Nefthys

If you want to get super geeky and technical (which I always do with Nihilus) the cheek bones are concidered the COTF mask and a smoother mask is KOTOR style. While it doesn't matter which mask you have with which robes for 501st approval, it's a fun piece of triva. I really love the more skull like COTF style mask. Yup, I'm a nerd

I know that My Wicked Armour sells the robes. Other than them, it's best to see if there are any local tailors and seamstress that would make them for you. Getting someone local is best so that you can go for fittings and make sure it is the right size for you. Cheers, Nef

Well the first step is to be active on the detachments forums, which you are already doing. The other criteria you also meet, which is having a costume in that detachment and trooping in it. So you are able to be a member, you just need to request access. This is a quote from Thomas on how to do that: "Detachment Membership; Joining a detachment forum does not guarantee your right to vote in 501st Legion elections concerning Detachment issues and staff. You must be registered in the 501st Legion database as a member of that Detachment. To request Detachment membership log into the 501st Legion forum, select membership DB from the side menu and go to “Your Profile Data.” There you can indicate your Detachment participation under “Your Unit Affiliation.” Detachment affiliation requests are reviewed for approval by Detachment staff. This is a manual procedure that relies on a volunteer to look up and approve requests. Feel free to contact Detachment staff if your request has gone without response for more than one week. (During this election’s proceedings we are checking with daily frequency.) Having Detachment voting privileges in tyme for an election is crucial." Hope this helps! Cheers, Nef

The ever fun duct tape mannequin! Looks like you are making great progress on this build and I am looking forward to seeing the finished result. Cheers, Nef

I am a tiny Sith Lord at only 5'9" and 180 lbs and I used about 16 yards of fabric for mine. The key to a good looking Nihilus is having lots of billowing fabric. The more billowy, the better! Cheers, Nef

I agree with Heavy1973 that perhaps this kind of thing should have been put to a vote. It would have been nice to know that these changes were being discussed and inform those who would be affected. Thank you for looking into this Thomas and getting us the information. While I am not affected by the change, I know there are others in our garrison who are upset. Cheers, Nef

Congratulations! Welcome to the 501st Legion as well as The Flagship Eclipse! It is always great to see another Nihilus join our ranks. Have fun trooping! Cheers, Nef

Your costume is looking very good so far! The suggestions that C.Skiles are all very good points, and I have a couple more suggestions to add as well. 1) When you do submit your application pictures just remember the cape should sweep back over your shoulders, it's doesn't cover them up. See the CRL photo if you need reference. 2) The quilting on your sleeves looks somewhat close together, they should be about an inch in width. You might get asked to alter those when you submit for application. You are very very close to being done! Cheers, Nef

Huzzah! Another Nihilus joins the ranks! Great to hear! Cheers, Nef

That is a great tutorial! Thank you for sharing it. They really know how to write up all of the little nitty gritty extra work that is involved with making the belts needed for Star Wars costumes. Fantastic! Cheers, Nef

I hope everyone has a fun and Star Wars filled Christmas this season! Cheers, Nef P.S. I forgot my gloves, I am a bad Nihilus

Wow, it just got very colourful all of a sudden. Nice update on the names! Cheers, Nef

these are the studs I used from tandy leather: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-u ... 10-17.aspx already in the required color. my belt is 2" wide for the bottom and 3/4" wide for the upper belt. i bought raw belt blanks from tandy, died them black, aded a coat of matt leather finish (to keep the black dye from coming off). I have mine held together with two snaps in the back http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/1523/v4yc.jpg as for the gloves. Im not sure about the vertical grooves between the fingers... these are the gloves I bought and the Legion Membership officer had no issues with them when I sent my approval pics in: http://www.leathermystics.com/gauntlets ... ml#leather the black, non studded ones. $25/pair. As far as I know, Tandy is the only place to get the studs from. The link that C.Skiles posted shows the correct studs needed for approval. Back when I made my Nihilus they only made them in silver and I had to paint mine with black enamel paint, so at least they now come in black already! The gloves cannot have stitching on the back of the hand, so the gloves you linked would not work. The ones that C.Skiles posted are very similar to the ones I have and would work fine. Looking forward to seeing your kit soon! Cheers, Nef

While I don't know much about this character, I can say that is an excellent build so far! Glad to see someone tackling one of the more obscure 501st characters. Looking forward to seeing this completed. Cheers, Nef

Looks good! Hope you don't have to wait too long to hear back. It'll be great to have another Nihilus amoung the ranks! Cheers, Nef

That is very awesome!

