NightShine

Lmao yeah that's actually a great point, Teraxis!! Feel free to ask any questions you have!

This looks like some great stuff! If I wasn't broke I'd try some just to experiment with!! Ty for sharing!

Revan's mask is so much fun to make! It's simple, yet still complicated enough to have it be a challenge >:3 great work so far!

Wow nice!! I'll have to let some of my friends know about durafoam (never heard of this!) for future costumes (hard to take apart older ones ): sad sad).

You are most welcome! Yes, it's always more beneficial when you have multiple people commenting good luck on your endeavors! Make sure to post progress shots!!

I've never had a problem with using worbla for large or complicated areas maybe I'm just weird ): of course there's more than one right way to do something and everyone has their own experiences to draw from! At the end of the day, one just has to sit down and experiment to find which method works best for them I should also note that why I personally don't like using the partial worbla coverage is that I've seen the exposed foam start to warp and get a little funky being exposed to the skin when you sweat during troops (not after one of course but after a handful).

Wearing the hakamas to a fabric store? EMBRACE THE WEIRD! Yassss Worbla questions: ~ I did the full-on sandwich method so, yes, both the inside and outside are covered in Worbla (no partial inside coverage) - you spend a little more money with the full-on method but, personally, I think it holds up and servives a little better and if you're going to put all the work into your outfit why not make it the best it can be? ~ I usually use 3mm foam (I get mine at Hobby Lobby). ~ For the raised textures, I used even moar Worbla! Worbla sticks to itself (so no glue necessary and the natural bond is super, super strong). All I did was roll up Worbla 'snakes' much like one would do when rolling up Play-Doh or clay snakes It was pretty fast and easy! ~ Sealing my armor ... well, up close you can tell it has a bit of small denting (just from working with the Worbla) but I left it there because I thought it looked cool (passed my 501st app so I guess it's all good!). So, yes, it has texture but it's light enough texture that it's still smooth at the same time. I used wood glue (3-4 coats / brand name Titebond II) on my armor. On my mask I had used Gesso. Both have their pros and cons which I can lay out for you if you'd like (w/o writing a novel in this current post lol). I'm glad you found my Revan mid-section tutorial!! I made it because, when I was looking to make this, I had NOOOO idea either. Seriously, it was like the one Revan thing that wasn't readily out there to learn about. It was stoopid lol

That's awesome!!! Congrats! All your hard work has paid off welcome to the SL family!

YAY moar Revans!!! Lovin' the mask! In WI our seasons are not acting normal either ): I feel your pain. FABRIC CHOICE: I wish I could remember what fabric I had used for my Revan but damn it was gorgeous! And also super expensive haha If memory serves me right, it was mostly cotton based and was a two-way stretch (so NOT spandex lol). I was shameless in the store and unfolded bolts of fabric to see how they hung and naturally flowed. Personally, I'd think wool would be too thick, too heavy looking and warm - TOO warm. FABRIC USAGE: Personally, I went for the same fabric for my cloak and hakama (which means I had bought out this specific fabric within a certain mile radius of my home ... oops). The real importance, if you're using different fabrics, is to have them be the same black - not all blacks are the same! Some black fabrics are made with blue in it and others red (to give the different shades of black ... it's weird I know). So just make sure to eyeball the fabric real good if using different ones. Also, if using different fabrics, keep in mind to try and match how both fabrics flow/wear while moving, the thickness of the fabric, and visible threads (are the threads woven farther apart? if so, they are easier to see vs tightly woven fabric threads which are harder to see -- trust me, in certain conditions it's really easy to see visible threads!). This is me being super OCD and picky - don't take me too seriously. lmao HAKAMA: As long as they look and wear like a hakama you're good to go. The top half does NOT need to be traditional (i.e. have the belts or backboard). It's the bottom half, or the legs, that will matter. You can have the top be 100% traditional, spandex, whatever you want (I used a combo of ties and velcro to still give me usage of the open sides - which you also don't need). Your hakama pants are perfectly fine - just keep in mind to match that black with the black of your cloak and shirt I'm really OCD about matching blacks - could you tell?? haha My Revan was also 100% built from scratch - including going the route you are with Worbla armor pieces (also also like that O ring!). If you have any questions on the Worbla let me know! I've been working with it for two years now. Good luck!

