Nefthys

No problem! I'm glad I could help. I'm trying to make the entire costume myself, so if you want to know how I've done anything I don't mind sharing. Cheers, Nef

I really love the books. It's a great way to build so much more of the Star Wars world. I just got back from my local geek shop with 5 new Star Wars books in my hands! Been watching a lot of Clone Wars lately so I grabbed the Republic Commando series as well as the 501st novel. I recently finished Death Troopers and really enjoyed it. I'm a big horror genre fan, so to have a book that has both horror and Star Wars I couldn't pass up! Currently reading a Revan book from the Old Republic era. Cheers, Nef

The belt was actually quite easy to make. The trick is buying the right sized belt blanks. You can usually buy belt blanks from any leather store. I got mine from Tandy Leather Factory. Get 2 belt blanks (the larger under one and the smaller top one) and get some black leather dye and dye them both black. Then I attached the metal belt buckle to the larger belt blank with a couple rivets. Next I put the belt on over top of my costume to get the right length and marked with a pen on the back side where i needed to punch a hole for the belt buckle to go through. Once I had the right size for the belt and a hole punched I attached the smaller top belt. I just measured it to fit between the belt buckle and the punched hole. So the smaller one doesn't run the full length of the belt, it sits between the buckle and hole. I attached the smaller top belt blank with leather contact cement and let it dry a few minutes. Once that was done I measured where I wanted the black rivets to go. Always measure twice and cuts once! Make sure they line up where you want them. When I was happy with the measurements I punched holes where the black rivets needed to go. Then I screwed in all the rivets. And it was done! The whole process took about an hour to do. I got all of my supplies at Tandy as well so it made it easy just doing one shopping trip. Here is Tandy's website, you might have a store near you. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-u ... /home.aspx I hope that is helpful, feel free to ask any questions and I'll try and answer them as best as I can. Cheers, Nef

Just a couple quick photos for some of the work I've done. The belt The start of the mask. Need to get a lot of sanding done on this still. Also need to add more definition to the nose area. A little too 'round' looking at the moment. But it's a start! Cheers, Nef

Good Day, I thought I should post a little update on my progress so far. I have completed the belt, which was a daunting task for me. I am quite pleased with how it came out. I might go over with the black leather dye once more as it's not quite as black as it could be, but other then that it looks good. The base sculpt for the mask is also complete. Just the sanding and painting to finish up. The hood is done, but I still have to attach the cloak to it. I hope to have some more pictures taken this week so I can show some of my progress. Cheers, Nef

Hello! If you are in Canada at all, I work at a shop that can ship bald caps and all the required make-up to go with them. Check us out at www.donshobbyshop.ca. If you are however outside of Canada you will have to do some searching for local companies that carry the products. The best idea is to search the brands online and see what stores sell them. Decent brands you can go with are Woochie or Don Post. I would recommend Woochie over Don Post personally. I found one website that has a good list of distributors in many countries depending on where you live. This might be a good place to start looking for the closest distributor to where you are. Woochie latex bald cap link: http://shop.cinemasecrets.com/woochie/l ... tural.html Or you can try Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cinema-Secrets-Wo ... _pr_sims_t (not sure how Amazon compares to an actual cosmetic website) ^ I have not ordered from either of these places, so I cannot say for sure how good they are. Just a few links recommended from others. Woochie also makes different coloured bald caps, including White, which is great for Asajj. If you need any advice or have any questions on putting a bald cap on, don't hesitate to ask. I've done a few myself and sell the products everyday so I can give you my personal opinion on what I think works best (others opinions differ and there is no one right way to do a bald cap). There are also quite a few good resources online for doing bald caps as well. You are of course in a great place for advice on Asajj ~.^ As I'm sure there are a few here who have done the bald cap thing. Good luck on your costume! Cheers, Nef