Thank you for the helpful suggestion! I shall head over there and take a look. I have actually been doing a lot of research on how Mascot costumes are made and have had great success with their techniques. Now I'm stuck on how to make realistic looking skin to cover the foam and fabric parts. Cheers, Nef

I did the same thing when I built my Nihilus. There are always little things that pop up that are different for each person building their kit. Your's is looking great so far! The weathering looks awesome! Remember as you walk around trooping, that it will also acquire it's own natural weather as well, which is handy for this kit. You will also leave bits of black string where ever you go, hahaha! Cheers, Nef

Something else to point out, as a comfort thing. You might want to add a dart to the very bottom part of your sleeve where your wrist is. You'll find when you need to put the gauntlet style gloves over the top, cramming all that sleeve in there might bunch up. If you have your gloves, try them on and see how they fit. I know on my kit it was really uncomfy having all the excess fabric bunched up in the gloves around my wrist. I ended up taking about 2 inches of fabric off around the wrist area just so it fit better. The dart shouldn't extend past the gloves so that it is visible, just small enough to fit the end of the sleeve in the glove. Again, this is just a suggestion and you don't have to do it. Something I learned from experience trooping in my Nihilus! Cheers, Nef

Looks great so far! I don't think the sleeves are really much of an issue. If you look super close at a lot of Nihilus costumes, you can probably see a bit of the sleeve under the tunic, I know you can on mine. You want the idea that there is a shirt under the tunic, so you are fine. Keep in mind you will also have a cloak going over your shoulders as well and that will help push the tunic down a bit over the shoulders and hide that gap. The outer skirt should warp all the way around and meet in the middle at the front. My outer skirt is separate from my robes and attaches with a belt under the outer tunic, but over the under robes. I made the outer skirting about 12 feet long, then sewed a loop of fabric at the top to slide a belt through. Once all that fabric is on there you get a very full and flowy lower robe which you want for Nihilus. You don't have to go as extreme as 12 feet of fabric like I did, but the more you have, the better the robes will look. Hope that helps! Cheers, Nef

Looks like you are well on your way so far with your build! The belt is looking great so far. For the "cat ears", or hood, I attached mine to the top of a plastic bowler hat (after cutting the brim off). Once I added a little padding inside the hat part, it fits comfortably on my head. This is a picture of how I did mine, I built the hood directly onto the hat and used wire to secure it in place. You could do something similar. If you found a suitable hat type thing, drill small holes in the hood and use wire to secure it. http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn27 ... /hood1.jpg I also like having my mask and hood separate. My mask is held on with an elastic, but I've added two snaps to the front of the "cat ears" that snap to the back, top part of the mask to keep them in place. I've seen others use velcro instead of snaps. http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn27 ... 785bea.jpg Hope that helps you a bit. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need! Cheers, Nef

Excellent progress so far! I'm really excited to see how the dying turns out. I know the dye can be the hardest part of this costume. Armour plates look great! Cheers, Nef

Hello and Welcome to the Flagship! Good to have you aboard! Feel free to look around and get to know some of our threads and costumes. Cheers, Nef

A Lightsaber is not required for approval into the 501st, and is an optional accessory. Get the costume approved first, then you can focus on the lightsaber, that is what I did. Cheers, Nef

A lightsaber is not required for approval into the 501st for Darth Nihilus. I use a plain hilted lightsaber that is not a specific Nihilus saber and my garrison GML is fine with it. As long as the costume passes 501st approval, the lightsaber is an addition, not required. Check with your local garrison on what lightsaber they would allow you to carry with your costume first before purchasing one. Cheers, Nef