Tutorial - Capes made from tissue

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Here's a couple of examples of capes made with this technique:

 

 

First up are some basic tools:



*The tissue, of course. The kind I have is a name brand, so it's relatively sturdy and is actually two thin layers.

*Scissors, to cut the tissue. Trust me on this - even a brand new, razor sharp hobby knife isn't up to the task.

*Long tweezers to help with positioning and moving the delicate tissue, and even more so once it's been soaked.

*Clay shapers, the handle of a paintbrush, small plastic or brass tubing, etc. You'll want some kind of tools to help you shape it and get the folds you want.

*A paintbrush you don't mind possibly ruining by soaking it with glue. I prefer the flat type pictured.

*Hobby knife, to cut the tissue once it's partially dry if you wish to go for a distressed or tattered look.

Not pictured:

*PVA or white glue, and ensure that it's water soluble.

*Dish of water and another smaller one for the glue.

*Cyanoacrylate (CA) or "super" glue

*Tape of some kind that's got a strong adhesive. I used packing tape for this.

*A straight edge or ruler, preferably metal, but any with one smooth surface will work.

1) Prepping the tissue

 

I pulled the two layers of the tissue apart and set one of them aside.

 

I folded the single layer of tissue over on the crease that was already there and used the smooth surface of a my metal hobby ruler to press the crease flat, like you would if making a paper airplane or some such.

 

You can see the difference in the flattened piece and the other layer:



Next, I set the figure on top of the tissue with the feet at the crease. This is important because the cape will be one thin layer folded in half, and the bottom edge will be the crease, so it won't separate while you're working it.

 

I drew a rough shape in pencil of how big I wanted the cape to be, and it actually turned out to be a touch too long, so once I cut it out, I trimmed from the top, not the bottom! Remember, we need to keep that crease as the bottom edge of the cape!

 

2) Anchoring

 

In my previous attempt at this, I just used super glue to adhere the top of the cape right to the figure, but removing it to paint separately was a pain and tore the cape in a few spots. A few days ago while thinking about how to do this tutorial, I had an epiphany on the subject of removing the cape and a way to make it easier. This is where the tape comes in! I cut two small rectangles of packing tape and attached them to the back of the figure, and used a clay shaper to smooth it down and really make sure it was secured to the figure. Since the tape is clear and didn't show up very well in the photo, I outlined the pieces in this pic:

 

 
Put a little dot of super glue on the tape and carefully press the tissue onto it with the tweezers, and add another dot from the top side if you have to so that it sticks. Be VERY careful about getting anything stuck to the super glue except the tissue at this point(finger tips in particular), or it will destroy the tissue and you'll have to cut out a new one and start over. Here's how it looked after each side was anchored to the tape:


 
As you can see, the two layers are separating at the sides a little, but don't worry if that happens - it only matters if the bottom edge comes apart.
 
At this point, I will use my fingers to move the tissue around, pushing and pulling gently, to see just what I can do with it. Sometimes the idea you had in your head for something doesn't come out as planned once you get into doing it. Think of this as the sketching phase of a drawing. Here's my rough idea(and this was quite a pain to photograph with only two hands).

*NOTE* If you don't plan on removing the cape to paint separately, you can just glue it straight to the figure and not worry about the tape.

 

3) Glue

Put some of the glue in a dish and thin it 50/50 with water. Load the brush with the thinned glue and starting from the top where the cape is anchored, slowly start soaking the tissue. Don't rush this part because it can tear easily.

 

Once it's completely soaked, it starts to look a lot more like cloth, holding close to the figure with creases and folds.

 

 

At this point, I put the figure on his base and secure it to one of my paint bottles, because you want to make sure you don't make the cape hang below the base the figure will be attached to.

Next, I start moving the tissue around to make sure I cover up the the small remnant of the old cape. To do this and have it look accurate, I imagine that the wind is coming at the figure from behind him and to his right, which would press the cape against his right side and billow out to his left side. With the tweezers and the paint brush loaded with more glue at the ready, I press the cape against his side, holding it with the tweezers, and then using the paint brush add more glue and hold it in place:
 

 

Important tip: Always have the paint brush handy - I'd load it with thinned glue and hold the handle of the brush in my mouth - because the tissue is so thin that the glue will start to set relatively quickly and you will sometimes need to wet an area down again to keep it supple.

To get the left side of the cape to look how I want, I wet the tips of the tweezers in water and grasp the tissue, carefully pulling it out and away from the figure.



