"Finishing Printed Flags?" Topic

I did a quick search and couldn't easily find anything directly relevant. Does anybody know of any good tutorials or have some good tips on how to finish printed flags like those sold by GMB? In the past, I would have ordered from Flag Dude, but he seems to be very back-logged, and I figure this is a good skill to have, but I'm after effects similar to his. How do you get the realistic waving and wrinkle effects? Does one actually varnish the flag at some point? Thanks for the info!

Ax

I print my own flags on cloth but I think the process should work with others. After cutting out the flag I use PVA (Elmer's) on the back side. I then wrap it around the staff and give it a good pinch along the staff. I then fold and wrinkle the flag at will. When I have it the way I want I use twist ties like the type that close up a bread bag to hold it in place while the glue dries.

The trick is getting the right amount of glue. You want enough to hold but not so much that it goes slip sliding away while you are trying to build in the folds.

I tried painting on a coat of Future (clear acrylic) but it seemed to bring out the threads too much. Now all I do is hit it with Dullcote along with the rest of the figure.

I've gotten good results with paper. Otherwise as per Waco Joe. I've Also tryed putting some aluminum foil between the two sides. But it didn't seem to do a better job so I dropped that step.

I sprayed some GMB flags with dullcoat and they turned a different color. Now I just leave them alone after gluing together.

My two tips for flags:

1) When folding the flag to make it wave, fold diagonally from the top of the pole, not straight up and down – this makes the flag look as though it has some weight.

2) Paint the edges of the flag to match the design.

I don't use aluminium or anything like that. I just use white glue to stick the paper flag to the pole, let the glue set for no more than a couple of minutes, squeeze the flag quite tightly (diagonally!) against the pole, then tease it back out to the required shape.

End result:

I've brushed gloss varnish on my GMB flags before dullcoating ith spray and they've been fine.

Hey Waco Joe, how'd ya print the flag onto cloth? Is it as simple as attaching the cloth to a standard sheet of paper?

Thanks

You can buy special cloth paper for printers. I had a friend just tell me this, and I haven't tried it out myself yet. I may have to give it a try if it is thin enough to manipulate into folds and curves. Here's an example of it: link