Nefthys

It's looking really good. One thing I noticed is the knot under the chin shouldn't have visible "tails". They should be sew in and behind so the ends don't stick out. It ends up being a permanent knot when you wear the costume that never comes undone. I have to pull mine over my head before I put the mask on, so make sure you leave enough space to get your head through (i didn't the first time, my roommate got a good laugh). Cheers, Nef

Hello Yourmaster. Firstly that is very cool! I love all the detail. I would just ask, which Nihilus do you plan to do? The KOTOR version or the COTF version? Their robes are quite different from each other. At the moment it looks like you are doing the COTF version of the robes, if you are then you will need to add weathering to the bottom of the robes. Looking really good so far, looking forward to seeing more. Cheers, Nef

Just heard back from command. We managed to raise $8,287.28 this past weekend for Make-a-Wish!! Yay!

I've posted some photo's in the Event Photograph's section. There is also a video! I got my lightsaber from Ultrasabers. The lightsaber I got was not for Nihilus, it was from my other sith costume. Cheers, Nef

A group shot of the 501st members at the event this weekend.

Well I attended my very first troop with the 501st at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo (CCEE) for 2012. I had a really good time and everyone was very helpful. We had a photo booth set up to raise money for the Make-a-Wish foundation, and were very successful. A few friends were nice enough to get some photo's of me trooping about as Darrth Nihilus. I also found a video on youtube I'm in, as well as our Darth Maul getting painted up at the 501st booth. I appear at 3min and 45seconds and Darth Maul is a near the end at 9min and 58 seconds. Some photos! Dave Luckman grabbed this great shot of me with a Manolorian Merc. My friend Errin got this shot of me on the second day. She also has a video of my dancing, but we shall see if that makes it to the web. Lastly, I baked cupcakes for the troops for the weekend. Gotta keep everyone well fed on a 3 day event! It was a great weekend, and an awesome experience. I'm looking forward to many more troops with the 501st. Cheers, Nef

Yes! Very excited for tomorrow! My light saber also arrived on Monday, so now I can be a sith in style. I thought I wouldn't get it for a few weeks but they were super fast with shipping. Been baking all evening. Making star wars cupcakes and Han Solo frozen in carbonate chocolates for the troopers this weekend. Gotta keep the Empire fed! Cheers, Nef

Car Jack

Thanks Nihilus! I'm really excited to be trooping this Friday. I was really hoping to get my costume done and approved in time for the Expo this weekend. My current sewing project is an ice pack harness to wear under all those layers of fabric! Gets super warm under there, but it will be worth it. My old ice pack harness is looking a bit rough, so I decided to make a new and improved one! This has also led to me making about 6 others for all my friends making warm costumes for this weekend too, so we shall all be keeping cool in style. Cheers, Nef

Aww, that is sad. But as they say, all good things come to those who wait. It'll be worth it when your awesome, new robes arrive.

Hello! Yes, the belt is black, but looks brownish in that light. I added second coat of black dye and it looks much better now. I have fixed up the shape of the horns as well. I submitted my application and they also said the horns needed work. Those have been fixed, pictures were submitted and.... APPROVED!! My new TKID is 4945!! Yay!! I look forward to trooping with the 501st! Cheers, Nef

Costume Shop

I don't think I've ever actually said this anywhere, but my roommate and I make custom costumes for sale. We handled fabric and leather work only though. It is a small side business we do locally for cosplayers. Although I did make my entire Nihilus costume myself, not sure I would make the mask or hood again. The robes however we can do. PM me if you are interested. Not sure if self promotion is allowed. If it is not, feel free to delete this post! I can also recommend Twin Roses Design. They do very nice robes for jedi and sith. Someone else on this forum (Nihilus) is getting his robes through them.

Done! Finally got everything finished. As per your comment Scott, I added padding to the inside of the hood so it sits higher on my head, thus placing the mask higher. I think I need to add just a bit more, make it a little higher still. But it's pretty much finished with just a few minor tweeks. Feed back would be great!! Please let me know if there are any things I need to change. Front Back Side Mask and Hood Cheers, Nef

Just picked up Red Harvest this weekend! Gonna give it a read once I'm done my current book.

Black out masks are actually really easy to make. That also means you can make it to fit your head, as opposed to a generic size. I followed the tutorial link below and it turned out well. http://kristinameister.wordpress.com/20 ... kout-mask/ Cheers, Nef

Pictures! I found the elusive camera cord. I took these while the mask wasn't quite completed. It's still missing the round nubby thing in the center decoration and of course has not been painted yet. I'll get updated photos of the mask as well as the full costume ensemble ASAP! Mask The cloak, hood and mask. And me being very excited about getting the cloak and hood finished. My room mate took this while I was talking animatedly to her. I'll get her back.... Please let me know how everything is looking. If there are changes to be made and the like. Cheers, Nef

