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Fixing static grass mistakes Scenery and structures
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Regular poster 332 posts Nevin W. Wilson NevinW Regular poster 332 posts
Nevin W. Wilson NevinW

I've been using a Static King applicator with Woodland Scenics static grass. Some areas work well, others not so much.  I've been using the portable vacuum to to get some of the longer fibers to stand up better.  The long 12 mm fibers particularly tend to lie down.  I've noticed that small nail works pushed into the glue better for me than the metal device WS includes with their applicator.  I wish the Static King was somewhat smaller as some areas it doesn't fit into well. 

I'd like to go back and re-work some of the areas that have dried to get it to look more like long grass in a field rather than a mat.  Any suggestions or ideas about how you rehabilitate a static grass field?  I'm clearly on the steep part of the learning curve here as I have never used one of these before.  When I was modeling Nevada, you didn't get much opportunity to plant grass.  Any other suggestions or ideas to improve my technique would be appreciated.  Thanks.   

Modeling the Maryland Midland Railroad circa 2006

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Oztrainz Moderator 3,495 posts
Oztrainz

Kathy Millatt and layering spray

Hi NevinW,

One of the best modellers at Static Grass on YouTube is Kathy Millatt. Have a look at her use of "Layering Spray" at 

 

 

I've used a Peco grass gun to do this in O scale with 1/2" (12 mm fibres).

1240475a.jpg Remember these are 1/43 O scale figures (bigger than 1/48 O scale)  - In HO these figures would be at least mid-thigh deep in the weeds. 

Yes - The small nail pushed into the glue pool works best - after heavy "grassing" you won't find the hole the nail has made. 

Second tip - I use a mix of lengths and colours in the grass gun to give me scenic variation of grasses rather than the uniform look of a "lawn".  

Third tip  - This is an electrostatic process that rapidly degrades with distance between the glue and the grass gun. You need to get the end of the grass gun with the mesh close to the glue pool - especially if you are using longer fibres

Fourth Tip - while the glue is still wet you can wave an empty grass gun close to the top of the grass layer and have some of the flattened fibres stand back up.

I'd look into getting some of the Layering Spray for a trial, It just might give you the "look" of longer grass that you are searching for,    

Regards,

John Garaty

Unanderra in oz

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Nevin W. Wilson NevinW Regular poster 332 posts
Nevin W. Wilson NevinW

Thank you

Thanks.  I appreciate it.  That was all very helpful.  I need to find that Layering spray on line and order some.  

Modeling the Maryland Midland Railroad circa 2006

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Chris Palermo patentwriter Frequent poster 980 posts
Chris Palermo patentwriter

Hair spray

You can use cheap non-aerosol hair spray as a layering adhesive. A commercial model railroading product is not essential. In the US, I use Tresemme brand max hold in a black pump spray bottle. Available at almost any CVS, Walgreens or similar. I use plain copier-printer paper as a mask to prevent overspray, cutting it to fit the area and then discarding it after the grass work is done.
At Large North America Director, 2024-2027 - National Model Railroad Association, Inc.
Reply 0
duckdogger Super User 808 posts
duckdogger

Layering spray

The product Katy uses is an aerosol version not available in the US. The pump spray version is very frustrating as the nozzle begins cogging very quickly. And it is very difficult to clean thoroughly. The Woodland Scenic version is very effective but still requires cleaning after (and sometimes during).
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