The cape is perhaps the most western thing about this costume. It gives a “man with no name” vibe, even though it’s not a poncho.
This cape is made from wool. It’s not entirely clear what was used in the movie, but the consensus is wool or canvas, most likely an army blanket.
The first thing I did with the cape was to wash it. This was to get rid of any production residue and creases.Next I marked where I wanted the damage to be. And then came the scary part: I had to start cutting it.
I had desided on using a serrated blade (a steak knife) to give it a torn look. This was more difficult than I thought, because wool is flexible and not easy to cut with a serrated blade. I ended up using scissors and my hobby knife to make the holes, and the steak knife to weather the holes.
To make it look even more used, I gave the cape a light mist of dark grey spraypaint. No direct spray, and not very much.
And finally I just started abusing the cape. Hitting it against a brick wall outside, throwing it on the floor, wiping the whole hobby room with it, stomping and jumping on it, kicking it around. I don’t know if this had any effect on the look, but it was fun!
I even went over the cape with an electric hair trimmer, just to get rid of the fluff and make it look more worn down.
Tools used:
- Scissors
- Hobby knife
- Steak knife (serrated edge blade)
- Awl
- Dark grey spray paint
- Electric hair trimmer
- A brick wall, a dirty floor, shoes