I used a type of fabric called Piano Weave. I really like it as it has a very hand woven feel to it, similar to the Jedi robes in the older movies. It also hangs very heavy which is nice and gives it great weight. Thanks Nihilus! The first mask is in pieces, but the second one is coming along well. Let's hope I don't break this one before casting it. Also, snack time just got better! Chocolate Chip Stormtrooper! Cheers, Nef

I thought I would start posting a few photos of what I have completed so far. I seem to have misplaced my camera so I don't have pictures of the weathered robes. I did take pictures of the robes before I completed the weathering, so I have those below. The full robes so far. Close up of the upper tunics with the obi with ugly camera flash. The fabric is no where near that shiny in real life. I also took a few photos of the mask sculpt in progress.... then proceeded to trip and break said mask. After a few moments of heart rendering tears, I picked up the pieces and started over. So I will post photos of the second mask once the camera is found. Cheers, Nef

I started this costume, but it's sitting half finished in the closet as I changed my mind and decided to do Nihilus instead. This is a really tricky costume to do and I'm glad to see someone else also taking the challenge. I look forward to seeing how you handle the project. I plan to finish my Dark Force Witch once Nihilus and the Twi'lek are completed. For dying the fabric I took a natural fiber (raw silk) and soaked it in water. Then I hung it upside down on a wooden dowel. Then I very carefully poured the dye on top so that it would run down the wet fabric. It worked quite well. I helped it along in spots with a wet brush if there were areas not running as far down as others. I learned this type of fabric dying at school, but it is not very common. You need a very long wooden dowel, and strong enough to support the wet fabric. Also a lot of space to do this with a floor you don't mind getting dirty ( or a large plastic tarp). Airbrushing would have been my preferred method if my airbrush wasn't currently out of commission. You have more control with an airbrush for this kind of project. Especially if you are like me and do your dying after you have sewn the basic robe. I wish you all the best on your costume! Cheers, Nef

I have asked advice in another thread. Once the mask and robe are done I'll be posting progress photos to get people's opinion and advice on what to fix. I'm hoping to have those up sometimes next week. Cheers, Nef

Nice to meet you too! I'm also working on a Nihilus costume, but I've been sewing my own robes. It has been a long and hard road. Part of me sometimes wishes I had ordered it instead. But it has been a great learning experience and I am happy with how they turned out. I am sculpting the mask at the moment and hope to get that all finished up this weekend. Good luck with your Nihilus costume! Cheers, Nef

Twin Roses does excellent work! But yes, it does take some time to get as they make everything custom at the time of the order. You won't be disappointed though! Cheers, Nef

Well my Nihilus is looking wonderfully tattered. Thank you for all the advice! Also discovered that Ben Nye fake dirt works very well as a fading tool. I'll try post some pictures of the before and after. Cheers, Nef

I have washed it which helped a bit. I shall definitely take some sandpaper too it this weekend. Thanks for the advice! Cheers, Nef

Hello! I've been putting together my Darth Nihilus COTF version and I am coming up to the point were I need to weather and roughen up the fabric on the costume. Fraying the edges is easily done, but I was wondering if anyone had advice on weathering the fabric in general to look old and worn. Right now everything looks too new and shiny. I want to get that 'over worn' look to the fabric the same way faded jeans look old. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! Cheers, Nef

Would it be a pre-made body suit or are you planning on just painting latex all over yourself to make the suit? The later would be a bad idea A) Latex does not come off of hair, it will pull it out where ever there is hair on the skin, and Latex shrinks when it dries so your will feel like you are being "squished" if used on your whole body. That being said I have seen some pretty amazing latex suits out there. The best is to take a body cast of yourself, then add about a half inch to your size and use that to put the latex on. You account for the shrinking and there will be no hair to pull out. However latex is very fragile so you will have to have something underneath it to support it (like a spandex body suit). I've seen it done, but usually in sections rather then a whole one piece suit. Individual pieces for legs, arms and torso. The nice thing is the latex can then be blended into the skin at the suits edges making it look seamless, but this is quite tricky.