British Shoulder Tufts from Yarn

In the past I simply painted small patches of white paint on the shoulders of my British soldiers to represent the white should tufts found on their jackets. The figure to the right, which is of a drummer, shows the tufts very well.

These tufts are actually rather prominent, while the white paint was flat, and thus not very visible. I needed something to make them stand out more.

In the past I have used common yarn for a variety of things, such as simulating tall grass and making the crest of a hoplite helmet. Cutting two small strands of white yarn, and gluing it to the arm, makes for a perfect substitute.

In order to ensure the yarn does not unravel, and to better stick to the figure, once the piece is attached to the figure I thoroughly douse it with thinned Elmer's Clear Glue. (As a side note: I used to use CVS School Glue Gel, which dried clear, but with a slight blue tinge. Elmer's dried perfectly clear and is much thinner - which may or may not be a good thing, depending upon your needs.) Once the glue hardens I use sharp scrapbooking scissors to trim the ends and shape the tuft. In the figures below, you can see the results. (I have placed small light blue arrows to show the tufts, before on the right and after on the left.)

All in all I much prefer the new tufts, despite the additional time and effort taken.