How do you make those tarps that go over things like tank bustle racks and other open-topped stowage boxes?

Hi, I've mad tarps using tinfoil. I fold a piece of tinfoil in half, and to shape. Coat it with a little tinned white glue. Then paint as required. Dust it up with chalks etc. Hey Presto.... tarps!

Hi Blank. For me the only good, and easy way to make tarps is with tissue paper.
Cut the desired size, be advised...make it wee bit bigger, then put it on the topic you desire. Apply with an old bruch some dilluted white glue, if you wish you can replace it until you get the setting you like.
Let it dry for at least 24hrs., then you can paint it, and weather it as you are used to.

Hope I was of any help, all the best, John.

One thing that I have started using (with some success) is the foil which comes in packets of ground coffee , the stuff I use is very slightly textured and creased...Jim

I usually do them with some fabric with suitable texture for the scale, dipped in a mixture of 50% water and 50% white glue...
Ciao

Tissue paper, Kleenex, if you will. I apply some diluted glue to the mantlet first to give the plastic some bite before adding the diluted white gkue (Elmer's style mixed about 1:1 with water.) You can cut the finished item with a sahrp #11 if you have gone oversized. Toillet paper is too weak when it gets wet to be workable.

Howdy blank,

My Farthing's worth.

I have also used different types/brands of paper towel / tissue paper / etc. all with good results. DRAGONWAGON makes a good point with the 'size' thing. You want to cut the paper a wee bit larger (in all dimensions) than you will need. The big point for me is I do not brush on the white glue water mixture. In other words I don't like to physically touch the tissue paper itself. I've found that it's a bit too physical for me. So the technique I use is a small misting bottle I picked up at Target for something like 39 cents. I fiil this with the 50/50 mixture and after placing the 'tarp' in the desired position, I lightly begin to spray the liquid slowly onto the tarp, careful not to get it too wet. I've found that the natural 'sag' that results from spraying the liquid on is very real in appearance and doesn't look contrived.
At this point you can, if you wish/need to, go back and minipulate the new 'tarp' around metal supports, cargo bxes, fender drapes, etc.
hth.

Tread.

Oh, another thing. About the 'texture' issues. Some paper towels already come with complimentary textures already in them. But if you need a specific texture, do this.
Lay the paper material you have chosen on a flat and level surface. Now take the mist bottle with just simple tap water, very, very, lightly mist the paper. Now take a piece of fabric (or whatever has the 'texture' you're looking for) and place it on top of the paper, now grab a large book and place it on top of the fabric, now press firmly for about ten to fifteen seconds. Remove the book, and then remove the fabric. Allow to dry. Once dry, begin the process I described at the top of this post.

Hello to all
Well these all seem to be great ideas which im gunna have to try. Any body have a
good way to make roll tarps and bed rolls? mine just dont turn out right.

Shoe-box tissue paper.

I have 2 suggestions: 1 is to find a large or small folded tarp and paint it the orange or red color ( see my M1A1 and M113A2 gallery photos).
2 is to cut a rectangle from a latex exam glove, and paint it the required color. White glue it to the model.

i use TP white glue and water.. works good.. make the white glue water into the color nd consitency of milk did the TP in there pull it out form it let it dry 24 hours and paint wash pastels whatever!

I use wrapping tissue paper, the kind that good clothes come wrapped in, or in shoe boxes. It's thin and strong. If I'm making a canvas covering for the back of a truck, I use the original plastic part as a base. I cut sections of the tissue to correspond to the sections of the molded plastic canvas - a little bigger if I want to have some slack for wrinkles, etc. I then brush on artist's gesso (a canvas prep) onto the plastic part and place the appropriate pieces of tissue in their places. The gesso will make the tissue stick to the surface and the original wrinkles and seams on the plastic part will be impressed on the tissue. After it dries, gesso can be brushed on the surface of the tissue. It will dry stiff, strong, and very white - a perfect surface to paint on. That's why artists use it. Clean up is with tap water.

I use facial tissue for tarps, bedrolls, blankets, etc. For tarps, cut to size. I then dip it in water and place it on the model. After the intial application of water begins to dry, I then get a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water and give the thing a good coat. After this dries, paint it.

For bed rolls and sleeping bags I use the technique in Shep Paine's "How to Build Dioramas". Cut the tissue wider than what you want to build. Fold the ends towards the millde so that no "layers" are visble. Wet with water. Roll up, and tie with thread. I use sutures. Once this begins to dry, use the same 50/50 mixture and coat it really good. After this thing is good and dry, I use Christmas tree icycles to cover the sutures so that it looks as if the straps are holding the roll together. Paint the thing and you have made yourself a bedroll.

Patrick

I've come across an ideal material. I use the paper from sewing patterns. You can buy it at sewing shops, of if your wife sews, like mine does, you get lots of cut-offs. I've also used it for flags where I use temporary tape to secure it to a "carrier sheet" and feed it through my inkjet printer. If I set the print quality on "best" the ink goes through to the other side.