Go slowly, and if you start to feel tension, back off, because it doesn't take much at all to tear it. I almost did just that because I had secured the right side of the cape to the figure so well, I nearly ripped it in half when I first started pulling on it. Go slow and easy. Once I had the cape flowing out to the side, I used the tweezers to grab small areas and twist or tug on the tissue, and clay shapers to move it around andstart putting folds into it. Since I couldn't really take photos of that, I marked out the approximate areas in red where I used the tweezers and shapers on it:



Here's a look from the front side:
 

 

Once you get it to where you want it, put it under a lamp to help the glue dry faster, but be wary of putting the bulb too close and possibly doing heat damage to your figure. If everything goes well, in about 20 minutes, the glue will have dried and then you can go back in with a heavy dilution of glue, around 75/25 or a little more, and put a thin coat over the cape and then stick it back under the light again. Once this second layer dries, it should really stiff and you can then pull it away from the figure.

However, if things don't go well, as they did in my case, then you might have to go back and do some clean up. Normally, you can simply soak the bad area with thinned glue, fix the problem, and let it dry again. Since the glue is water soluble, you can do this as much as you want. If the problem is more severe, more drastic measures might have to be taken. Here's how the cape looked after it dried:



Like a temperamental souffle, it collapsed on me while it was drying. The left side fell inward because I didn't use enough glue to hold it in place before drying, and the middle part adhered the remnant of the old cape, smoothing itself out and taking most of the folds I had worked with it. i didn't realize it would do that, and probably would again if I softened up the area and tried again. What to do? Patch it! I cut a small piece of tissue to fit in the affected area:



Holding it in place with the tweezers, I used the brush to soak the top of the patch until it stuck. This was another one of those things I couldn't photograph, having only two hands. Here's a shot showing where the top of the patch is, just below the red line:



Now, I knew that if I soaked the patch completely, it would probably do exactly the same thing again and smooth out against the underlying area, and I also wanted one of this big hill-and-valley type folds in the back of the cape, so I held the bottom edge of the patch with the tweezers and soaked the sides of it, leaving the middle dry and standing out away from the rest of the cape. As it's difficult to see what's wet and what's dry, I used the middle pic of these three to outline the area I soaked:

When the glue on the sides of the patch dried, I went back and used a 75/25 dilution to soak the middle, and it's done.

 

 

Once you're happy with the cloak, you'll need to seal it so that water will no longer soften the glue, and I always use a spray can primer for that. The tissue will have some texture to it, and if that's something you don't want, a tip from Kronus Stormbringer is to use a gloss varnish after the primer to fill in the texture.

 

Good luck to those who try it, and if you do, I would like  to see the results you get from it!

Edited November 29, 2022 by Brother-Chaplain Kage

[JeffTibbetts]

I almost laughed when I saw the topic because I thought there was no way it would look good, and then I saw the results. Dang. This looks like it would be excellent for camo cloaks on scouts. Bravo...

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I almost laughed when I saw the topic because I thought there was no way it would look good, and then I saw the results. Dang. This looks like it would be excellent for camo cloaks on scouts. Bravo...

 

Funny you mention the camo cloak, as that is the very reason I tried this out, based on using real cotton cloth to make a cape for a much larger scale figure. My first attempt was using paper towels, and while I like the way it performed, it was still thicker and more textured than what I was wanting.

 

Here's a few shots of the paper towel cameleoline cloak I made.

 

Dried, but unprimed:

 

http://i.imgur.com/tV2mCpd.jpg?1

 

 

Primed:

 

http://i.imgur.com/jcyCoFv.jpg

 

 

In this instance, I had superglued the cloak to the top of each shoulder pad so that it was removable to facilitate painting:

 

http://i.imgur.com/I4xJk8T.jpg

[Hyaenidae]

BCK gave me this tutorial a while back, and here were my results. Side note, I used paper towel, which worked well. Just avoid anything that says 'Thirst pockets', unless you want a mini that looks like he's wearing a cape of bubble wrap, lol.

Finished product.

[Kierdale]

Was expecting cloaks made of real epidermis. Disappointed ;)

 

But seriously, excellent stuff.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I'm impressed. My experiments with paper/tissues to create capes and cloaks convinced me that it was a useless technique; you've convinced me otherwise. Bravo.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

BCK gave me this tutorial a while back, and here were my results. Side note, I used paper towel, which worked well. Just avoid anything that says 'Thirst pockets', unless you want a mini that looks like he's wearing a cape of bubble wrap, lol.

 

Ah yes, I forgot to mention the thirst pockets! Also, thanks for putting those pics up.

 

Was expecting cloaks made of real epidermis. Disappointed

 

But seriously, excellent stuff.

 

I considered that, but given that they're called different things in different parts of the world, I figured that was safest.

 

I'm impressed. My experiments with paper/tissues to create capes and cloaks convinced me that it was a useless technique; you've convinced me otherwise. Bravo.

 

I'm glad I could change your mind, but if you don't mind me asking, what turned you off from the technique in the first place?