Personally, I love obscure costumes! I find that it opens up a whole lot more conversations with people who are curious to know who you are. I do really like doing costumes with others however so you have someone recognizable with you. My room mate and I do a lot of costumes together for that reason. We did Assassins Creed 2 last year for the big convention in town. She did Giovanni and I did La Volpe. We had a blast, and most people recognized who we were. But when I wasn't with her quite a few people came up and asked who I was dressed as. As soon as I said La Volpe from AC2 they got it. Part of it for me sometimes is a money, or body type, issue too. I would love to be a Stormtrooper but I don't have the money right now. I would also love to do Ventress, but I'm far to voluptuous to pull her off. I'm a big fan of Darth Nihilus, so it makes sense that I would choose him. I can afford to make the costume, and I can pull him off with my figure. Obscure characters are never a problem I find in any situation. Sure at a convention you get more recognition, but I enjoy wearing costumes for fun. If people know who I am, great, if not then I get to chat to someone about my costume for a while, and that is also fun. Besides, that Darth Vader fellow gets far too much attention, hehehe. Cheers, Nef

Well I started school a little while back and it's been taking up most of my time, so there has been a lull in costume making. I have however had 4 glorius days off and I've gotten a lot done. The cape and hood re-make are done and I am pretty happy with them so far. I took photo's but seem to have misplaced my camera cord. The moment I find it I'll have the pictures up to get people's feed back. Also have done a significant amount more on my mask. Getting close to the end now. Sewed up a black out mask for myself as well. I couldn't find any decent ones that didn't squish and hurt my poor nose. Once the mask is painted I can post pictures of the whole ensamble and let everyone give me the "fix-ems" before I submit for approval. Cheers, Nef

Nooo! Don't tempt me with such delightful links! I have far too much fabric right now, and yet I still keep buying more for "future" projects. Thank you for the update however! I was simply going off the prices at my local fabric store. They charge far too much for some fabrics, like raw silk. Cheers, Nef

Hi Okrim, There are a few choices for fabric I've noticed while looking around at other Nihilus' costumes. I personally chose the Piano Weave Light Linen fabric for mine. The second photo of my robes is pretty bad with the camera flash, the fabric is not shiny at all in real life. Quite a few other people have chosen Crinkle Cotton or Raw Silk for Nihilus. It comes down to personal choice on what you want to use. Piano Weave Linen and Raw Silk are more costly fabrics to use, but they look excellent and move very nicely for the costume. Crinkle Cotton still moves well but it's not quite as heavy a weight as the others so doesn't hang as nicely, however it is much cheaper. Crinkle Cotton still works if you have a smaller budget for the costume. Hope this helps a little bit! Cheers, Nef

Sure! The very first thing I did was measure the KOTOR Art work of Nihilus for the measurements of his hood (or "cat ears") in relation to his mask. I measured the point across the eyes of the mask and then the end points of his hood and found the hood is 76% larger. Then I measured my mask across the eyes and made that number 76% wider. That left me with exactly how wide the main width of the hood needed to be. To make the hood I used one of those super cheap plastic bowler hats from a costume shop. I cut the brim off of it to have just a smooth round top. I then took chicken wire and made small holes in the bowler hat and attached the chicken wire to the bowler hat with small wire loops. The chicken wire bends into any shape really easily. I measured the chicken wire before hand to make sure it was the width I needed to make the correct width for the "cat ears". I reinforced the chicken wire with cardboard to help hold the shape. Then I taped the heck outta all of it to secure it even more to the bowler hat. You can see in the first picture this is the step I have just completed. With that done I wanted to make sure it was hard and keep it's shape. For this I put on a thick layer of Acrylic Molding Paste. That is the second photo. I've even included in the picture on the table the jar of molding paste I used from Golden. Then let it dry over night. I left the underside uncovered so I have access to the chicken wire underneath. This will allow me to sew the fabric cloak to it. Hope that helps! All the supplies for the hood cost me about $40.00, so it's not too pricey to make it this way. Cheers, Nef

Your mask is looking very good! The mask is the one part of the costume I've been having trouble with. May I ask how you made yours? Cheers, Nef

Getting towards the end of my Nihilus build. Hope to be posting pictures of me in the full outfit soon. Just working on the hood and cape currently. Didn't quite get the look I wanted the first time around so I went back and redid the "cat ears" under the cloak. A couple pics of how it turned out. Before I put the acrylic molding paste on. After the acrylic molding paste is on. This stuff is great! Once the acrylic is set I'll add the fabric and take a look at how it turned out! Here's hoping *fingers crossed* Cheers, Nef

Because there is a little bit of depth to the fabric around her face, you could get away with sewing wire into the hem. That way you can bend it to the shape you want. I use a lot of wire for oddly shaped fabric pieces I need to sit a certain way. Or, you could buy or make a balaclava type head piece that sits tight to your head. Get an open face one that stops at the ears (but still covers the ears). Then you can stitch the fabric to the balaclava and have it follow the natural curve of the side of your face. Hope either of those ideas help. I do a lot of sewing and I know how frustrating it can be when fabric doesn't do what you want it to do. Cheers, Nef