I’m planning a diorama that would try to recreate a camping site in the 1970’s. What type of material would best recreate the cloth used in tents?
Thanks!
Might look at some of the finer grain paper towels or Klenex type tissues. Folks use that for canvas tops on trucks and tarps, etc. Might look a speaker cover cloth off some junkyard auto speakers as well. Have seen that used to replicate trunk and floor mats.
Take a look at the local fabric store for some fine thread material. I just picked up some ripstop nylon to make an awning for the Jeep and will have leftover that I can use for something, I know.
Use a thinned down white glue mix to soak the tissue to form it how you want, paint after it is dry.
Thanks man! I will keep an eye out at the local fabric store.
Any more ideas are welcomed!
I once had a great outcome starting with a really old pillowcase (I guesstimate in the 40 year old range) which was worn thin by age and use. I cut a small rectangle and colored it with Floquil thinner which was also well used and a muddy grey color. I swear that left it looking exactly like a weather-beaten canvas that was quite good enough to use in 1/87 scale. Of course, they don’t make Floquil products anymore, and you might not have access to a forty year old pillowcase…
I must have an old pillow case around…might as well try it!
Thanks!
You just need something with a tight weave, like linen, in fact a mans handkerchief might work well
In the '70s, camping gear ran from “old & traditional” like wool and canvas, to new-fangled materials like nylon an polyethylene weaves.
Scale will affect choices, too. At 1/25, wide bandage tape can look like canvas. Drywall tape (non adhesive) can look like wool after a soaking for 1/48-1/35.
I 1/35, though, one of the best thing to collect are thrift store scarves & handkerchiefs. Silk will give you a nice drape and be thin like synthetic fabrics, even after painting. Cotton & linen handkerchiefs will work, too.
As noted above, thinned white glue (50-50 to 60-40) is your friend. Making a pattern from stiff bond paper first, is also a good idea. Another spiffy thing, especially when using silk is super-thin CA glue. You “draw” this down a seam to set it. Then cut with a brand new #11 or single-edge razor blade.
At really large scales–1/18, 1/16, and larger, you can use self-adhesive fabric tape to actually seem the fabric.
Oh, and for animal-hide fabrics (like used with teepees and the like) flocked wallpaper scraps can be ideal. Just takes patience, primer, and paint.
I have a lot of good effect with masking tape. I’ve used it for wallpaper, anti-slip texture for floors, weapon slings, straps, I think it has a good “natural” textural pattern to it, it’s readily available, cheap, and it’s easy to work with. I’ll usually fold it in half so it’s sticking to itself, gives it some rigidity and thickness. Or if I can get away with it, I just use the adhesive side to stick it to whatever needs the texture (the wall for wallpaper, the floor for anti-slip texture)