Cloaks and Capes: My take on 'em

TIE_FighterTK069

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Now, with these Wastelander dudes I've been making, it just seemed appropriate for their aesthetic that they have cloaks or other covers to protect them from the environment they've been living in.
Inspired by the work of Obi, and Kit Lau, I tried my hand at somewhat rigid soft goods. I'm still refining the process, but here is where I'm at thus far:



What I use:

Various paints, cheap remnants of cotton fabric from JoAnn fabrics, needle, thread, tweezers, and my favorite glue: Titebond Woodglue. The fabric cost me about $4, and I reckon I have enough to make over a hundred of these cloaks.



First off, cut a rectangle of fabric as tall as your figure from neck to feet, and three times as wide. It's big, but trust me there is a lot of trimming and whatnot to do:





Now, make your fist fitment cuts. I fold the fabric in half and cut it into a trapezoid. Then, cut a U at the neckline:



Then, test fit:



Looks good, time to sew. I'm no tailer, and I only know one stitch that was taught to me by a doc friend of mine who taught me how to suture. I imagine Google will be your friend, here. Make sure you tie off the beginning and end stitch, and sew in a bit from the edge to keep the fraying to a minimum.

On the cloak, fold over the two tabs from the U at the neckline, and stitch 'em up.



Turn it inside out, and trim off the extra fabric:



Time for another test fit… Looking good. Well, not yet, but this is exactly how it should look:



Okay, time for the hood… Cut a square from elbow to elbow, and twice as tall as the figure's head, at least.

Here is my dummy, to show you scale:





Fold it in half and sew your open edges. Leave a spot on the long side open for your figure's neck:



Grab your tweezers and pull it inside out:



And here are your two parts, ready for finishing. Don't forget to do a test fit:





It doesn't look like much, yet, but trust me!
As a bit of motivation, it took me four tries before I got it right. Now, I can make one start to finish in about 30 min.
 

TIE_FighterTK069

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Back to the tutorial… Time to get some paint on there. I use very watered down enamels, and frankly it doesn't matter what the quality is. Soak it, and let it dry… I use a hairdryer to move things along.



Test fit… now it is starting to look good:





What I do next is arrange the fabric so it is laying in a way that fits the figure, and then using very watered down glue, brush the seams to stiffen the fabric a bit. This allows it to retain its shape and contour. Don't use too much, or it'll be stiff as a board.





Time for the hood… This gets a bit more glue. I use the dummy for this part:



Once it sets up, but isn't completely dry (again, I use a hair dryer), transfer it to the figure and roll back the edge. Use your tweezers to get it just right:





Pop on the head, pull the hood up with your tweezers, and Robert is your mother's brother:



Then, set to aging and weathering your cloak if you so desire. Think about how the garment lays, the environment of the character, etc.:









Good luck, and don't forget to share what you made...
Cheers!
 

K-Tiger

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I'd think a triangular swatch of fabric, some glue and a hole punch would make for a quicker hood, but that's just me.
 

G.I.*EDDIE

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I'd think a triangular swatch of fabric, some glue and a hole punch would make for a quicker hood, but that's just me.

That's how I made SSs hood. Hole in each corner popped over the figures neck. No sewing or gluing necessary.

But these look really good here. I like the weathering on them.
 

K-Tiger

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This has given me the desire to paint up that zeltbahn I screwed up the dye job on. Maybe one I'll do that damn ARW custom.
 

TIE_FighterTK069

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Thanks, gentlemen!
Yea, Eddie you shared that tip with me back when I first signed up here. It is definitely easier, but I couldn't get it to lay right for me.

KT, do it!
Also, did you ever complete a tent? Were you attempting a flecktarn pattern?
 

K-Tiger

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KT, do it!
Also, did you ever complete a tent? Were you attempting a flecktarn pattern?

If you're referring to my zeltbahn comment, Dragon's 1:18 Germans came with "wearable: zeltbahnen. With enough of them and glue you could make a tent. As for the dye incident, I was trying to darken it a bit, but it didn't turn out quite how I wanted.

I want to do the figure, but the base bucks simply cost more than I am wont to spend. Better things to blow money on, I guess.