Painting fabric / tarpaulin

[Guest]

Hi folks,

I have a tarpaulin to paint, I've done the base shade in mid-earth and I'm looking for tips on getting it a bit more "3D". I am going to wash / drybrush, but I'm sure I read somewhere that I can wash the matt surface without glossing it,giving a subtle dirty effect, but I can't find the article.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks

Stuart

[Ian M]

My humle oppinion is that you might need to paint it mat then seal it, with klear or a clear gloss then weather then Clear mat coat to bring it all down flat again. Then I could be wronge.

Ian M

[Guest]

I would go with what Ian said.

To weather it, I would use a wash. I have no idea about using ink/oil type washes but Promodeller washes which are clay based can be painted on and then, when dry, wiped off leaving it in the creases and hollows. That is how I do my figures as well. Some of the Promodeller washes are now available from the Scale Models shop. The mud brown and black are worth having. I also use the light for getting a 'dusty' look. Once you have got the look you want over the gloss 'Klear' coat, you then seal it with a flat varnish.

[Gern]

Hi Stuart,

I asked about washes a couple of weeks ago. If you put a wash on a smooth gloss surface it's easy to wipe away what you don't want 'cos the colour particles all lie at the same level on the surface. On a rough matt surface the particles of colour in the wash will stick in the rough hollow bits of the surface. If your matt surface is uneven, you could find more wash sticking in the rougher deeper spots on the surface. That should help give you some colour variation.

I gotta say I'm only guessing though. You ought to try on something that's not critical.

Gern

[Guest]

Thanks guys, decided to take the plunge and I've tried it with an ochre coloured wash over the matt, and it looks ok, I'll scrub it off the high surfaces then do a darker one so it looks dirty as well as shaded... I've got some pics from before scrubbing..

Looks rather too much like dried liquid (which it obviously is lol) but looks better after a wipe!

Thanks for the help

Stuart

[Guest]

Oooo, I like this little scene, what did you use for the tarp? The rust bottomed oil drum looks very good.

[Guest]

OK for some reason my reply didnt appear...

The whole thing came cast in resin like it shows - tarp and all! I just trimmed back a couple of flaky bits and that was it. It was from ebay, IIRC around £4 and is not of any brand that i can see.

The rust on the oil drum is actually more of that mud, but I might scrape it back and call it rust!

Thanks

Stuart