Ooooh you've got a super cool gf if she's a master seamstress that will cover and help with sooo much in cosplaying!! I hear yah on the hakama pants - I made mine traditional as well ... The amount of fabric and money made me cry but they are super fab! I've seen how to videos on making your own worbla and where, yes it works, you have to decide if you want to save some money in replacement of losing time vs spending the money but having the extra time and good that you're familiar with Bill!! Totes hit me up with worbla questions if you have any!!

Noice!! Sculpting is always fun I've actually never heard of Darth Sion before so u looked him up -- holy bothans he's scary!! Looks like a zombie Sith or something-- he should be super fun to cosplay as are you going to make a prosthetic chest piece too? All the pictures I saw he had an exposed chest.

You have a WIP thread this is looking fantastic so far!! I'll admit that I don't know the character lore but I've seen enough pictures of him to know that Starkiller is a complete bad ass and your doing it justice; keep it up!!

Oh! Are you still finishing Starkiller?? But yeah! Omgoooosh you'll always be improving/fixing a costume (just how it goes!). Why spend so much time and money on a costume to a character you love and not make it the best it can be I always have to have a new project or I go nuts, but not until I'm fully satisfied with the work on the previous costume. At least you've got a clearly defined list on what you want done in the near future! After Starkiller, what other characters do you have in mind you'd want to make? I'm currently working on a Cad Bane but because of me learning new, difficult skill sets (such as advanced leather working and prosthetics), not to mention make my wallet cry, this build will take me all year -- but that's OK because I have time to make each part as perfect as my OCD will let me hehehe Well, at least my husband just got into making costumes and already loved Star Wars (he's making a Rebel *scum* X wing pilot suit from the original trilogy) so I guess home free there!! Then again, he knew he married crazy so if he didn't like those things he knew what he was getting into Maybe you could convince your wife that making costumes is super fun and maybe she'll fall in love with a character from Star Wars and want to cosplay as said person. As a wise caption once said, "Never give up, never surrender!"

@Yankee71 -- Thanks! And hey, I couldn't sew either when I first started but I learned by trial and error one can never stop learning! To your question, since Revan is from the video game KOTOR trying to translate a fantasy video game into reality doesn't always work the best. From how I see it, Revan stores his lightsaber hilt at his side/hip area because in the video game animation he draws out his lightsaber from the side (so I'd just assume he stores it there). The reason why the lightsaber hilt might not show up in the graphics (when he's not using it) is because the video game people just didn't want to program it there lol Just my thoughts on it @ASCI Blue -- I'm glad you liked it! I'm also glad you're making a Revan from scratch too -- making scratch builds can be very frustrating but also VERY worth it once it's done! If you go the foam route for armor look up Punished Props (if you haven't heard of them already, of course!). They are masters at turning foam armor into real looking armor. I personally used Worbla (a thermoplastic) as my armor material of choice. If you ever need any help/tips on any part of Revan (armor, cloth, or otherwise) let me know and I'd be happy to help in any way I can

lol thank you! I always find showing photos is a lot easier than explaining D: Oooh pool and pond liners - I get this! To use a heat gun over plastic like that concerns me about health issues lol but thinking of the melting effect over an object is very intriguing and now I want to try it. If ' new trooper' look is what looks best then go for it!! Don't let someone else say otherwise in my opinion, some costumes look better brand new vs weathered -- either way, both can have their appeal but at the end of the day it's whatever makes you happy with your costume! Good luck!

