Easy, cheap, grass

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhugart

Electrostatic stuff...Do you need the magnet around the edge of the cannister to have the stuff apply properly? I was somewhat under the impression that it would stand on edge, but I think the static charge is so it doesn't stick to itself. Anyone know?

The polyester fiber "static grass" many modelers use can be applied by hand, using essentially a salt shaker to "poof" the grass onto the layout. The fibers should naturally land on one tip, standing up. That's the theory, anyway. In practice it's a pain to get them to stand up thickly and uniformly like real grass. That's why modelers are now using Silfor or fake fur to represent large amounts of grass.

MR did have an article in the early 1980s about "zap texturing", using some strange, commercially available generator to act as a static electricity applicator for static grass. It seemed to work well, but looked to be too dangerous to use!

[jhugart]

Electrostatic stuff...Do you need the magnet around the edge of the cannister to have the stuff apply properly? I was somewhat under the impression that it would stand on edge, but I think the static charge is so it doesn't stick to itself. Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

I bought furr from a fabric store. You might want to shop around first. Next,
paint the furr green, and it will look like tall grass.

[jfugate]

THayman:

Yep, there's a lot to be said for using what's close at hand, especially if the price is right.

These days, not having a hobby shop close by is less of a hindrance because of all the online hobby outlets. You can get great prices and even with normal ground shipping I get quick delivery. I save up my pennies and order several things at once so the freight charges are a smaller amount of the total.


Another scene on the HO Siskiyou Line

[THayman]

If you get the batting thin enough, I have found it works fine as grass. It goes hard with the paint and looks fine if you vary the colours enough. But you are right, it does work far better for trees and bushes. And of course, those ground foam methods do look better, but the nearest hobby shop to me is over a 50 minute drive away, so other things are far easier for me to get a hold of.

[jfugate]

To see one way to easily get realistic tall grass, here's a link to an "online clinic":
http://siskiyou.railfan.net/silflor.html

Judge for yourself. Here's a model scene showing the silflor grass:

[orsonroy]

How would you get batting (the stuffing stuff you're talking about) to look like grass? I've worked wih batting a lot, and I've never had it say to me, "Look! I can be used for grass!" Never mind the color, it's too "poofy" to hug the ground, and can't replicate individual blades. For trees and bushes it's great.

And I've never really liked the old dyed sawdust look for grass. Before Woodland Scenics came along, it was THE way to make grass, and it always looked horrid.

I'll stick with fake fur, static grass and ground foam to represent grass. These methods really aren't expensive and provide a MUCH better overall appearance. I'd love to see photos that prove me wrong, though!

[THayman]

Here's an idea for relatively easy and cheap grass. You know that stuff they use to stuff pillows, its like a cotten type thing similar to cotton balls. If you take it and pull it into thin strips and glue it down, then spray paint it a mixture of browns, greens and yellows, it makes great looking grass, and trees too. It's easy and really cheap! Another even cheaper idea- take fine sawdust and die it green. Glue it down and spray some other colours on it for effects. It's almost free if you know someone who has plenty (a friend of mine owns a sawmill). It doesn't look quite as good as the other method (I've tried both).

I'd love to be able to post some pics, but I can't get them onto my computer yet, as I don't have access to a digital camera or scanner until the fall.

-Tim
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VIA RULES!!!