Capes? Capes always adds evilness...

Ok, so from what iv seen from this forum is there are amazing painters and modellers here...but hey! Let's see if they're amazingness can teach me this...

I want o make capes for the kabalite warriors, how would I do it? And what would I use and stuff? Can't wait for the answers

I often see capes from DE Corsair kit.

I think that ones from WoC also would work


And obviously DIY, which is my ultimate advice.

one way one of my friends does capes is to get a sheet of baking foil or a 4x layered sheet of poly wrap. then put a thin layer of greenstuff on a bit bigger than you want the cape to be.

once its cured enough to hold shape and manipulation you can then bend it into the basic shape you want the cape to be in.

once it has set then you can cut it to match the body and glue in place.

then when the glue has dried up and the basic cape shape is sturdy, add tiny sausages of GS to the parts you want ripples and creases and use either vaseline or water to keep you tools slick while shaping these details.

check any Jes Goodwin marine or eldar that has a tabard or cape as im pretty sure this is the way he does it

Wait for it...



this is tool that I've made from pencil (red bit is cone shaped and filed eraser end, glued because I wanted to rid of metal trim).
Use vaseline or oil lotion. My sculpts were crap until (recently, pics soon) I discovered oil-based lubricants are must.

yeah i have a tool just like yours LO

but i bought mine never thought of the pencil eraser

I did that myself because I was unable to get "standard" clay shapers in that shape. I have big one with "sharp" cone as well as small one. No soft one

That conversation actually gave me neat idea...

If You want fabric texture, this is great idea. If not... either thick glue (maybe few layers) or use paper/foil (and thick glue/putty).

I tried foil* + epoxy glue (wood one don't stick), looks good if You want have wrinkles on Your cloth**


* Sometimes You may get thicker one. In my country flower sellers wrap roses in this stuff, good thing to keep You and Your girl happy or double happy if You are girl.
Actually I wonder if "foil" from alluminium cans can be used. May try that sometimes soon (like in this millenium).

** After painting that I didn't (Nobz in thick trenchcoats), so I covered that with putty. But it works.

Alluminium foil.
Several layers or thick one should work.

@local_ork - yeah, i knew about the corsairs but hmm i forgot about warriors! i might destroy a few of mine to try it out! MWAHAHAHA!!!!

@darthplagis - hahah okay this will show how noobish i really am. but how do u use greenstuff???

hmmm, a cloth/fabric cape...hmm might try that! except screw making it hard! (thats what she said? ) im jsut gonna keep it as cloth so if a wind blows the cape moves like a superhero! mwahahaha!!!

greenstuf 'can' be really awkward at first, but there are a few key things to remember.

1. keep it moist once mixed, it will stick to pretty much anything (save a few polythenes), vaseline works wonders.... no need for the branded stuff just plain old petrolium jelly. i dont mean dripping wet but slick enough that your tool does not stick. (see either above or below for the tool bits)

2. MIX MIX MIX. as a two part epoxy putty greenstuff (or brown or grey stuff) comes in two parts (for green) its blue and yellow, mix the parts in pretty equal amounts to start with and you will have a nice shade of green.

3. play with it, making a few small details just to get the feel of it. once you have used it a few times you get to know the consistency you will need for the job at hand. more blue putty makes it more 'hard' or 'rigid' great for sharp details and faster curing time. where as more yellow is softer and more plyable able to take more manipulation at the cost of slower curing and added stickyness. (more lube with more yellow)

4. tools. local ork posted his home made tool earlier and its a great idea. i bought a one slightly smaller than LO's one but with a pretty similar shape in hobby craft for about £5.
but a pencil with the eraser on the end shaped will make a fine tool as well as a pin in a brush (either remove the bristles and metal rim and glue pin/needle in, or something of the same sort of idea) for manipulating hair and fur (small dragging lines or quick chops with the pin).

5. experementation. people can give you step by step tutorials and it still wont click till you actually have a go and either fail miserably and pull off the GS and make base decor rocks or have a sweet piece of GS work. keep in mind ............

6. anatomy and 'scale' anatomy. arms and legs tend to act a certain way given the way muscles work BUT this is not always a pleasing sight for a miniature in a fantasy/sci-fantasy setting so some features will/may be accented. take for example a space marine...... it should really be a few mm taller in the scale 40k is based in and the chests are WAY too shallow for a realistic perspective and while we are at it the greaves (leg plates) would not really flare at the bottom but rather the top of the calf (think of those blood angels with the semi muscled armour.)
by following the basic rules of anatomy and accenting the points each race has (SM as mentioned, orks are muscle muscle muscle and a twisted spine with a pelvis the size of sliced bread, eldar are whip thin space elves tau are fishy beast men though scale wise are one of the most 'normal' of all GW minis) you cant really go wrong.

7. plan your work. if you are sculpting from scratch (i would not recommend this straight away) start with basic drawings or photo edits of what you want then break them down into stages.
1. skeleton/frame
2. muscles/basic mass
3. flesh
4. armour
5. details

im not saying sculpt every layer but take note of which parts of each layer will have an effect on another, if the arm bends the bicep gets bigger and tricep stretches and the same in reverse, though if arnour is over skin you wont see it, however tendons and muscle may be visable on exposed areas of flesh like collar bones and wrists/hands and you can generally just sculpt that in one or 2 stages (skeleton and muscle, and flesh and details).

i hope this helps rather than hinders/confuses you but 3 and 5 are probably the main poins to concentrate on when attempting to sculpt with GS for the first time.

dont be too shy with it, its not 'that' expensive and you can always make scenery rocks/pebbles with any left overs. a pack from GW should last a while if you are just adding details and sculpting a few capes etc

YAY!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT ANSWER/TIPS! very useful, i might go buy some next time i see some! Cheers mate!

I used capes from the WHFB Phoenix Guard on my Trueborn. Partially since I didn't feel for using GS and partially because they had a flame pattern, which fit well for my kabal.

I'm guessing WHFB means something like warhammer fantasy something something??
But I'll go take a look. I should look at the fantasy range actually

Exactly, WarHammer Fantasy Battles.

Also I forgot to add that (I'm boring myself) in tutorials You can find link to board that have "sprue shots" of most GW plastic models.

Alrighty! ill go check them out sometime! and ill go look at the fantasy range