7 - Attachment pieces going on! This is where the Velcro will be added onto. I just took some extra vinyl, folded it over the visible ends, and sewed a straight line down. 8 - Here's a closer look at my zipper foot (left #4) and whatever-it's-called (right #20) that has a wider gap in the middle so that I can use zig-zag stitches without worrying that my needle will hit the edges of the foot and break off. For this project, I had to continuously switch between the two for its various purposes. TIP* Double check your sewing machine accessories first before going out and buying a zipper foot – mine apparently came with one so yours might too!! If not, they can get a little pricey (at least the foot attachments for my Bernina machine are – zipper foot alone was roughly $22) but are WELL worth the purchase since it will make certain projects go by waaaaay quicker and more easily. 9 - Adding the Velcro – normal straight line stitch around all sides. NOTE* this wasn't actually Velcro here ... I forgot the name but it's a single piece that attaches to itself - people use this for rolling up sleeping bags and stuff? idk it's magic though – found it at Joann’s. If memory serves me correct, they come in long rolls and are found by the elastics and snaps. The stores in my area did not carry a Velcro that was wide enough so I had to opt for this option! 10 - Looking good, new mid-section! Almost there!! 11 – My last step was adding the weathering. Revan’s mid-section is darker in the ridge crevices and lighter on the ridge rises. For this, all I did was take some metallic paint (specifically, Rust-Oleum Metallic Accents at Menards – I’m in lurve with this stuff) and dry brush it on. NOTE* if you didn’t know already, the painting technique of ‘dry brushing’ is super simple: take a brush (preferably one that you don’t mind getting ruined as the bristles on the end will get all weird after a few uses with this technique) and slightly dab some paint onto the end – like we’re talking super minimal paint here. You then dab your brush onto your desired surface, rinse and repeat (which, with required minimal paint, will take a while to accomplish but well worth the end result). Dry brushing can give a very similar look to air brushing without the air brushing tools – and also takes a butt load longer, but hey, painting is the fun part (at least to me!). Try dry brushing a few times on a spare piece of vinyl for practice and you’ll get it in no time! NOTE* also, keep in mind that once the paint is on it will be really, really hard to take off (if at all) so make sure you’re committed to your painting! Your vinyl might react differently than mine though so always be safe and paint a test piece before your real project. NOTE* you do not need to spray fix this paint job (some people will use a matte spray finish to seal the paint job so that it does not chip or rub off), but with mine, several troops after finishing this and I have yet to see any paint rubbing off. It is perfection. **** That concludes my tutorial so congrats! You’ve made a Revan mid-section!! No go out and celebrate by buying tacos. ****

Hey everyone! (I apologize if this should go into the Tutorials section but since this is specifically for Revan I thought I should post it here!) My name is Rachel but I go by my artist name, NightShine!! I am a shameless nerd whose favorite thing to obsess over is – you guessed it – Star Wars! But even better than that is STAR WARS COSTUMES *whaaaaat*!! I’ve been cosplaying for a little over two years now and as of January 2016 joined the 501st ranks with my Darth Revan. The concept for Revan’s outfit has always been a particular favorite of mine and, being the artist-nut I am, decided to make my own Revan entirely from scratch! Upon my researching and building I, for some reason, couldn’t find information on how to make Revan’s mid-section armor to save my life. I had made a temporary one out of an Allergan air filter (lol) which didn’t look half bad but I knew that I would need to replace it sooner or later. Thankfully, I had made some amazing Mando Mercs friends, one of who was an excellent seamstress. She shared her knowledge with me on how I could go about making Revan’s mid-section armor and I set out to accomplish the task! This brings me to my post – I want to share my mid-section armor build knowledge in hopes that someone out there, who is having as hard of a time figuring this out as I did, could find it useful. There is also, obviously, more than one right way about making this – this was just how I made mine. I also just like making tutorials. Here we go!!! 1 - To start, I had purchased a black vinyl fabric from Joann's and cut it to *roughly* the size I knew I'd want it to be (PLZ PLZ PLZ always cut MORE fabric for stuff like this - unless you're working directly from a pattern - because it's easier to cut off excess fabric than to put fabric back on!!). 2 - Folding the fabric in half, I lined up, pinned, and sewed (one at a time) tiny foam noodles (Caulksav'r Poly-Foam Backer Rod 5/8 in (D) x 20 ft (L) brand name Dennis). You will need to use a zipper foot for this part (reference in picture 8, left side). I just sewed a simple straight line - nothing fancy for this part! 3 - The ridges are starting to come together! NOTE* I am using the zipper foot here - this particular sewing foot comes in handy when you want to sew directly up against an edge without going over it -- just make sure your needle has been moved ALL THE WAY over to the left or right (depending on which way you're sewing) or that needle will snap right off on your presser foot lol is scary 4 - Cut the excess fabric from the edges and started pinning the bottom (well, shown at the top here) excess to cleanly seal it off. 5 - Bottom is sewn to perfection and is ready to go! I used a combo of zig-zag stitching (to first seal off the visible, cut edges) and straight-line stitching (to hold down the fabric when it was folded over for a cleaner look). 6. Cut out excess foam lining (about 1 inch in my case) on each end to make room to sew the attachment parts onto, or you could just make sure in step 2 to have plenty of extra fabric on the end – your choice!

