Printing camo patterns onto fabric?

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hi how would i go about making my own camo jacket?

i would like to make a repro of a 1944 windproof camo smock (often called an sas smock).

it has a pinky brown/green camo which i would love to re-create but i don't know where to start.




any advice would be welcome
cheers

 

[Toddy]

I'm presuming that the fabric you want to use is cotton ?
If so, then you can buy fabric paints which will work with brushes, stencils or iron on designs.
However, you need to do a bit of background research first and you need to create some kind of stretching frame for the fabric.......since it's camouflage and fine, fine details won't be crucial, you could just lace it onto some lines attached to a fence or the clothes poles.

For a good result you will need to ensure that the fabric is definitely what you want to use, that all finishes have been washed out of it and that the paints you use are intended for that fabric.

That's it really Artistic licence is up to yourself

Suitable suppliers ? Visit your local Art Supplies shop is probably the best suggestion I can offer. You don't need to buy there (often expensive and situated in student towns) but at least you will have a good idea of suitable products. Ebay can be awfully handy

Oh, one other thing, if you intend to use a dark fabric as a base, be aware that subsequent dye won't always give you the colour it says on the bottle. Like adding red on top of blue in primary school.......it won't give you red, but it will give you a kind of plum. Light fawn is a good base for home made camo, white is a pain to do properly while the fawn doesn't need total coverage.

Is this of any help ?
There are lots of ways to print fabric, blocks, screens and the like, but for camo just painting it on with some overall idea of a design is much easier.

Best of luck with it

atb,
Toddy

 

[andybysea]

you can buy the ww2 pattern windproofs, i think silvermans still do them, if making your own, its a bit tricky, ww2 dennison smocks where originaly done by hand using veg dye and brushes, the base khaki material was laid out and a chocolate brown and green dye where brush stroked on in various swirls and dab patterns, re the ww2 windproofs they are very effective on moor land and forest the pinky/tan colour blends well with bracken and heather,(im a ex ww2 reenactor) i used to have a windproof from wpg in the states and one from silvermans the silvermans one was better quality, i think soldier of fortune now do them, but they arent made in really big sizes, they should be loose as the are meant to be worn over battledress, leather jerkin etc.

if making i would used a modern dpm windproof as a basic pattern but you dont need the zip at the front and the originals went on over the head, the type of material you would need would be something like, gaberdine,or cotton duck,some kind of tight weeve cotton,possibly a old tent flysheet(like the old vangos) then you'd need to go through the dyeing stages and pattern cutting,
good luck if you have a go id like to see the results. if you'd like any more help i may have some old piccys etc, there are a few guys who make them(not cammo ones) the moutain and desert type i got one (now sold) from a guy in sheffield he used to advertise in gunmart, he really made good copies, plus i think this guy does them http://www.pegasusmilitaria.com/ he stuff is top notch i used to get my battledress etc from him.

 

[Melonfish]

Indeed Dennison smocks etc can be purchased from quite a few retailers, SOFmilitary.co.uk do alot of repro ww2 stuff give them a try.
pete

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hi again, kids are in bed! (phew!)

This is the camo i want to reproduce. (but not the hat! )

(i'll have to watch how i put it together as looking at the photo the guy has a really bad straight line join on his back, as many soldiers/hunters know "there are no straight lines in nature".

This is a denison design(don't know which,or if it's real).

I always thought that Denison looked quite "home painted " but didn't know it actually was painted! i guess they had to start somewhere. I think i remember seeing a photo of US G.I.'s painting dots on their jackets late WW2.


I've had a go at sewing, making canvas/nylon pouches, and i've made a rip-stop nylon "zoot suit" and various sleeping under quilts etc so making a smock shouldn't be too tricky.

I live near Norwich which has a Art school so fabric paint should be easy to find.

Cool can't wait to try it!

 

[andybysea]

Yep thats the one i thought you meant,(i have that book) if you look on the pegasus link they do the pure white snow version exactly the same pattern as was the desert/and mountain versions, only the 1st pattern densions where hand screened/painted and each was unique, but you could do a very similar job for your windproof, if you look at the left knee in the pic (front view) and right shoulder/and ankle in the rear view pic you can see where they have a brush stroke effect i would use a very pale tan/or khaki material for the base colour and then add the cammo colours or your choice with a soft horse hair paint brush and maybe a natural sponge to give the desired swirls and dabs, good luck, wish i had the equipment to give it ago myself a one off cammo smock to suit your needs is a nice idea.

