WIP: CW Arrow Nyssa al Ghul

[tiga]

I started researching this costume in late 2017, but aside from buying some fabric and getting samples, I didn't really start working on it than just recently. Costumes are widely available from China, but, as usual, they cut a lot of corners.

Along with some images on the web, the season 5 finale was been an excellent source for reference shots.

I'll just go over the main pieces in this post and edit/add later if I forgot something:

Hood

The hood itself is rather simple, but I have been unable to find a material with the right perforation pattern on it. I bought some synthetic leather with just a grid of small holes punched into it and will probably make a first iteration that way. People have suggested laser-cutting leather and I have been wondering about using a cricut or vinyl cutter to make it.

The closest I have found is this, but it is not available: Siera Cutout Faux Leather Star Black

Robe

I haven't been able to locate the exact fabric, but I found a Chinese faux brocade fabric that I think will look good. I also bought some inexpensive black fabric that I used as a lining for a project last year that will probably be ok here. I'm going to use some existing patterns as starting points and modify to replicate the costume as well as I can.

Compound bow

The bow used in the TV show is a PSE Chaos with modifications to make it safe (you can see the bow string is quite loose in some shots and there's just a single string). I actually found a used black PSE Chaos on eBay in 2017 and bought it. Even with shipping to Finland and taxes etc, it was a very good deal. I even took some archery lessons and have shot the bow (it came fully equipped, including arrows). It obviously can't be used for cosplay as is and I would hate to damage it, so I will be making a 3D-printed non-firing replica for cosplay. This should be a fun Fusion 360 & 3D printing project and having the actual bow at hand makes it much easier than working from reference photos. I will also make con-safe arrows.

Quiver / harness / shoulders

This will be mostly "leatherworking". I put leatherworking in quotes, because I will also use some 3D printing and probably some faux leather as well. I almost got thrown out of a local leather shop for mentioning faux leather... This is going to be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to build from the reference photos. As always, I wish I had better reference photos, but what I have should be enough to make a pretty good version.

Sword & sheath

I recently modeled and printed the sword. I think it's close to a Chinese dao. Is the "black squiggly" graphic on it Arabic text or just decoration? I mirrored it to both sides, but if it's text, I'm not sure if that's right. I did a first round of sanding already. I'll try to put a bit more than my usualy amount of effort into painting it. The sheath will be a combination of 3D printed internals and more "leatherworking".

Knife / Dagger

I don't think I've seen the knife drawn in any episode, but I may have missed it back when I wasn't really planning on creating this costume. I'll just have to come up with a reasonable blade design if I can't find a photo of it when it's drawn out.

Gloves / wrist protectors

I bought inexpensive long black gloves, but may look for real leather ugprades at some point. I managed to get a small sliver of red vegetable tan leather from the leather shop and will experiment with that some time soon & then determine if I will make the wrist protectors of actual leather. Alternatives are flexible 3D prints, foam and faux leather.

Pants & Boots

I decided to go with inexpensive faux leather ready-made items for these. The pants lack the details around the knees, but I think they are "good enough". For boots, I found something I thought I liked even though it wasn't accurate and since it was inexpensive, I bought it through eBay. The boots arrived in record time, but didn't really match the eBay photos at all. I left a negative review and moved on. I bought another pair of boots that are actually quite close to accurate. They are only slightly shorter. I moved the upper strap a bit higher last night. Still not 100% accurate, but surprisingly close.

I'll add photos to future posts, but please post comments if you are interested and indicate what you would like to see. I'll try to post more detailed updates on my progress regularly, because it also helps me keep my momentum going.

In terms of time frame, I hope to have the costume completed well in time before Dragon Con this year (not sure if I'm going, but it's a good target to have).

 

[omegaman]

Regarding the sword - it is the Arabian sands sword:
Arabian Sands Scimitar Sword With Sheath | BUDK.com - Knives & Swords At The Lowest Prices!
And yes though its called a scimitar the blade and handle is closer to the Chinese Dao.
I found some of them still available on ebay in the US an tried to ordered two, since I need a pretty and kind of sharp one for displays and one that I can blunt at the edge to use in show fencing, but was informed that the vendor cannot deliver blades to Germany. There is another vendor, but this one has higher shipping rates, and would only be economical when ordering more than 2 swords.
Btw. I got a used Procosplay Nyssa for my show partner and the pants and were quite good, the Pleather accessories need to be replaced though of course.
Congrats on the bow, I looked for these a while back but could not find anyone on offer.

