If you are worried about sweating under the bald cap and having the edges come loose, you can also get a good primer/sealer for your skin before you put the prosthetics and make-up on. Mehron has a great Barrier Spray for use on the skin and under make-up to help suppress sweating. If you need a stronger sealer, you can always go with Green Marble SeLr, it's what they use in the movie industry for underwater scenes. Keep in mind you will need a good remover to take off Green Marble, other wise you could be Ventress for a few days. The nice thing with Final Seal is that it will come off in the shower with soap and a good scrub. Bald caps are generally made of latex and can be glued down with a good prosthetic glue. I find Pros-Aide is the best glue out on the market right now. There are stronger ones, but they are very pricey. Pros-Aide is strong, cheap, sweat resistant and great for people with sensitive skin. Plus it comes in its regular form for glueing on prosthetics, and then it has a Creme version for blending edges. You will need a good remover to get it off, I use either Ben Nye's Bond-Off or Telesis' Super Solv. Please don't use Spirit Gum. No matter what anyone tells you, Spirit Gum was designed for lace goods only, as in moustaches, beards and wigs. Spirit Gum won't hold a bald cap on for a long amount of time, plus it is not resistant to sweat. If you do go with a latex bald cap keep in mind that cream base make-up's will discolour slightly over top of latex prosthetics. Even though you put the same colour make-up on your face as the bald cap, you will notice a difference in tint on the bald cap. You can stop this by either sealing the bald cap first, or by using Castor Oil mixed in with your cream make-up. If you go with a water based make-up (face or body paint) then you will have to seal the bald cap first. Castor Oil won't work with water based paints. Some water based paints discolour, and some do not, it's all trial and error. Down in Florida I used both cream and water based make-ups and they were fine in the heat and humidity. As I said before, it's all in a great sealer! I hope some of this info helps you out! Just be warned, if you haven't done a bald cap before, they are very tricky to do and you will need help. Still takes me about 2 hours to put a bald cap on someone and I've been doing FX make-up a while. The key is Practice and Patience! Cheers, Nef

Wow! That is looking amazing! How did you do the make-up? Is it a full face prosthetic or pieces? I'm always curious about make-up with costumes. Cheers, Nef

We have quite a few Commander Shepards amongst our 501st garrisons members, hehe. I'm building an Asari Commando

Today at my boyfriends work they were all given Snuggies. Those blankets with arms built in. So I decided to get comfy in his snuggie. Yes, he works at BioWare

If you need help with anything, I have more free time now that my big move is pretty much over. I do have my Web Developer certificate, I'm not that skilled at programming, but I can do some basic web stuff if needed. I mainly focus on web design rather then dev stuff now. I can help with a new gallery if you need one. Cheers, Nef

Hmmm, likes Star Wars, costumes, AND Mass Effect? You have come to the right place! Currently working on a Mass Effect costume for my next con. Welcome! Nef

Haha! Fantastic!

The obi is looking a little wide, but it will depend on your belt. I usually recommend getting the belt done first, as it makes measuring the width of the obi much easier. So far it is looking very good!

^ Personally, my most favourite part! That is, if you are doing a COFT Nihilus. Cheers, Nef

Those look like good boots. As long as they are plain black with no laces or buckles they will work fine. Cheers, Nef

Yay for beginnings! I always love seeing the start and then the whole process of costumes being created. Keep up the good work! Cheers, Nef

So far it's looking pretty good. Some of the pictures are a little blurry though and it's difficult to make out some of the detail. Do you have the quilted padding on the arms? I can't really tell from the picture. Look forward to seeing the whole costume together! Cheers, Nef

There aren't too many detailed pictures of Darth Nihilus' lightsaber. As well there are 2 different styles between the video game and comic books. There are pictures in the image gallery, check the very first thread in the Nihilus board. http://theflagshipeclipse.com/gallery/d ... m=9&pos=20 As for measurements, there really aren't any exact numbers. The best to try and figure out the best ratio for your height. Someone asked in another thread about the length of the blade here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2409 You can do the same math but apply it to just the grip of the lightsaber. I hope this is somewhat helpful, but there just isn't that much information on Nihilus' saber. Cheers, Nef

While you don't have to use a specific textile, there are options that are better then others. Sticking with a fabric that has a good weight to it is best so that you get a nice drape to the costume. If you get a fabric that is too light it won't hang well and it will look off. A lot of people like to use a Raw Silk or a Heavy Weave Linen. Something like cotton tends to be too light and flimsy. It comes down to personal choice and what looks goods. Also keep in mind the weight of all the fabric as well as the heat factor. Don't go with something too heavy or you will melt under all the layers and it will be very heavy to wear. Also the cleaning factor. If you don't want to be paying a fortune in dry cleaning bills, get a fabric that is machine washable. If you have fabric picked out already you could post some pictures here and get advice on it. If you don't have anything picked out yet, the Raw Silk from Dharma Trading is an excellent option for Nihilus. http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/8 ... _silk.html Cheers, Nef

Might be because no one has gotten the costume 501st approved yet.

