Slitherine

What materials and paints do people use to make flags, standards and banners? Any tips for making and painting them?

Thanks

There is a fabrics and crafts store in the US called Joann that stocks inkjet printable fabric. It is basically fabric bonded to a normal 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper. I leave the paper on the backing. There are different varieties, I think I use the silk. I have used them to make flags for my medieval armies. I used Visio, but any graphics program will work.

Chris Rivers

I buy mine from Rick in the US who runs FLAG DUDE. They are great, if he does not have the flag type just send him the image and prints. They come on a wire rod and have a more natural wave to them than I can produce on my hand painted flags.

Eques wrote:What materials and paints do people use to make flags, standards and banners? Any tips for making and painting them?

Thanks

I usually take flags from internet, then print flags on paper and with glue I place them on spears (KN, CV and HF).

But my advice is to buy flags from Little Big Men Studios (they are great even if a little bit expensive: for example I've bought flags for Warrying States, Han, Norman, Crusader, Byzantine, Ottoman/ Arab, Spanish Medieval) and from Mirlinton (for feudal and Medieval Armies).

One of the best site for flags is http://www.warflag.com/flags/select.shtml.

Other interesting sites:

http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/alexflags/
http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/guides/banners.html
http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/
http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/Hi ... nners.html

Sergio

http://www.krigsspil.dk/

'download' section from the menu on left of screen . Excellent flag site.

I am a big fan of both Little Big Men flags and flag dude. For LBM I make a composite of good quality paper glued to Aluminum Foil and then but the decal onto the paper. It is a bit tougher than paper alone while still being workable. Straight foil is a bit hard to work with I find.

Straight foil is a bit hard to work with I find.

If you want to make and paint your own then the metal used in some squeezy tubes (such as those used for Artist's Acrylic paint) is more suitable as you can put folds or wave in it and is is more resilient. I've not tried applying a decal to it though.

To make your own flags, I like to use graph paper.

Draw and paint the flags in mirror image on sheet, use the grid-lines to measure the size, leave a gap to fold over the spear/lance, etc.

Once dry, cut the flags to size. Brush some diluted white-glue on the back and fold the flag over the lance/spear. While the glue is still fairly wet, use a brush-handle or pencil to roll the flag into waves. When it fully dries the glue-soaked paper will stiffen and maintain the wave pattern.

Spike

kevinj wrote:

Straight foil is a bit hard to work with I find.

If you want to make and paint your own then the metal used in some squeezy tubes (such as those used for Artist's Acrylic paint) is more suitable as you can put folds or wave in it and is is more resilient. I've not tried applying a decal to it though.

The best i found is foil used in some wine bottles to cover the cork. But most of the stuff used is pretty thin and stiff unfortunately. The wine bottle stuff is more fun to procure as well...

I use "heavy duty" aluminum foil which when double from folding along with double paper gives a pretty good package for foling etc.