 

[omegaman]

The dagger is a tricky one, the episodes it is most prominently featured in listed here:
Arrow Source - Create, Discover and Share Awesome GIFs on Gfycat
In a CGI closeup of an arrow hitting her hand with the dagger the blade looks like a Jambiya or Khanjar, with a brass ricasso and a full brass hilt.
The hilt and sheaths can be seen quite well here:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/39/36/a7/3936a756a007b49c515470f740cfd0b4.jpg
The Falcata style hilt design is in line with the ?"300" leftover? Falcata many of the League Assassins wield.
She also has a "boot knife" with a more narrow blade and similar but smaller grip strapped to the outside of her left boot, this might be the same that she draws on Oliver after loosing her dagger and other weapons at 1:10 here:

 

[tiga]

Thank you so much for the help on the sword and dagger. Those product photos of the sword may allow me to fine-tune the 3D model I already made. I'll probaby post the model on MyMinifactory, so if you can get it printed, that could also solve your problem! If the differences are minor, I may just keep working on the print that I already assembled & wet-sanded as there's already a few hours of 3D printer time and maybe an hour or two manual work in that one... The one I printed has a 19.5" blade and 27" overall length. Here's a 3D rendering:

I worked on the hood about a week ago, making a pattern for it and even started on the assembly, but it's not completed yet.

I also tested embossing vegetable tan leather using a 3D printed mold and I'm really pleased wit the results, so I will probably make the thick leather parts of actual leather. I tested the same mold on faux leather and it can be made to work, but I would need to print the shape using flexible filament and then glue the leather on that for the embossing to really keep its shape.

 

[tiga]

I may have found a source for the perforated faux leather in the hood and I have requested a sample. Shipping is somewhat expensive, but the fabric itself isn't too expensive. I'll post a link once I have verified that it's a good source and ordered some for myself. Finishing the current build will allow me to figure out exactly how much fabric is needed for one hood. Considering how expensive their shipping is, I'll probably order twice that amount (and maybe then some). Finding this fabric has been the most frustrating part of this build so far, so I hope I can stop looking now.

I placed a reference photo in Fusion 360 as a canvas, calibrated it using the shoulder to shoulder width. It was then easy to create a sketch and measured all the strap widths and rivet sizes. This allowed me to narrow down my search for suitable buckles. AliExpress was quite frustrating and I ended up buying a bunch of buckles from an Estonian online store instead. I already obtained 15 and 20 mm faux leather strap material, but I also bought a couple of cheap 25mm wide belts from eBay for the wider straps.

As far as the sword goes, I realised that I haven't done any manual finishing at all on the printed hilt, so if change the model and print it one more time, none of the work that I put on the blade will go to waste.

Here's a photo of the vegetable tan leather embossing test I did a week ago and the 3D-printed molds.

 

[tiga]

I received the faux leather sample and while the perforation pattern is not a 100% match with the actual fabric, it's much closer than anything else I have found. The perforation pattern is missing half the small round holes and the long holes are more oval shaped vs. the more slot-shaped ones in the screen-worn costume. My order shipped this week, so I should be getting it early next week. The fabric has less shine and a slightly coarser texture than what I had before, but the red lining will work much better with the larger holes. There's still 4 meters of fabric left at the online shop (one hood requires a minimum of about 60-70cm of fabric):

Imitation leather soft perforated Ebène - Mosaic x 10cm - Ma Petite Mercerie

I modified the sword model so that the handle is closer to the Arabian Sands sword, but I kept the blade as is. My blade is slightly longer and sharpened slightly differently, but it's still a close match. Given the construction and sanding I had already done, I didn't want to start over. The sword is now mostly painted. The black detail on the blade + clearcoat still need to be done and the blade side of the guard is currently unpainted too.

I received buckles and some rivets and I'm still waiting for some more materials and tools to arrive before I start working on the harness. I'm working 4 day weeks in April, so I should be able to pick up pace a little bit at that point thanks to three day weekends and a vacation around Easter.

 

[lululandia]

That leather embossing looks great!

 

[tiga]

My apologies for the long update interval. I haven't been entirely idle however. I finished painting the scimitar, although there's one face on it that I originally intended to paint, but I'm not sure it needs it now. The large paint surfaces were done with a spray can, but I used my airbrush for the inscription on the blade (and the final clearcoat). I originally intended to use masking tape for the inscription mask, but went with a 3D-printed stencil instead. I used flexible filament for the stencil print and printed it on glass, so it was really smooth on one side. I also applied a bit of "It Stays" water soluble adhesive on it and the stencils worked really well. There was a little bit of lifting on one side, but it looks acceptable to me.

I bought a bit of vegetable tan horse leather from AliExpress just to try it, but the embossing doesn't work nearly as well. On top of that, the red color was way too deep on the smooth side. The embossing technique works much better on less dense leather and horse leather is quite dense. I want to draw and 3D-print the arm guard designs before I buy any more leather, so I know how much I will need.

