Update on Using Static Grass

In my previous post, I noted that I wanted to vary the colour (add some darker green) and use longer fibres.

I got another package of static grass—darker green, and 12 mm this time. (The first package was 6 mm.)

I experimented with a combination of shorter and longer fibres, and I think I like the effect.

In truth, the longer fibres might be out of scale for the average HO-sized person (about half the size of a 1:87 figure).

But for a full-scale human observer, it gives the sense that the grass is deeper. And it shows up better in photos, too.

(I might take some scissors to the grass and cut the taller fibres at random lengths; they look to uniform right now—in photos, at least. In real life it’s not so noticeable.)

One challenge I had was what to do with the areas where I had already added the shorter static grass.

Smearing glue on it to add the longer fibres wasn’t an option; that would only flatten the existing grass.

Then I remembered how I made my trees, using cheap hairspray to hold the ground foam to the “branches.” (Actually common plants and weeds like spirea and yarrow.)

I tried it on the static grass, and it worked. A spray to wet the scene, add the new fibres, then another light spray to hold everything in place.

(Some websites and how-to videos actually recommend a quick spray of hairspray to make sure everything stays fixed.)

After applying the static grass, I use a home-made vacuum container made by my friend Larry Leavens to vacuum up any other loose fibres. (He also made the applicator—clever guy!)

So far, I think it looks good. But I don’t think I will apply it everywhere. 

I think it will mostly go where I tend to take photos—that’s where static grass helps make scenes look more believable.

Then again, who knows? Maybe once I get on a roll, I’ll keep going.