 

[John Fenna]

SOF do the smock in Tan - a good basis to start from I would say....

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I like the brush effect, it sort of breaks up the block colours, I've often wondered if they carried the brush effect over to DPM like this old 1980's circa tropical shirt

 

[andybysea]

very probably/just replicated it using a repeat pattern on print rollers if you look at all cammo jackets/smocks etc you will get a repeat in the pattern somewhere, thats the unique thing about hand done. Dpm cammo/and jackets are just a progression of the various post war denison designs/and patterns, same goes for german flecktarn cammo, just progressed 44dot pattern really.

John fenna the tan one is the early desert windproof, although it was mainly used in greece/ yugoslavia/southern italy it was originally made of egyptian cotton, and was still used in the first gulf war.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hi again,
just had a quick suf for fabric paint, a popular brand seems to be Dylon, but the colours seem a bit bright and not the right shade how do you get round this?

I'd like a sort of olive/grass-green(slightly yellow like the first picture) the greens seem to be the colour of this smilie which isn't great camo!

do you mix colours?
or water them down somehow?

 

[Toddy]

The ones I have came from Kemtex or Fibrecrafts and they are mixable.
I don't know about the Dylon ones. Dylon is inclined to be for folks changing their curtains and the like while the other two companies usually sell to craftsfolks. The big issue is that I will pay for the range of colours I need to make what I want now and later, folks who are dyeing curtains just usually want to buy one colour.

I'll find some links.

cheers,
Toddy

Links :

http://www.kemtex.co.uk/

http://www.fibrecrafts.co.uk/Products.asp?Level1=1&Level2=3&Level3=54&PID=0&Action=

 

[w00dsmoke]

I used to paint biker jackets and t shirts years ago with this stuff...you can mix it and use it like normal paint. Wait until it dries then you have to put a t towel ove rthe top and then iron it to fix the dye. If you are wanting a colour lighter than the fabric you are using you need to paint it with the white fabric paint first, then iron it, then use the colour you want. After it's all done the fabric will be stiff until it's been through a few washes.

It's gonna be really expensive to paint a hwole jackets worth of material with that stuff.
It may be easier/cheaper using a thinned down oil dye/paint.

WS

 

[Toddy]

The dyes you used are the plasticised ones Woodsmoke, almost like a paint.
The ones I use are genuine dyes, they chemically adhere to the fibres of the cloth.
When I'm finished my cloth is as soft as when I started.

The major benefit of the plasticised dyes is that they don't run into each other. I often have to use gutta to keep the edges tight on mine.

Rappelby wants to make camo so that's not an issue here.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

cool I'll take a look next time i go to the city!
Cheers everyone!:You_Rock_

 

[Chitterne]

This thread has caught my eye, I've always felt that a desert DPM smock would be the ultimate UK grassland cam if it could have a few broad brush strokes of grass-green on it (net result being similar-ish to the 70's para smock)

Could anyone give an idiot's guide as to which of the products mentioned so far could be painted (as-in with a 4" decorating paint brush) onto desert dpm in denison-like splodges to give a grass-green result?

 

[Chitterne]

Toddy?

Anyone?

 

[andybysea]

Have a look at this link, this guy makes 1st pattern denisons from scratch using original methods,

http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=46067

the originals im pretty sure had vegitable dye used on them it does fade, but this may add to its look, i wouldnt know where to get such dyes maybe a google search? but something like a jungle green/grass green would give you the desired colour brushed on in broad strokes, it would probably be very effective for what you had in mind.

 

[w00dsmoke]

This thread has caught my eye, I've always felt that a desert DPM smock would be the ultimate UK grassland cam if it could have a few broad brush strokes of grass-green on it (net result being similar-ish to the 70's para smock)

Could anyone give an idiot's guide as to which of the products mentioned so far could be painted (as-in with a 4" decorating paint brush) onto desert dpm in denison-like splodges to give a grass-green result?

Go into an art shop and buy a couple of tubs of your prefferred colour of the fabric paint (not dye) that you need to iron to fix. If you can't get the colouryou want buy the primary colours and mix them.

It's so easy to do.

WS

 

[Chitterne]

Both,
Many thanks!

 

[beach bum]

I can't really help you with a how to but here is a '44 smock windproof camouflage that I found in a boot sale.

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here's the label from inside ;-

[/IMG]

I have recently aquired another, unfortunately some bozo has used a black marker pen to put ban the bomb symbols all over it.

The first one sold on Ebay for an astronomical amount of money.


regards

beach bum