Static grass tips (for N gauge especially)?

[Cowley]

Evening everyone.

Has anyone used static grass and got good results from it?
Having looked at rmweb there’s an enormous amount of information but it runs to page after page and I’m just looking for some simple tips on what to buy to get started?
Any help would be gratefully received.

 

[TheEdge]

You want a proper applicator. The cheap tea strainer ones work perfectly well but on small areas whereas the bigger ones, like PECOs offering are much better for covering large areas.

When it comes to glue any scenic glue will do, even just watered down PVA, I used to use the Woodlands Scenics stuff.

Any static grass will also do as well, I used WWS! Its worth remembering that unless you are modelling a golf course or well kept lawn it creates a good effect to mix lengths and colours. Also after you apply it either manually add or tease some longer pieces to stand well proud!

 

[Cowley]

You want a proper applicator. The cheap tea strainer ones work perfectly well but on small areas whereas the bigger ones, like PECOs offering are much better for covering large areas.

When it comes to glue any scenic glue will do, even just watered down PVA, I used to use the Woodlands Scenics stuff.

Any static grass will also do as well, I used WWS! Its worth remembering that unless you are modelling a golf course or well kept lawn it creates a good effect to mix lengths and colours. Also after you apply it either manually add or tease some longer pieces to stand well proud!

Great stuff @TheEdge. Thanks.
I’ll probably be back for more advice later once I’ve hit eBay...

 

[Peter C]

I know this thread has been laying dormant for a couple of weeks now but I was scrolling through the sub-forum and thought I could lend a hand.
When I've done static grass in the past, I've used a Gaugemaster (I think) applicator. Well, I say "applicator" -it's a yellow bottle with a grey thing with holes in in the top into which you put the static grass. You then shake the bottle for a short while, turn it upside-down, and squeeze it onto the area which you want to grass-ify.
I've also found that using WHSmith's PVA glue doesn't (always) work - when I used it, it dried clear but dark, ruining the effect of the grass. Although maybe I did it wrong in a rush! It's been a couple of years since that now.

If you want to do smaller sections of static grass, I'd reccomend the following method:
- Measure out the dimensions of the area which you wish to static grass-ify, e.g. a square garden.
- Make a template of the same size as the area on your layout which you wish to cover in grass.
- Paint your template in some sort of paint for a base cover (although I used green felt when I did this a couple of years ago).
- Wait for the paint to dry and then cover the template in PVA glue.
- Get your static grass applicator sorted and then use it on the template.
- Apply the grass onto the template.
- Wait for it all to dry.
- Put the template onto your layout, gluing it if required.

Turns out the above method helps a lot with all sorts of modelling work and I'm sure everyone on this sub-forum has used that technique for things like buildings.

Hope this helps,

-Peter

 

[Cowley]

I know this thread has been laying dormant for a couple of weeks now but I was scrolling through the sub-forum and thought I could lend a hand.
When I've done static grass in the past, I've used a Gaugemaster (I think) applicator. Well, I say "applicator" -it's a yellow bottle with a grey thing with holes in in the top into which you put the static grass. You then shake the bottle for a short while, turn it upside-down, and squeeze it onto the area which you want to grass-ify.
I've also found that using WHSmith's PVA glue doesn't (always) work - when I used it, it dried clear but dark, ruining the effect of the grass. Although maybe I did it wrong in a rush! It's been a couple of years since that now.

If you want to do smaller sections of static grass, I'd reccomend the following method:
- Measure out the dimensions of the area which you wish to static grass-ify, e.g. a square garden.
- Make a template of the same size as the area on your layout which you wish to cover in grass.
- Paint your template in some sort of paint for a base cover (although I used green felt when I did this a couple of years ago).
- Wait for the paint to dry and then cover the template in PVA glue.
- Get your static grass applicator sorted and then use it on the template.
- Apply the grass onto the template.
- Wait for it all to dry.
- Put the template onto your layout, gluing it if required.

Turns out the above method helps a lot with all sorts of modelling work and I'm sure everyone on this sub-forum has used that technique for things like buildings.

Hope this helps,

-Peter

Thanks for that Peter, there’s some useful tips in there.
I just got stuck in in the end and got some pretty good results, although I do seem to have the odd bald patch where the glue hasn’t taken (I used Woodland Scenics glue because I read that was quite conductive). Luckily the brown that I painted the scenery in looks suitably earthy so it doesn’t matter too much and I can always go over those bits again if need be.

 

[Peter C]

Thanks for that Peter, there’s some useful tips in there.
I just got stuck in in the end and got some pretty good results, although I do seem to have the odd bald patch where the glue hasn’t taken (I used Woodland Scenics glue because I read that was quite conductive). Luckily the brown that I painted the scenery in looks suitably earthy so it doesn’t matter too much and I can always go over those bits again if need be.

Excellent - nice to know my ramblings can be useful!
I used Woodland Scenics glue as well when I first did my static grass work - for bald patches all I can offer as advice is, if you want to cover them in grass, put a tiny amount of glue in the space and use something as a tiny spatula to spread it out and then go again with the grass applicator.

-Peter