Tutorial: How to paint a cape or cloak with an airbrush

Hello everybody! Happy Thursday!

Today I will share a tutorial on how I like to paint capes or cloaks with an airbrush. It is a nice and especially quick way to achieve nice shading and highlights on your cape. The easiest way to do this is if you have the cape as a separate bit not yet glued to your model. If the cape or cloak is attached to your model, some masking is required to avoid overspray. Best ways to mask are masking tape, putty or liquid mask. It all depends on the model and preference.

For this little tutorial I use the cape of my Godslayer Halodyne Demarchon. I pinned it so I have full access to all sides without having to touch it. The hole is where I glue the cape to the model so you won't see it.

This is a metal cape so first thing you want to do is clean the metal to have a nice and smooth finish. You can read on how I did that in this article.

Okay so after cleaning and priming lets start painting. This is the step where you define your shadow color. I usually use a set color combination for shadows and highlights.
This is what I usually use:

• Natural green - brown or purple shading
• Mechanical green - dark blue shading
• Red - brown or blue shading
• Blue - black shading 
• Yellow - brown or orange shading
• White - grey highlights

This is gonna be a red cape to match the army. For this cape I chose Vallejo Model Air Mahogany. This is a nice reddish brown that will fit the red that will be added later.

Cape with Mahogany basecoat

Using Vallejo Model Air White I painted the highlights by painting the raised area's. There are several techniques you can use for this like zenithal highlighting. The result should be similar to the picture below. The more white you use the less shadows you will have and the more color. Make sure to keep the transitions smooth.

White highlights on the cape

The white highlights will make sure that the color you will paint over the cape next will really pop. For me, that first color is Vallejo Model Air Fire Red. Just spray it over the brown and white. You will see that the white will really pick up the red color. The brown area's will get a red tint but will stay really dark. 

First coat or Fire Red

The last color will be somewhat of a highlight. I will spray Vallejo Model Air Scarlet Red from the top, making it a zenithal highlight. You will notice the red parts will become more red. 

Highlight with Scarlet Red

Finally, we get to see what the cape looks like on the model. I removed the paint from the 'contact points' with the model using a knife. This will improve the bond with the miniature. When the cape is attached to the miniature it looks like this: 

Final result

Pretty cool right? This is a nice fast technique you can use for gaming models. It is also a nice start if you want to continue layering or wet blending to improve the contrast or color.

I hope this little tutorial helped you all. If you like this tutorial please feel free to share it with your friends, because, sharing is caring.

See you next time!