New Nihilus need critiquie

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi everyone i still need to weather all the robes but how does it look so far?

[Atavistic]

We need more pictures if you've got them.

I can't tell how wide the crown and hood are without a straight-on photograph.

 

At first glance, the obi is too wide. I had to fix that, too.

 

The lightsaber needs to come off of the belt. It's fine to troop with it on, but for application photos the lightsaber can't be worn on the belt. No clip should be present on the belt either.

 

When closing the outer tunic, close the right side over the left. It's backward in your photo.

 

I'll let Scott or Pam comment on the quilting of the sleeves. The quilting looks too narrow and busy to me but that may be acceptable.

 

And as you noted, weather the heck out of the costume.

 

The costume looks decent as a starting point and it would help if we could see it from more angles. Weathering the costume will be a vast improvement. I've pointed out what I can from this photograph and I'm sure that others will chime in to help you.

 

 

Cheers

[Drago Lordist]

your sleeves almost look like corduroy or velveteen. Make sure you get pics of that too, because that's not an accurate material if it is. The ribbing/piping on the sleeves looks very close together where each strip should be about 1" wide, but that MAY slide.

[Scottrooper]

It's hard to make out many details on the suit. (Pretty grainy picture, combined with the strong light behind you and it just hides a lot.)

 

But, from what we can see...

 

The crown "horns" look to be too far to the sides, and too high. Can't tell the placement front to back from the current shot.

 

Can't see the front of the shirts to see the collars, or see the skirt split to show the layers.

 

The sleeves do look like the quilted lines are too small/close together.

[Guest Anonymous]

thanks for the comments and help. The Obi is 5 inches wide that's the 10 cm in the CRL.

[Guest Anonymous]

The tunic in the Legion CRL shows the left closing over the right.

[Atavistic]

The main picture shows the left side crossing over the right but the picture is wrong.

 

 

Look at the other pictures in the CRL, they show the right side crossing over the left. And read the description of the inner tunic...

 

6. Inner tunic: The inner tunic is made from the same black material as the hood and cape. The right side of the tunic crosses over the left side in the front.

[Atavistic]

thanks for the comments and help. The Obi is 5 inches wide that's the 10 cm in the CRL.

 

10 cm= 4 inches. As an American it's awkward for me to convert to metric sometimes. But because I live in Australia I'm forced to convert. Perhaps the conversion made your obi a bit too wide? I did the same thing on my first try at the obi.

 

As far as the obi goes, its width is dependent upon the width of your belt. A good rule of thumb is that the obi should be approximately two inches wider than the belt. One inch of the obi visible above the belt and one inch visible below the belt. If you look at the COTF artwork, you can see this proportional relationship between the belt and the obi.

 

In your picture the obi looks like it's twice the width of your belt and that's why I pointed it out.

[Guest Anonymous]

New pics, new sleeves, new obi......

[Tags]

What do you wear under the mask?

[Guest Anonymous]

the top section of a pair of tights. I also have a big beard under there.

[Tags]

In the top pic it looks a little baggy, almost hanging a little loose... as it nears the chest, something tighter might look a little better.

 

You can get a Balaclava with an attached diki to hide your chest, then just sew something you can see though into the Balaclava,

[Atavistic]

This is a vast improvement! The obi and sleeves look so much better.

 

Thanks for the new pictures. It's easier to see things.

 

The hood and under-mask need a little attention now. The sides of your hood billow outward somewhat. You ought to find a way to pull them in a bit like the COTF artwork...

 

 

The sides of the hood create a box surrounding the head. the sides should be nearly vertical. The trick lies in finding a way to attach the inside of the hood to your crown in order to keep it from billowing out. You can also find a way to fix the fabric of the hood to the top of your shoulders near your neck in order to restrain the hood from billowing out. Fixing the knot in place with a couple of rare earth magnets also does wonders for pulling the sides of the hood down and taut. These are just a few of the possible ways to sort out your hood.

 

I second the recommendation of using a balaclava as an under-mask. The under-mask should conform to the shape of your head, including your chin and throat. I use an Under Armor HeatGear balaclava worn backwards to accomplish this. I understand the awkwardness of having a beard, even under a balaclava. A beard will influence the shape of the balaclava and some hairs may poke through a bit. I had a beard in my initial Nihilus submission photographs so I understand what it's like. It's better to have a form-fitting under-mask, though, rather than a lot of loose fabric draping down from your chin. And the bib is a good idea, too. That ensures that your flesh will never be seen between the under-mask and the top of your inner tunic.