Edited January 26, 2014 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Koriel]

Nice tutorial and I'll be sure to give this a try whenever I get around to mini in need of a cloak.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

I'm glad I could change your mind, but if you don't mind me asking, what turned you off from the technique in the first place?

Well, here's an old example of what I was experimenting with (I moved on to press-molded green stuff cloaks).

 http://i.imgur.com/ldGA2BZ.png

Looking at your tut, I was mistaken to use super glue, rather than thinned white glue, to shape mine - dried too quickly, and limited the tools I could use to shape it (it's murder to clean it off the clay shapers).

Edited January 26, 2014 by Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Looking at your tut, I was mistaken to use super glue, rather than thinned white glue, to shape mine - dried too quickly, and limited the tools I could use to shape it (it's murder to clean it off the clay shapers).

 

O_O

 

Yeah, superglue would hamper your ability to work with it. With the white glue, you can just keep reworking it as long as you want by simply getting it saturated again.

[GrandMagnus]

Its good to have a tutorial on this, thank you BCK. 

[Excessus]

Tried it, will have to see how the end result ends up looking, hehe

[BFeeder]

Great tutorial :) The textured appearance certainly adds to the effect.

[Odsox]

 

http://i.imgur.com/I4xJk8T.jpg

 

 

What the- Floating pauldrons!? SORCERY! SUFFER NOT THE WITCH TO LIVE!

 

Brilliant work though - might actually build up the courage to try this on a biker lord soon!

 

Od.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Sure, give it a shot! If you put the tape down to secure the cape to the figure and then don't like the results, you can't simply pull it off and toss it.

 

And for those who may not have seen it in my thread, here's a figure with one of my cloaks completely finished as proof that it holds up through paint and weathering powders:

 

http://i.imgur.com/AXIHKNc.jpg

[Armond]

Awesome tutorial, will be looking to do this to maybe a couple characters/sergeants and a recon squad.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Just wanted to share my progress with my own cloak, based on this very helpful tutorial:

 

Mor Deythan

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Mjolnir771/IMAG0577_zpse927130c.jpg

 

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj598/Mjolnir771/IMAG0578_zpsdfd22d84.jpg

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Awesome! What do you think of the result?

 

I also have a new figure to post for this. I forgot to snap any pics before it got painted, but I was in a rush for the deadline of March of  Legions. Here's my take on the Exodus sniper from the XX Legion with a tissue cameleoline cloak.

 

http://i.imgur.com/XwXHoEl.png

 

I did something a little different on this one, using some heavy duty paper towel for the first layer of the cloak on his back and sides so that the outer layer of tissue would 'hang' properly. Once the paper towel was dry, I carefully laid the tissue over it, wet it down and fixed any shape issues, then brushed on the glue. :)

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

For a first attempt I'm reasonably pleased with it. I think it'll look much better when painted.

 

Funnily enough my second attempt - which I'm working on right now - is also a kneeling sniper, but posed differently and XIX Legion.

[Slave to Darkness]

I so need to try this

[David Ravel]

This tutorial is awesome ! I'm definitivly trying this in the next couple of days ! Anyone tried it with tabards and small cloth parts between the legs ? Would it work ? 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

For a first attempt I'm reasonably pleased with it. I think it'll look much better when painted.

 

Funnily enough my second attempt - which I'm working on right now - is also a kneeling sniper, but posed differently and XIX Legion.

 

It takes a little getting used to, but I think the learning curve is nothing compared to working with Greenstuff. Besides, even though I'm decent with that horrific stuff, for certain things I really like this technique.

 

I so need to try this

 

Please do! Post your results. :)

 

This tutorial is awesome ! I'm definitivly trying this in the next couple of days ! Anyone tried it with tabards and small cloth parts between the legs ? Would it work ? 

 

I haven't tried it with a tabard, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[JeffTibbetts]

 

For a first attempt I'm reasonably pleased with it. I think it'll look much better when painted.

 

Funnily enough my second attempt - which I'm working on right now - is also a kneeling sniper, but posed differently and XIX Legion.

 

It takes a little getting used to, but I think the learning curve is nothing compared to working with Greenstuff. Besides, even though I'm decent with that horrific stuff, for certain things I really like this technique.

 

I so need to try this

 

Please do! Post your results.

 

This tutorial is awesome ! I'm definitivly trying this in the next couple of days ! Anyone tried it with tabards and small cloth parts between the legs ? Would it work ? 

 

I haven't tried it with a tabard, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

 

Seems like a tabard would be a bit finicky, I should think. But, hey, if you can get it to work it's pretty cool! 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Is that a thrown gauntlet, sir?

[marine7312000]

Yes. And I will be trying this soon so I can get some recon/ scout models to add cameoline cloaks to.