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Regular grass vs static grass

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  • Member since
    March 2009
  • 108 posts
Posted by derf on Saturday, October 21, 2023 4:11 PM

PC101,

What size tubing do you use?

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  • From: west coast
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Posted by rrebell on Monday, October 16, 2023 8:00 AM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

 

 
PC101

Was there a time when saw dust was dyed green or brown?

Then there was Flocking material.

Kibri made a ''grass'' but that I believe was a foam product.

 

 

 

Yes there was a time when saw dust was just died green and brown.

I'm going to be a contrarian here, but except for farm fields of 6' corn, I don't really get the whole static grass thing? 

Does anybody still use zip texturing? 

Grass that is manicured (cut) has effectively a zero height in 1/87 scale. Hence the popularity of zip texturing when it came along.

Zip texturing - tempra paint powder, applied dry to a wet surface with a tea strainer. 

Maybe not effective for all situations, but sure looks good on every layout I have ever seen it used on.

In many applications static grass has given me the impression of a detail that we make oversized so it can be noticed.

Again, just my view. When you look at a model railroad from three feet you are 261 scale feet away....... what do things look like at 261 feet?

Sheldon 

 

I use zip as the first color layer. My layout is foam covered with plaster cloth, first colored layer is a zip brown dirt color, then all the other layers once that dries like turf and static near the front as that is the only place it really shows.

  • Member since
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  • From: Potomac Yard
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Posted by NittanyLion on Sunday, October 15, 2023 11:03 PM

It isn't like all static grass is 15mm wheat fields (in HO). You can get 1mm. That's just under 4 inches. More in the range of "time to mow the lawn" but hardly a untouched prairie. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Sunday, October 15, 2023 6:28 PM

That's true, but very little of my layout is manicured lawns or golf courses.  I'll allow taller grass by water scenes or by the trackside.  I like the taller grass and that amber waves of grain look.  Nobody measures my grass height.  I don't have an HOA on my layout.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Sunday, October 15, 2023 5:58 PM

PC101

Was there a time when saw dust was dyed green or brown?

Then there was Flocking material.

Kibri made a ''grass'' but that I believe was a foam product.

 

Yes there was a time when saw dust was just died green and brown.

I'm going to be a contrarian here, but except for farm fields of 6' corn, I don't really get the whole static grass thing? 

Does anybody still use zip texturing? 

Grass that is manicured (cut) has effectively a zero height in 1/87 scale. Hence the popularity of zip texturing when it came along.

Zip texturing - tempra paint powder, applied dry to a wet surface with a tea strainer. 

Maybe not effective for all situations, but sure looks good on every layout I have ever seen it used on.

In many applications static grass has given me the impression of a detail that we make oversized so it can be noticed.

Again, just my view. When you look at a model railroad from three feet you are 261 scale feet away....... what do things look like at 261 feet?

Sheldon 

    

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    March 2009
  • 108 posts
Posted by derf on Sunday, October 15, 2023 11:02 AM

Thanks to all for the info.

Fred

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    July 2006
  • From: west coast
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Posted by rrebell on Sunday, October 15, 2023 8:10 AM

No the static applicator will not work with regular foam grass but regular grass from that time makes a great base and is what I used all over with splotches of earth shown though and then overlayed this with static grrass of varius lengths in the foreground.

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    March 2012
  • 1,162 posts
Posted by PC101 on Sunday, October 15, 2023 8:06 AM

derf

Sorry, I'm talking about the woodland scenics fine medium and course turf from 20 years ago or more. Will it work in a static grass aplicator or should I upgrade to the actual static grass?

Fred

 

With that WS stuff I used a Badger paint glass jar with two holes in the metal lid so two 1/4'' clear hoses would fit though. With the one hose going into the lid would blow into and the other hose coming out of the lid and holding it would apply the "grass" to the surface. Just like using a Badger air brush.

The yellow arrow is the incoming air to the bottle (longer tube into the bottle) and the orange arrow is the out going air (short tube in the bottle) that carries the ''grass'' that will be stuck to the green or brown or what ever color you put down on the surface. This ''grass'' is applied while the paint is wet using a very light/soft air input.

@ derf, This does not answer your qurestion but it may let you use what you have of that old stock of WS ground cover. You can cover a lot of ground this way. 

OH AND BREATHE IN THROUGH YOU NOSE, DO NOT BREATH IN FROM THE TUBE.

 

   

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Posted by derf on Sunday, October 15, 2023 6:16 AM

Sorry, I'm talking about the woodland scenics fine medium and course turf from 20 years ago or more. Will it work in a static grass aplicator or should I upgrade to the actual static grass?

Fred

  • Member since
    March 2012
  • 1,162 posts
Posted by PC101 on Saturday, October 14, 2023 10:51 PM

Was there a time when saw dust was dyed green or brown?

Then there was Flocking material.

Kibri made a ''grass'' but that I believe was a foam product.

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, October 14, 2023 9:31 PM

Ground foam, which passed for grass a generation ago, is not in the same class as static grass.  It may be green, but there is nothing to stand up.

If you are talking about something else, I apologize.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Saturday, October 14, 2023 9:08 PM

What do you define as "regular grass?"  Static grass is often quite long, several millimeters at least, in long strands like field grass, giving it the ability to stand on end and look like real growing fields of grass.  About the closest static grass seems to be the short Woodland Scenics stuff that ends up looking fuzzy rather than grass-like.  I have several containers of WS turf, which can look like a grassy field from a distance but not so good close up.

If you have a train show coming up, you might find some packages there, or if you're lucky you might pick some up at your LHS.  I'd start with 2 and 4 mm in different colors, because pseudo-random mixing of colors gives a nicer effect than monochrome.

I use one of the cheap Gras-tech applicators and it works just fine for me.  Static grass works great and there isn't much learning curve.  Good luck!

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    March 2009
  • 108 posts
Regular grass vs static grass
Posted by derf on Saturday, October 14, 2023 11:50 AM

Can regular grass material be used in place of static grass with a static grass  aplicator? I have quite a lot of the old grasses and would like to use them in place of static grass if it will work. I haven't bought an aplicator yet.

Thanks,

Fred

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