 

Once you sort out the sides of the hood and your under-mask it would be great to see updated pictures. It looks like the "cat-ears" of your crown are too wide but the billowing hood may be creating that appearance. I'd rather see the hood sorted before making a call on the crown width.

 

I see that you removed the lightsaber clip for your photos. Good going. And I noticed that you closed the tunic properly. Another good detail. These pictures are a lot better! I can see details that I couldn't before and we all appreciate your efforts to improve your costume.

 

Your weathering is awesome!

 

I can't stress enough how much better the quality of these photographs is. The lighting is better and it's a lot easier to see the details of your work. Your Nihilus is coming right along and it's great to watch it evolve.

[Scottrooper]

Atavistic nailed almost everything I would have said.

 

The only addition to make to what he has already said is:

 

It looks like you are missing a layer of tunic. There should be two of the criss-crossed tunics to this suit. Visible at the collar area only really. You might want to check Atavistic's build thread to see how he did his if you'd like to avoid making and adding another full tunic.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1965

[Atavistic]

Thank you, Scott.

 

Yes, I added a dickey to my costume. My inner tunic looks look a tee-shirt, no cross over fold. I added the dickey to simulate the look of a folded over inner tunic.

 

I've seen so many Nihilus costumes without the appearance of an inner tunic that I tend to forget about it, even though I've compensated for it.

 

For the sake of accuracy, the outer tunic could be re-worked to add gathers to its front panels. I did that. But it isn't a requirement. At least not yet.

[Guest Anonymous]

I have 2 tunics. The inner one has my sleeves and outer skirt atatched to it. They are just getting lined up purely but chance and the outer one ends up covering the inner one up by the time I move my arms around a few times. I will address the cowl sides by trying a stiff plastic piping cord down the sides of the face to get the drawn in look and securing it to the unside of the cheeks. It's tough to convey the needs of the look to your wife who isnt a SW fan so when you twist your head and things get out of whack she doesnt notice. If I can get the cowl locked down it wont distort when I move around. Thanks again for the input.

[Atavistic]

We figured that you're wearing two tunics. You'd have to with the sleeves. If the inner tunic closes with a cross-over like the outer tunic does it's simply a matter of making the inner tunic cross-over (right over left) visible when the full costume is on.

 

I remember feeling somewhat like a primadonna when I was having my submission photos taken... Is my balaclava covering my throat? Are the obi and belt sitting low enough? Is my outer tunic fully closed? Can you see my inner tunic (dickey)? Etc, etc., etc. It boils down to being a perfectionist for the brief amount of time it takes to get the photos taken. It's doubly tough when your photographer doesn't share your knowledge and enthusiasm for the presentation.

 

When sorting the sides of the hood, please remember that the forward edges of the hood run parallel with the sides of the mask but they do not quite touch it. There's a slight one centimeter gap or so between the mask and the forward edges of the hood. Recessed fabric from the hood actually closes the gap between the sides of the hood and the mask but the forward edges of the hood do not touch the mask. Here's a good example of what I'm referring to...

 

 

Or Scott's hood...

 

The drape of the fabric brings the forward edge of the hood close to the mask but it doesn't actually touch. Clearly visible on Scott's left side.

 

Or on my own mask...

 

You can see that the forward edges of the hood run parallel with the mask but they do not touch. There is recessed fabric placed back from the forward edges that spans the gap between the sides of the hood and the mask.

 

It would also help to see side views of you in costume. The above side view picture is what you should aim to duplicate. It shows how far forward the hood should sit and how much of the mask should be visible. It all comes down to placement. The above picture also shows the general shape of your head when in costume. Nihilus' head is somewhat squared on top. The crown gives us this shape.

 

You're welcome for the input

We're rather proud of Nihilus and take a great deal of pleasure in helping others to polish off this costume.

[Guest Anonymous]

Here are some more pics from the sides and back. These are from the same session as the others so nothing has been done to the hood. I kept holding my chin up and it caused me to loose the flat look of the top of my head. i have a cardboard,leather and heavy black wool understructure underneath the hood cape to get the skull shape. Like you pointed out I need to refine the fall of the sides and I am going to secure the top inside so it wont move. I have all the understructure secured to a hardhat liner.

