Flag case pattern

[DwightT]

I've mentioned before that I want to build a case to carry my flag in for Patriot Guard missions.  Now that Christmas gifts are out of the way I'm going to start working on it.  The case itself will be fairly simple - just a tube with a cap and maybe a strap or handle for carrying.  However I also want to have a design carved on it.  With that in mind I took some photos from missions from last summer and used them to create this line-art:

I'll scale the image as needed to make it fit on the case.  My thinking is that the flag bearer will be basically just a natural leather color silhouette while the flag will be more detailed and painted with acrylic paint. I would love to hear any comments or suggestions that you all may have.

    /dwight

[DwightT]

Since the case will require a fairly large piece of leather, I didn't want to just jump in to tooling on it until I had tried this pattern on a practice piece first.  I rooted around in my scrap bin and found a chunk that was big enough for the flag and most of the flag bearer, and started tooling.

Needs some work there.  First off, on the final I'll use a mirror image.  This was how the flag was blowing in the original photo that I used as a starting point, but as my wife pointed out, the star field should be on the left.  Not a big deal with the bearer, but since the flag will stand out much more than the flag bearer it should have the field on the left.  That will be a simple fix.

Second, I don't think I'll use the basket weave, or anything else in the background around this image.  Maybe a band on the top and bottom of the case, but not right around the flag and flag bearer.  It just makes the image too busy and distracts from the flag.

Third, I'll need to look closer at the original photo and use my pear shaders to highlight the curls in the flag and enhance the waving motion.  I did do a little bit here, but I think I need more definitive shade lines.

Next I applied some antique stain (Eco-Flo gel antique).

What I noticed here was that my stars are a bit inconsistent in depth.  I think if I'm a little more consistent and don't make them too deep (so that they don't hold the stain as much), then it will be easier to paint them.

Then finally I painted the flag and pole.

What I got out of here is that I should paint the blue field first, then fill in the stars.  Yes, I will slop some white paint onto the blue field, but it is easier to touch up the blue over white slop than it is to try to cover up any blue slop on the white stars.

Other than those notes I think I'm ready to move on to the real thing.

    /dwight

 

[chuck123wapati]

23 minutes ago, DwightT said:

Since the case will require a fairly large piece of leather, I didn't want to just jump in to tooling on it until I had tried this pattern on a practice piece first.  I rooted around in my scrap bin and found a chunk that was big enough for the flag and most of the flag bearer, and started tooling.

Needs some work there.  First off, on the final I'll use a mirror image.  This was how the flag was blowing in the original photo that I used as a starting point, but as my wife pointed out, the star field should be on the left.  Not a big deal with the bearer, but since the flag will stand out much more than the flag bearer it should have the field on the left.  That will be a simple fix.

Second, I don't think I'll use the basket weave, or anything else in the background around this image.  Maybe a band on the top and bottom of the case, but not right around the flag and flag bearer.  It just makes the image too busy and distracts from the flag.

Third, I'll need to look closer at the original photo and use my pear shaders to highlight the curls in the flag and enhance the waving motion.  I did do a little bit here, but I think I need more definitive shade lines.

Next I applied some antique stain (Eco-Flo gel antique).

What I noticed here was that my stars are a bit inconsistent in depth.  I think if I'm a little more consistent and don't make them too deep (so that they don't hold the stain as much), then it will be easier to paint them.

Then finally I painted the flag and pole.

What I got out of here is that I should paint the blue field first, then fill in the stars.  Yes, I will slop some white paint onto the blue field, but it is easier to touch up the blue over white slop than it is to try to cover up any blue slop on the white stars.

Other than those notes I think I'm ready to move on to the real thing.

    /dwight

 

 

man that looks really nice!!! The direction of the flag in the picture is ok. the field of stars is always towards the pole when hung outside or carried or if on an arm  patch the field will be to the front of the person. We wore our flag patch on the right arm so the field was on the right facing forward when looking at it. when it is hung on a wall you are correct in its positioning.

[chuck123wapati]

2 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

 

man that looks really nice!!! The direction of the flag in the picture is ok. the field of stars is always towards the pole when hung outside or carried or if on an arm  patch the field will be to the front of the person. We wore our flag patch on the right arm so the field was on the right facing forward when looking at it. when it is hung on a wall you are correct in its positioning.

considering that is the side of the holder and if you carry the holder in your right hand the picture of the flag will be facing the correct direction the way it is now. star field to the forward

[DwightT]

22 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

considering that is the side of the holder and if you carry the holder in your right hand the picture of the flag will be facing the correct direction the way it is now. star field to the forward

Now this is why I posted my thoughts here: so somebody could tell me when I've over-thought something.  We were thinking that the bearer and pole might not be all that noticeable to the casual viewer, so in that case the flag would look like it was mounted on a wall backwards.  But as you pointed out if I just flipped the image over then the bearer would be holding the pole on his left side which would be even worse.  I'll just leave it as is then.  Thanks Chuck!

    /dwight

[Mulesaw]

At first I thought it looked a bit overwhelming with the stained basket weave, but after the painting of the flag and the pole it looks good to me.

My only suggestion would be to move the face of the bearer a smidge forward (if that is possible), or move the hat a little down on the head instead.

On the line drawing, it is easy to see that the bearer is wearing a cap, and you can see the contours of his face, but on your practice piece, it looks kind of like he isn't wearing a hat, other than a strange pointy shade over his eyes. It is a minor detail, but I think it will be worth it.
Also on the line drawing there is a resolute stout expression on the bearer, aided by a strong chin and a good posture. It might just be the chest of the bearer that has fallen a bit on the carving, but that gives a different look. 