lol wow! So v.02 was less money AND less hours to make (funny how that goes right?!). I will usually use paper templates as well (even my 3-dimensional costume parts, such as a bag). Paper is just too handy not to use in my opinion! I'm sort of familiar with linoleum but strips of PVC plastic? Do you just get that at a normal hardware store? I always seem to find something new to add to my knowledge If you're looking for a really cool weathered effect look I'd recommend 'dry brushing' some metallic paint on -- I'm a sucker for this method lol This is a bracer from a fantasy armor set of mine -- left has no weathering and right has weathering (the dry brushing method). I also COMPLETELY agree with you on the satisfaction of doing something yourself (and then being able to be proud of it and show it off to everyone hehe). I recently remade my Revan's mid-section armor and the before and after pictures are too funny --> (top is new one / bottom is old one). I guess having your finished costume is one thing but then making improvements and upgrading it is another Have you worn this piece yet at an event to see if it properly holds up? Nothing like finishing something and it falls off while at a convention or a troop! Because that happened to my Revan's butt belt ): I danced too hard and it flew right off of me lmao

This looks fantastic!! The v.01 looked good but v.02 really stepped it up -- it's amazing what a little extra attention to detail can bring out in a costume. V.02 looks a lot sturdier -- what materials did you use for both versions (just curious!).

You could make a small pouch in back (where it's less visible!) and just feed the wire under your armor to the back. The mask IS super close/more facial form-fitting so having a mic might not work the best or be comfortable-- you could always craft/order a mask that sits a little farther from the face if you really wanted to go this route personally, I've never had a problem with people hearing me on troops or at conventions!! Idk though maybe I'm just loud lol

I'm a girl and I used a chest binder (from Amazon) -- it helps a lot more than one would think!! As far as soft patterns go I made my own patterns so not sure what is really out there. One option is to modify an existing pattern.

Great write-up!! Also, your bald cap looks amazing!! For Ventress, a seamless transition is extremely necessary but is also difficult to pull off - Dooku would be impressed! ;D

I've never seen this character before - he looks so BA!! Dat mask tho!

Hello!! I would have posted a lot sooner but had to wait to get approved onto the forums My 501st approved Revan was all hand built from scratch! I am more than happy to coach you through any particular piece -- particularly the chest armor atm? Were you planning on having a back piece as well or just the front? This is important because there will be different ways then to attach the armor. Unfortunately, my Revan was being built for an indie web/tv series and I never took any process pictures lol So I will do my best to explain without them Remember - this is just how I made my chest piece and what particularly worked for me! This is a quick run down so plz feel free to ask any questions!! ~ Reference Photos: make sure to have a lot of reference photos on hand (I found these super helpful-- http://mywickedarmor.com/costumes/revan/revan.htm ) ~ Free-handing Patterns: create the basic shape of the chest piece by making a simple paper pattern (if you don't have large paper handy, news paper can work fine too) --- you will cut and trim accordingly as you practice 'trying it on' and seeing if the paper chest piece forms adequately around you. --- remember: you are making a base patterns first - detailing comes later! Think of it as building a cake - you want to start with the actual cake then add frosting, sprinkles, and candles later! --- idk why I just referenced cake ~ Choosing Materials: what do you want to build your armor out of? I made all of my armor, including the mask, out of a thermoplastic known as Worlba. --- if you are not familiar with the process of Worbla it's a bit to explain but basically I cut out two Worbla pieces with my chest piece paper pattern, added a matching piece of craft foam in-between the two Worbla pieces, and 'sandwiched' them together to give extra durability and thickness! --- once the Worbla was shaped to my body (using a heat gun) I started to pattern the chest piece details. ~ Adding Details: You can pattern the details in any way that works (again, such as paper patterns) just as long as both sides of the chest piece match up and are identical. --- after my details were patterned out I used Worbla again to make the designs (Worbla is self-adhesive so when heated up Worbla sticks to itself - no glue necessary!) ((Worbla looks and feels like cardboard until you heat it up with a heat gun - it then becomes pliable like putty and can be shaped into anything - dries hard)) This obviously doesn't include adding armor attachments, painting, adding clasps etc. Again, just a quick run-down to give you a general feel (at least how I did mine! lol) Plz feel free to ask any questions -- hope I was somewhat helpful haha