[Guest Anonymous]

Any comments on the saber? It's off the shelf parts from the Custom Saber Shop. I need to get the electronics and blade.

[Atavistic]

Thanks for the side view photographs. Lowering your chin ought to make it look more appropriate. I did the same thing in my photos. Just pay attention to your head position when you take your next round of photos with the updated hood. The forward edge placement of the hood looks good. It hovers near and around the eye openings in the mask as it should. I suspect that sorting out the hood will straighten out that forward edge and make it line up even better along the rear edge of the eye openings.

 

 

Do you have any photos of the lightsaber on its own? Your lightsaber, from what I can see, has a roughly KOTOR look to it. It's not a COTF specific Nihilus lightsaber, though there are hints of it.

 

OR

 

The COTF Nihilus lightsaber tends to have a forked pommel and a diagonal band just underneath the emitter.

 

From the Darth Nihilus COTF CRL...

 

Costume Accessories:

 

13. Lightsaber: The hilt resembles one of the Knights of the Old Republic II or COTF single bladed lightsaber hilts. If the lightsaber has a blade, the blade is red in color.

 

 

Fortunately, the lightsaber isn't required for this costume. If you have one, it doesn't require electronics or even a blade. If your lightsaber isn't up to snuff, so to speak, you can omit it for your submission photographs. And you can always wear and carry it on troops.

 

 

 

Out of curiosity, am I seeing a double cape of sorts? According to the CRL...

 

Hood and Cape: The hood and cape are made from a single piece of black fabric.

 

Like so:

 

It looks as if your hood is a separate piece of fabric. There's a sort of mini-cape going on here.

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes they are 2 parts it's just like the pinned tutorial at the top of the page. His hood and cape are seperate pieces. As for the saber I will take a few pics out of my hand. It is very close to the one in the pic you posted in fact that's the pic I used to make it. The 2 differences are the diagonal detail and the other side of the forked pommel. These details would have to be completely custom made and you and I both know a fully custom Nihilus saber costs a pretty penny.

[Atavistic]

True enough, the cape in Scott and Pam's website does consist of two separate layers. When reading their tutorial, you'll notice two details... First, the two pieces have been sewn together to keep them together (in order to add volume to the cloak). Second, and pertinent here, the outer and inner layers are the same length, hanging around Scott's ankles. You can't tell that there are two layers.

** We'll see if Scott chimes in here on what they did. Hopefully I didn't just stick my foot in my mouth and misinterpret what they did.

 

Your outer layer looks to be approximately three feet up from the ground and it's clearly separate from the inner cape.

 

 

I sincerely hope that my commentary and observations don't come across in a negative tone. I'm not trying to harp on your efforts or to denigrate your costume. My sole aim is to help you to perfect your costume by pointing out various details. I'm on your side here and I assure you that I went through the same process.

 

I look forward to seeing your lightsaber on its own. It'll be a lot easier to see its details.

 

Cheers,

Shawn

[Tags]

Personally I just tuck my cape coming from the hood into behind my outer cape. the over all appearance is much more pleasing.

[Scottrooper]

Saber is fine. As long as it's not a Vader, Dooku, Maul, etc...you're good to go.

 

For the capes. Remember that it isn't so much how you make it, as how the final appearance comes out. My capes are indeed 2 individual pieces, but they're built in such a way that you can't tell. (Same length, same fabric, wear patterns between the layers match up, etc...)

 

I did initially try what Tags did, and put the outer most cape inside, but it just didn't hang right for me.

 

I think, if you lengthen out the outer cape so that it's as long as your inner cape, as long as they're made of matching material, you should be ok. The length/weight may help with the cowl flaring out as well.

 

For the tunics, pull the inner one a little tighter maybe so it crosses higher, then let the outer one hang a little looser so it crosses lower, then we'll be able to see the two layers

[Guest Anonymous]

I got the GML comments today and I'm all good except for the hood cape it has to go. I will just go with one cape all the way over the head. I have to address the puffy neck as well. Everything else was fine. I will dress the front to highlight both tunics in my second set of submittal pics too.

 

No problem on any of the critque I asked for help and that's what I am getting. Thanks