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Tabards

20-06-2006, 07:36 AM #1

Atrox Morts Simple Green Stuff Tabards

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Making a Green Stuff Tabard – A Step by Step Guide for Beginners

Table of Content:
1. Introduction
2. Tools & Preparation
3. Procedure
4. Conclusion
5. Credits and Reference

Join Date: Mar 2005

Location: Duisburg, Germany
1. Introduction

Welcome to Relicnews P&M Tutorial Forum. This tutorial is to provide the readers tips and guides in
making tabards out of Green Stuff for Games Workshop miniature range. It is particularly aimed for
non-professional sculptors. That is, you do not have to sculpt the Green Stuff you will be working with
later. The following procedure will illustrate this point. However, if you are new to Green Stuff or you
have no previous experience in working with Green Stuff, then it is always good to go through the
Introduction to Green Stuff article. It is a very nice and comprehensive article and I recommend
everyone who wants to improve his or her general knowledge on Green Stuff and sculpting skill to
read it. For your information, I use a Space Marine model to demonstrate this tabard making
technique.

2. Tools & Preparation

The following are the eleven tools and materials you have to prepare beforehand:

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-- plastic or a metal banner

-- container cover or a lid with smooth surface as shown
-- cup of water
-- Green Stuff
-- hobby knife
-- model
-- paper clip
-- plastic ruler
-- scissors
-- sculpting tool
-- Superglue

3. Procedure

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All right, let’s begin.

Stage 1 – Preparing the Green Stuff

1.1 Fill the container cover partially with water.

1.2 Wet your hand with the remaining water in the cup and mix the Green Stuff. Refer to Introduction
to Green Stuff under the title “Care and Preparation of Green Stuff” for more information on what to
do before and during the process of mixing Green Stuff.

Stage 2 – Flattening the Green Stuff

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2.1 Wet the ruler with water. Place the Green Stuff onto the container cover and flatten it with the
ruler by pressing the ruler against the Green Stuff. Make sure the surface of the ruler in contact with
the Green Stuff is really wet.

2.2 When you are satisfied with the thickness of the Green Stuff, stop flattening it. The thickness
should NOT be more than 1.5 mm. Now, the flattened Green Stuff should either stay in the container
cover or sticked onto the ruler. If it is the former case, then leave it alone. If it is the latter case, try to
remove it carefully using your wet hand or any other appropriate tools. Then place it onto the
container cover. If you do it gently enough, there will not be significant distortion and finger prints.
Otherwise, knead it again and repeat Stage 2.

Now we have to wait for about 50 minutes or so before we can continue working on it. Normally, I’ll
grab my Warhammer 40k Dawn of War CD and play a skirmish while waiting for the Green Stuff to
harden a bit. You will realize how fast the time passes by when you play PC games.

Stage 3 – Shaping a Tabard

Well, 50 minutes have past. It’s time to continue working on the Green Stuff.

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3.1 Wet the hobby knife with water. Cut the Green Stuff into a shape of rectangle. Remember to use
the model for size comparison. You may keep refining its size until it matches the model as shown.

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3.2 Now we are going to make use of the folds of the banner to mold a similar fold pattern on the
tabard. Place the banner as shown and press the banner against the tabard. This can be done once or
several times at different area depending on your preference of the pattern.

3.3 Gently, lift the tabard off the container cover. Cut the upper part of the tabard into a U or V shape
as shown using a scissors.

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3.4 Compare its size to that of the model. Cut off the tabard across the bottom to reduce its length if it
does not fit the model.

3.5 Next, we are going to make less sophisticated folds on the tabard. This can be done by using a wet
paper clip and a sculpting tool as shown. Press the paper clip against the tabard to make the fold line.
Then, while holding the tabard using the paper clip along the fold line, push the tabard from the side
as shown. At this point you may form folds with your fingers, but be gentle and careful. Raise the
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lower edges by pushing them up from the back. Remember that you can also use the sculpting tool to
make the lining of the folds to be more prominent.

Stage 4 – Attaching the Tabard

4.1 Stick the tabard on the waist. Using sculpting tool, press the joining points to further flatten it so
as to create a smooth join. Remember not to make the joining points too small or too thin as they will
not provide enough strength to hold the tabard. Cut away the excessive Green Stuff at the two joining

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points.

4.2 Now we need something to cover the joins. The best thing to accomplish this is a pair of purity
seals or crusader seals. Of course, you may use a pair of skulls or whatever you like for models like
Chaos Space Marines etc. It is totally up to you. Apply a moderate amount of Superglue on the seals
and attach them as shown. The Superglue will also strengthen the attachment between the model and
the Green Stuff.

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4.3 All right, basically it is finished. Leave the model alone for at least 24 hours before priming and
painting it. From time to time, check the larger folds and reshape it using the paper clip and sculpting
tool if it tends to return to its original (flat) position during the curing period. You do not have to worry
about the fold pattern made of those of the banner as they will somehow look better and natural after
a period of exposure to the force of gravity.

4. Conclusion

See, now you can make a tabard with minimal sculpting skill. For players or hobbyists collecting army
such as Black Templars, Dark Angles etc, knowing how to make simple tabards with Green Stuff is
certainly a bonus.

Of course, in order to introduce folds, you can use whatever you like as it is not restricted to the
banner. For example, you can use the existing folds of some of the tabards of you favorite figures.
Molding is the key in this tutorial. Well, what are you going to do with the excessive Green Stuff that
you cut off just now? I’m sure that mass-making several tabards at the same time will generate a lot
of left-over Green Stuff. Usually, I’ll make use of them; for example, make a mold of some rare purity
or crusader seals.

Besides, you can feel free to shape the tabard. For example, you could shape it to such a way that it
seems to be blown aside by strong wind. Feel free to add any accessory and customize the tabard to
your heart content.

Does it seem to be daunting or is it interesting, hmm? Well, congratulation if you have tried it and
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succeeded. Otherwise, please try again and do not hesitate to contact me. I can be found in Relic
Forums as Atrox Morts. Feel free to send me a pm.

5. Credits and Reference

Proofread by VtraXx and MrChaos (thanks both of you a lot dude!)

Do not forget to read the other tutorial on Green Stuff contributed by some of the community
members:
-- GS Flowing Cloaks by onlyme
-- Crazytechpriest's beginners guide to Green Stuff

Legal and Disclaimer

The Games Workshop logos, Games Workshop, the GW logo, Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Black Templars,
Dark Angles, Warhammer 40,000 and Dawn of War are registered trademarks of Games Workshop Limited. Used
without permission. No challenge to their status is intended. This tutorial is completely unofficial and in no way
endorsed by Games Workshop Limited.

All other trademarks contained on this site are the property of their respective owners, and no challenge to ownership
is intended. This tutorial is intended solely as a forum for hobby enthusiasts, and is neither a business nor associated
with any business. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact me at atrox_morts@yahoo.com

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