I bought some sewing machine presser foots, so I can get a nice finish on the hood lining. This is because I'm going to leave the bottom of the lining unattached to the faux leather just like it is on the real costume and the lining fabric frays very easily, so it needs a rolled up edge. I haven't tried this yet, because I had laser eye surgery last week and my vision is still recovering. I should be able to get back to doing detail work in a few days or maybe a week.

 

[JTKeeton1997]

I dont know if these photos will help or if anyone who will see this reply has already viewed these photos elsewhere, but i thought they may help

 

[tiga]

The photos are new to me and will help a lot. Thank you!

 

[tiga]

My apologies for the radio silence. Fortunately (for me at least), this project has been far from dead. Reporting to someone really helps me keep up my pace when building a costume like this and in this case I found a friend who was interested in the progress and so I slacked on posting here. I managed to get the costume into what I call "completed" state just before Dragon Con. A few details are still missing that I will probably fill in later on.

I have in progress photos and of course stories to go with them and I would like to post them here once I'm back home. For now though, I'll just show what the costume looked like in Atlanta last weekend:



Instagram: Fablegraph photo of Nyssa

I took part in the Marvel vs. DC shoot on Friday and the giant DC shoot on Sunday. Hall photographers also showed a good amount of interest, so some of those might surface when the photographers have had a chance to process what they caught over the weekend.

Reactions to the costume were really positive and I'm pretty sure that this will be my main cosplay from now on. The long faux leather gloves are super-sweaty and were already starting to fall apart on Sunday. I'll keep my eyes open for more durable & more comfortable options, but overall I would say that the costume is extremely comfortable to wear and was quite manageable even in the relatively hot weather.

The right boot sole came loose already on Thursday, but fortunately there's a shoe report shop at the MARTA station, so I was able to get it fixed by 1PM on Friday. Other than that and the gloves showing signs of wear, the only broken piece was one arrow nock (quickly replace by one of the spares I brought with me).

 

[13doctorwho]

Don't know, you may have already seen this. There is an unofficial replica of Nyssa's sword. It's a real sword available from a company called BudK. You wouldn't be able to take it to conventions, but it would look cool on the wall or in pictures!!

Arabian Sands Scimitar Sword With Sheath - Free Shipping!

 

[Chris92]

Don't know, you may have already seen this. There is an unofficial replica of Nyssa's sword. It's a real sword available from a company called BudK. You wouldn't be able to take it to conventions, but it would look cool on the wall or in pictures!!

Arabian Sands Scimitar Sword With Sheath - Free Shipping!

Not an "unofficial replica". That's what was used. They just made a new sheath for it, and for stunts, used a rubber casting.

 

[tiga]

I have been shamefully lazy posting stuff on the cosplay. I just got sucked back into World of Warcraft for over a year and especially cosplay activity fell to the side until I quite again about a month ago.

I posted the 3D models for the sword and sheath on MyMinifactory earlier today. The files haven't passed their checks yet, but you can access the page using this direct link:

3D Printable Nyssa al Ghul Cosplay Scimitar from Arrow by Juri Munkki

This is a scimitar style sword I modeled for my Nyssa al Ghul cosplay. She's one of the characters in the CW Arrow TV show. The same sword is also used by some other characters in the Assassins Guild. There are also parts that you can use to make a sheath for the sword, but you will need to glue...

www.myminifactory.com

Like I said in the last post, I was at Dragon Con 2019 and wore this cosplay a lot. The group shoots that year also had photographers taking individual photos of every cosplayer. What seems to have happened though is that just a few photographers posted galleries very soon after the event and then it all went silence. A few people were lucky to have their individual photos taken by photographers who posted them, but I think most of them were never released. I guess it just ended up being too much (volunteer & unpaid) work. I haven't really cosplayed after that either, but I do have the costume on a mannequin on display at my home and seeing it every day bring me happiness.

I might publish more 3D models for this costume. I'm considering posting the bow model, but it's very close to a real bow, so I'm a bit worried about rights. The dagger is mostly my own design based on very fuzzy reference photos, so I don't think anyone would have a problem with that. The wrist guards are also 3D-printed using flexible filaments.

The arrow fletchings and nocks might also be of interest. The back end of the arrow is 3D printed with rails for 3D-printed fletchings. I combined multiple jumbo size plastic straws and used heat shrink tube as a covering for the arrow shafts and also 3D-printed some arrow tips. The arrows look very real, but are very light and quite floppy. I think bans on plastic straws might require some changes to the parts, but the technique I used for the fletchings might be worth sharing on MyMinifactory.

 

[13doctorwho]

Welcome back! If you take more pictures of the full suit please post them!