Need to simulate a cloth hanging over my figures hand. Not sure what to use. Scale is 75mm. Spartan figure. Thanks.

Terp

What type of fabric are you trying to simulate? This matters, as each fabric has it specific way of refracting light.

For wool I usually use a stippling effect, and keep the highlights more subdued. For silk I use brush strokes and make the highlights a bit more pronounced.

Have a look at my aquila (https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/aquila.155943/) where I painted all fabric as being different colours of wool - or at least attempted to

If you're using acrylics, Vallejo metal medium can help depict silk, as per one of my present WIP's.
I'm still working on his face, but the clothing is almost finished.

take a piece of cloth of the same kind of material you want to depict, fold it like it is on your figure, then paint what you see

Perhaps I am not reading Terp's question the same way as you. Do you need to create something that looks like cloth on a figure? Or is how to paint it the issue?

A handy substitute for scale cloth is a piece of facial tissue washed in a diluted white glue solution, then drape. By varying the dilution, I have found I can make the result stiffer or laxer. Allow to dry, then paint as suggested above.

N

Thanks all. Ned has it right. I'm trying to create a towel-like item to go over my Spartan's arm. Unfortunately, this is to cover up a mistake that I can't correct without a lot of dismantling. Will try the glue solution. Thanks again for your information everyone.

Brian

Brian, a tissue soaked with diluted white glue, as suggested by Ned, should work no problem.
I've used that method for tarps thrown on top of various boxes, oil drums, etc., and will be doing it again in my latest project to depict a blanket draped over a dead body.
Good luck.