07-14-2008, 05:04 PM
Brown tents..
Well, we finally did it. For years I resisted the idea of disguising canvas as leather. Last February our tents came back from being loaned out and most had red dye stains down the doors from Corinthian helmets with red horsehair crests that were displayed on the top of the upright poles. It had rained, alot and hard.. the red dye ran and left psychodelic streaks.
Thus, an opportunity presented itself.. or perhaps it was a sign?.... in any case we now have brown tents.
The canvas is Sunforger.
I experimented with several products.. rit dye, procion dye, paint, leather dye but the one that was most effective was a water based wood stain.
Mixed at the ratio of one pint to one gallon, applied with a pressurized sprayer and then brushed and scrubbed into the canvas with a sweep broom.
It worked best when the canvas was primed with water. We misted the canvas and then brushed it in making the fibers of the canvas more likely to absorb the dye mix.
We worked in smallish areas. The hotter/sunnier it was the smaller the area as the dye would dry too fast leaving spots or streaks. On overcast parts of the day the work went quickly as we could work larger areas.
The tents need 3 coats to achieve the color we like and that translates into about one quart of dye per tent... and at under $10 per can!
Since the stain is water based it leaves no odor, no volitiles.
The canvas became slightly stiffer, but after being up for 3 days it returned to its natural suppleness.
We stained/dyed the tents on a flat surface, folding the tents so as to present only the area to be dyed... over spray results in streaking and sploching that is hard to cover up.
After seeing the tents up, after seeing a "sea" of brown tents, the impression of what a Roman camp might have looked like was further advanced.
The Public at Old Ft Mac Days loved it, fellow reenactors loved it.. "Hey, you guys don't look like an American Civil War encampment!". More importantly we liked it. Even the handful of skeptics among us loved it.
Some of the tents pictured need a 2nd and 3rd coat of dye.
It took about 1 hour over a 4 hour period to apply one coat of dye. It was best when the section dyed was given an oportunity to become nearly dry.
Here are some pictures:
![[Image: ftmac2008.03.papilio.jpg]](http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.03.papilio.jpg)
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.01.papilio.jpg
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.02.papilio.jpg
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.04.papilio.jpg
Well, we finally did it. For years I resisted the idea of disguising canvas as leather. Last February our tents came back from being loaned out and most had red dye stains down the doors from Corinthian helmets with red horsehair crests that were displayed on the top of the upright poles. It had rained, alot and hard.. the red dye ran and left psychodelic streaks.
Thus, an opportunity presented itself.. or perhaps it was a sign?.... in any case we now have brown tents.
The canvas is Sunforger.
I experimented with several products.. rit dye, procion dye, paint, leather dye but the one that was most effective was a water based wood stain.
Mixed at the ratio of one pint to one gallon, applied with a pressurized sprayer and then brushed and scrubbed into the canvas with a sweep broom.
It worked best when the canvas was primed with water. We misted the canvas and then brushed it in making the fibers of the canvas more likely to absorb the dye mix.
We worked in smallish areas. The hotter/sunnier it was the smaller the area as the dye would dry too fast leaving spots or streaks. On overcast parts of the day the work went quickly as we could work larger areas.
The tents need 3 coats to achieve the color we like and that translates into about one quart of dye per tent... and at under $10 per can!
Since the stain is water based it leaves no odor, no volitiles.
The canvas became slightly stiffer, but after being up for 3 days it returned to its natural suppleness.
We stained/dyed the tents on a flat surface, folding the tents so as to present only the area to be dyed... over spray results in streaking and sploching that is hard to cover up.
After seeing the tents up, after seeing a "sea" of brown tents, the impression of what a Roman camp might have looked like was further advanced.
The Public at Old Ft Mac Days loved it, fellow reenactors loved it.. "Hey, you guys don't look like an American Civil War encampment!". More importantly we liked it. Even the handful of skeptics among us loved it.
Some of the tents pictured need a 2nd and 3rd coat of dye.
It took about 1 hour over a 4 hour period to apply one coat of dye. It was best when the section dyed was given an oportunity to become nearly dry.
Here are some pictures:
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.01.papilio.jpg
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.02.papilio.jpg
http://rlqm.com/ftmac2008/ftmac2008.04.papilio.jpg
Hibernicus
LEGIO IX HISPANA, USA
You cannot dig ditches in a toga!
[url:194jujcw]http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org[/url]
A nationwide club with chapters across N America
LEGIO IX HISPANA, USA
You cannot dig ditches in a toga!
[url:194jujcw]http://www.legio-ix-hispana.org[/url]
A nationwide club with chapters across N America