I am looking forward to seeing the finished case 

Brgds Jonas (who is no where near being able to carve something like this)

[DwightT]

9 minutes ago, Mulesaw said:

At first I thought it looked a bit overwhelming with the stained basket weave, but after the painting of the flag and the pole it looks good to me.

My only suggestion would be to move the face of the bearer a smidge forward (if that is possible), or move the hat a little down on the head instead.

On the line drawing, it is easy to see that the bearer is wearing a cap, and you can see the contours of his face, but on your practice piece, it looks kind of like he isn't wearing a hat, other than a strange pointy shade over his eyes. It is a minor detail, but I think it will be worth it.
Also on the line drawing there is a resolute stout expression on the bearer, aided by a strong chin and a good posture. It might just be the chest of the bearer that has fallen a bit on the carving, but that gives a different look. 

I am looking forward to seeing the finished case 

Brgds Jonas (who is no where near being able to carve something like this)

Well thank you.  The line drawing came from a couple of images.  I started with a photo of a flag that I like, but the flag bearer in that one had bad posture.  So I took a photo of myself in the same profile and holding a pole, then overlaid that on the original.  So it's nice to know that I have "a resolute stout expression" and "a strong chin and good posture". 

But I agree with you completely on the carving.  I may have to do a couple more practice pieces just around that area to see if I can improve the final result.

    /dwight

[Mulesaw]

3 minutes ago, DwightT said:

Well thank you.  The line drawing came from a couple of images.  I started with a photo of a flag that I like, but the flag bearer in that one had bad posture.  So I took a photo of myself in the same profile and holding a pole, then overlaid that on the original.  So it's nice to know that I have "a resolute stout expression" and "a strong chin and good posture". 

But I agree with you completely on the carving.  I may have to do a couple more practice pieces just around that area to see if I can improve the final result.

    /dwight

Well, I was always taught to tell the truth, and the bearer on that line drawing looks like something from a 1950'ies ad for joining the service :-)

 

[DwightT]

With @Mulesaw's comments in mind, I decided to modify the design a bit to move the flag bearer down so that he isn't covered by the flag at all.  I also changed the pose so that he is at "Present Arms" instead of just "Attention" and I shortened the flag pole.  I like the looks better and it is more representative of how our PGR group stands the flag line.  And I did this practice piece without the basket weave.  Not totally decided yet as to if I'll use it in the final piece or not.  Guess I better decide soon though since I have the leather for it casing right now.

And yes, I got a bit sloppy with the matting tool on this practice piece.  I'll have to keep it cleaner for the final piece.

    /dwight

 

[PastorBob]

16 hours ago, DwightT said:

With @Mulesaw's comments in mind, I decided to modify the design a bit to move the flag bearer down so that he isn't covered by the flag at all.  I also changed the pose so that he is at "Present Arms" instead of just "Attention" and I shortened the flag pole.  I like the looks better and it is more representative of how our PGR group stands the flag line.  And I did this practice piece without the basket weave.  Not totally decided yet as to if I'll use it in the final piece or not.  Guess I better decide soon though since I have the leather for it casing right now.

And yes, I got a bit sloppy with the matting tool on this practice piece.  I'll have to keep it cleaner for the final piece.

    /dwight

 

That flag looks outstanding!!

[chuck123wapati]

that looks a  lot better. 

[Mulesaw]

That looks fantastic. Being able to see the entire bearer of the flag makes an incredible difference. 

Sorry for the late comment, but our Internet provider on board (Telenor Maritime ) is completely useless and unable to supply any forms of communications as soon as we leave the path generally trodden (sailed). And the South Atlantic Ocean diagonally isn't exactly a maritime expressway :-)

Brgds

Jonas

[DwightT]

Thanks all.  I'm almost finished with the final case. As with any project there are some things that I would do differently if I had to do it again, but on the whole I'm pretty happy with the way its turning out.  I'll post in the "Show Off" area tomorrow when I'm done.

And thanks again for the feedback on the tooling pattern. I think that really helped me to make it better than what I had originally come up with.

    /dwight

Edited February 14, 2023 by DwightT

[GrampaJoel]

Hey!
How the heck did you get all those itty bitty stars painted?

 

[DwightT]

1 hour ago, GrampaJoel said:

Hey!
How the heck did you get all those itty bitty stars painted?

 

Veeerrrry Carefully. 

Yes, it was kind of a pain.  I painted the blue field first (trying to keep the blue paint off the stars), then once that dried I went back with a fine-point artists brush to do the stars.  This time I tried to keep the white paint only on the stars, but I didn't worry too much about slopping over onto the field.  Once that paint dried I went back again with the fine-point brush and touched up the blue. 

I found that it was easier to cover the white slop with the blue paint than it was to try to cover any blue slop on the itty bitty white stars without slopping onto the blue field again.

    /dwight

[PastorBob]

44 minutes ago, DwightT said:

Veeerrrry Carefully. 

Yes, it was kind of a pain.  I painted the blue field first (trying to keep the blue paint off the stars), then once that dried I went back with a fine-point artists brush to do the stars.  This time I tried to keep the white paint only on the stars, but I didn't worry too much about slopping over onto the field.  Once that paint dried I went back again with the fine-point brush and touched up the blue. 

I found that it was easier to cover the white slop with the blue paint than it was to try to cover any blue slop on the itty bitty white stars without slopping onto the blue field again.

    /dwight

I think it turned out great!  Stood many a line, some even with my 4 year old granddaughter.  Thanks for what you do!!