Patches on cloth.

[housecarl]

When trying to recreate repairs on fabric, is there a technique to make the patch stand out. I've painted the threads in white, is it best to counter paint these in a darker colour to give more definition
Thanks,
Carl.

 

[kansas kid]

Make patches from foil

Hey Carl:

I'll enclose some patching on a coversion of a 1:35th figure into a female
Russian Partisan, WWII. I didn't attempt to do the stitching because of the
smallness of the scale. But at 120mm, I would imagine you would want to
add the stitching. And to me you could use any colour for that stitching that
you desire. Who could say where the thread came from. Hey there was a
war going on. I'll enclose three pictures of the figure with a red
arrow on one to show the patch on the elbow from behind.
I made the skirt patch in a pattern so it would show up better.

The patches were made from foil and glued with stupor glue, CA.

The first very poor pix, didn't have a digital camera then, is just to show
scale, of course.

Good luck,

Kansas Jayhawk

 

[housecarl]

Thanks Rick, I can tell it's late here in the UK. I never thought of gluing a piece of lead foil on, that way I can have a corner lifting slightly. It's for this, and a nice Partisan, by the way.
Carl.

 

[thegoodsgt]

I've made the mistake of using putty to represent a patch and it was far too thick. To keep a patch in scale, I'd recommend simply painting it on. Then, add a very fine highlight around the edges and a shadow under the edges. Stitching would probably not be visible unless you want to pull out your artistic license to represent it in some way.

 

[Einion]

When trying to recreate repairs on fabric, is there a technique to make the patch stand out.

Subtle shadow around the edges of the patch, darkest underneath; paint a crisp highlight on the upper edge(s) of the patch. As I think Bill Horan advises it's the crispness that really sells the illusion.

As for stitches, as a rule I wouldn't attempt to paint a representation of them except in a very large scale (1/6 or larger maybe) as it's sure to look overscale, even cartoony. Taste vary though.

I've made the mistake of using putty to represent a patch and it was far too thick.

You can do it with putty if you roll it out enough

I'm of two minds about whether the painted illusion is the way to go for patches and at what scale it becomes necessary to switch to something with visible thickness. Somewhat similar to whether to sculpt seams or just paint them in.

Einion

 

[schley]

Hi Carl

in the past I have used paper which I then painted over with liquid glue once in place.

John

www.grailmodels.moonfruit.com