WIP Sleeve lace on a Confederate Uniform

[dfmoss]

I am attempting to add the lace seen on the sleeves of Confederate officers' uniforms in the American Civil War. I have tried rolling out Duro with little success. The putty is no very sticky, on it's own, and the lace tends to be lumpy looking.

Wire seems to go everywhere and of course must be glued down as I go along.

The figure I am doing is a 1st Lt., so only one strand of lace is called for.

Anyone have any suggestions on this? I am generally a painter only - but do occasionally add details as needed. This one has me a little stumped!

Thanks,

Don

 

[Jeff]

You can make the duro less sticky with a little baby powder.

 

[Steve]

How about just painting it on and adding the depth with highlight and shadow?

 

[Einion]

I have tried rolling out Duro with little success. The putty is no very sticky, on it's own, and the lace tends to be lumpy looking.

This is one of those things that does get easier with experience. It can be very challenging early on but you can get very good at it with practice.

But for sleeve lace at this scale painting the illusion of it is probably the easiest way to go and the results can be fab. It's probably closer to being in scale anyway!

...

On the stickiness issue though, Kneadatite is very forgiving of variations in proportion of resin and hardener so it's worth playing with more blue or more yellow in addition to trying lubricants (e.g. talc, water, spit*, Vaseline, mineral oil) to reduce the problem of it sticking to tools.

*If you try saliva I would advise not getting into the habit of putting your tools in your mouth.

Einion

 

[gordy]

Hi Don,

What scale and what is the medium that this is going onto ? (resin, putty, white-metal, etc)

Here's my take. (of course easier demonstrated than explained LOL)

Works much better putty on putty (for adhesion, why I avoid resin props and armature bits), but here we go:

Rough in the general shape of the lace and trim away the excess while wet keeping the width of the lace uniform, sheparding the putty here and there with tool or brush.

It is much easier to manage one plane (width) don't worry about consistent thickness as you can always thin it evenly with fine sandpaper after the putty is cured.

Even though with this process you aren't replicating the lace as with the real thing (rolling strips of putty) it can be as effective -

As the old saying goes... sculpt what you see not what it is!

 

[JasonB]

*If you try saliva I would advise not getting into the habit of putting your tools in your mouth.

Einion

Second that, I did get into that habit with Magic Sculp. Heartburn from hell, and who knows what its done to my esophagus, stomach or any other part of my digestive tract! Its amazing though the difference between using spit and using water. I guess its the temperature that makes the difference, room temp water just doesn't work as well.

 

[dfmoss]

I am adding the lace to the Michael Roberts Confederate Marine 1st Lt. - so it is putty going onto resin. Very slick resin, at that! LOL The figure is 54mm.

I am thinking that painting on the detail may be the best answer. This lace, for a lieutanant, is very, very thine. If the officer were a general, it would be much thicker!

One more attempt with putty is my plan - then paint. The last thing I want is for the lace to be overscale, and so far that is what I am getting.

Thanks all!

Don

 

[housecarl]

Have you tried lead foil Don?
Carl.

 

[captnenglish]

There are two very nice PE sets that you could use also. They are little tricky but the result is worth it IMO

 

[btavis]

In 54mm I would paint it on.

Bill Horan's words are "don't sculpt it if you can paint it."

In that scale, with using putty you really run the risk of exaggerating the dimensionality. If you paint it and add a dark outline to one side and highlight to the other you will get just as convincing effect through trompe l'oeil.

 

[dfmoss]

captnenglish: Who makes those photoetch sets? I have a great deal of experience with pe from armor models.

btavis: I am thinking that painting this is my best bet.

Thanks,

Don

 

[Einion]

Its amazing though the difference between using spit and using water. I guess its the temperature that makes the difference, room temp water just doesn't work as well.

Agreed! I think it's to do with saliva not being just water - presumably the mucus ads to the effect (since it's 'slipperier' than just water).

This is a clue to a better sub for saliva - a watery mix of conditioner or light moisturiser will be much closer. But either of those can be used straight for maximum effect.

Einion

 

[gordy]

Agreed! I think it's to do with saliva not being just water - presumably the mucus ads to the effect (since it's 'slipperier' than just water).

This is a clue to a better sub for saliva - a watery mix of conditioner or light moisturiser will be much closer. But either of those can be used straight for maximum effect.

Einion

Or lick your thumb and use that as vessel!

 

[Robert Dominick]

I like to use flattened solder. It is strong yet easy to maneuver into different positions and folds. It can be scribed easy enough for detailing. Some of the sharp angles of the lace would cause the solder to be cut at certain angles such as the top of the lace on the upper part of the sleeve. The solder pieces can be cut to make the point of the lace and any gaps are easily filled with putty.

 

[Steve]

Thanks Bobby. Thought I was invisible there for a minute. In this scale it is about the only way to go.

 

[btavis]

Thanks Bobby. Thought I was invisible there for a minute. In this scale it is about the only way to go.

Anything to help a fellow curmudgeon.

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Solder is an interesting idea so thanks on that. But in 54mm I would go paint.

Colin

 

[dfmoss]

Ok, so I ordered the Nimix Confederate insignia and they arrived at the shop today (Midsouth Hobbies, where I work). I could not wait to get home an try them out!

These things are great! I annealed the two pieces I planned to use and applied them. Even bending them around a bent elbow was no major issue!

If you need Austrian Lace for a project, here is your answer!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Don

 

[Steve]

I plumb forgot about those Nimix parts. Glad to hear they work as I have had them kicking around the studio for about ten or fifteen years!

 

[dfmoss]

The key to using them, I think, is to carefully anneal them before trying to get them to lay down into coat folds. They are very delicate and care must be exercised or they might "burn up!"

Don