As Aysel said you are best to work it out to your height. I had to go with a shorter blade as I am a girl and much shorter then Nihilus, or most of the guys who costume him. I just look silly with a full length blade. Get some newspaper and roll it up into a tube in various lengths and take a look in the mirror. See what looks good with your height compared to the Nihilus reference images.

Those gloves will work, they are the same ones I had for my Nihilus and I was approved. It's so hard to find gloves without stitching. I later got these ones and just cut the fringe off of them: http://www.leatherglovesonline.com/np/M ... ge=details They don't have the stitching on the back side, so they are more accurate. As for the belt, the rivets won't hold them on alone in a lot of cases, so what I did was glue the top strip onto the bottom one with contact cement. If you got the belt blanks from Tandy Leather they also sell a good leather contact cement. Glue it on, let it dry, and then put the rivets on as "added support" but not as the main pieces for holding on the top belt blank. I have how I did my belt over on my build thread, the link is below. It's on the 1st page near the bottom, there is also a pic of how my belt turned out. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2154 Good luck with the build! Looking forward to seeing it completed! Cheers, Nef

That looks amazing!!! Great work! Secretly I really want one now...

I'm guessing you still need to add the weathering to the bottom part of the tunic (the most entertaining part of the build IMO, hehe). The first thing I notice is that the obi is very wide. You'll want to bring it in a little and make it more narrow. It's easier to size the obi once you have the belt, since the width of the obi will need to correspond to the width of the belt you use. You will also want to get the tunic to lay flat across the chest when closed. It's looking really good so far! For gloves, I got mine off of www.leatherglovesonline.com and they were great! Search up Mens Gauntlets and they have a couple different styles. Their sizing chat is also very helpful, especially when trying to find gloves to fit my small, girly hands. Both my room mate and I have ordered from them a fair bit with no troubles so far. Hope this helps! Cheers, Nef

Yay! *claps* Congrats and welcome to the ranks of the 501st!

You may want to take a wander over to the Mando Mercs club as Mandalore the Vindicator is an acceptable character with them. http://mercs.firespray.net/forum/index.php Great group of Mercs!

I have no idea if Flagship is where I should post this build, but it seemed like the most logical place. My next big costume build planned is a baby rancor. Yes, it's a little strange, but I really like rancors and thought a baby one would be super awesome to make. I am hoping to start the build this December and plan to try have it done for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo at the end of April. We shall see if that happens as it's a lot to try complete in 5 months, but I like a good challenge! I am currently in the planning stages for this build and will be acquiring materials soon. I am wondering who has worked with foam, or done a creature costume before that could offer some helpful tips or point me in the direction of helpful forums? Cheers, Nef P.S. There is also a running list of potential names for the little baby once it has been completed. I am open to suggestions!

Looks like you need more gathers at the base of the hood around the neck area. I had the same issue where my hood was too straight and flat. I hand stitched the folds into the base of the hood to give it the look in the image. I just did tack stitches with black thread on the inside of the hood to keep the folds. Give that a try and see how it looks. Hope that helps! Cheers, Nef

You can't go wrong with the silk noil, it is very nice material. I've used it for other sets of robes and costumes before. For my Nihilus I ended up using a piano weave Linen. It was a little bit cheaper (but only because I found a good deal), but it ends up being a fair bit warmer to wear. The drape on the linen is really nice however it is very heavy. If you can find a good deal on a fabric that has good weight to it for nice movement and drape in the robes then pick it up. Your best option otherwise is the Silk Noil from dharma. Cheers, Nef

This is looking really good so far from what I can see. But yes, a flap under the neck to hide skin and shirts is handy. I also had to make my own blackout mask, but attached a long black piece of fabric down the front that tucks into the robes as well as it wraps around to the back to completely hide the neck. Lots of weathering and the robes look like they are done! Cheers, Nef