Oils Painting Cloth

[Gary D]

Hi guys. I'm trying to find a good method for painting cloth for my Bill Sykes fig. I want to paint a dark red vest but can't seem to get that aged look. I base coated it with vallejo cavalry red but it's too shiny and looks too new. I know in some mixes you add white to get it colours to look older but with red it seems to me it would just turn it pink. Is there some method people use for painting cloth? I've tried the search engine but don't see anything. I work with oils over acrylics.

Thanks

Gary

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I usually add sand or yellow to make it look more faded.

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[housecarl]

Tamiya X21 in the Vallejo, that'll get rid of the shine Gary.
Try shading it with olive green,
Carl.

 

[Gary D]

Thanks guys! I'll try both.
Gary

 

[Einion]

I know in some mixes you add white to get it colours to look older but with red it seems to me it would just turn it pink.

Depends on the red. Even depends a bit on the white.

Working directly over grey primer/basecoat can help with achieving duller colours but since you've already undercoated in red here are some suggestions:
mix up a duller base red than you would normally and apply a thin, even layer of this over the waistcoat;
now mix two or three values of a buff colour (white + dark brown), then dot the wear areas and highlight zones with a lighter mix, the shadows with a darker mix;
using a clean, soft brush stipple away until the dots have been blended in, wiping the stippling brush clean periodically to prevent it getting too much paint on it;
apply some fresh dabs and repeat the process if you think it's necessary and then leave it to dry.

That should give you a good basic washed-out/worn looking version of the dark red you started from.

I'm being deliberately vague on paint colours here as I don't know which ones you have available or the shade of red you're looking for, but the basic method is easily adaptable.

Einion

 

[JonP]

For your oils I'd suggest adding some Naple Yellow to your red as it will lighten it without making it pink. If your are feeling brave try painting some fine cross-hatched lines in localised areas in your highlight and shadow colour to represent threadbare cloth. I've tried it on a couple of medieval cloaks and it seems quite effective.

 

[Gary D]

Thanks all for your input. Looks like I have some experimenting to do!

gary