As a regular visitor to the SVR, and someone who has regularly photographed this location I have to say that I am loving these pictures. The layout looks fantastic.

Brilliant Will. Sets off the coaches a treat :-)

Wots all this about a balloon?? I'm still waiting for my 'Grasstech II' so any clues are welcome!

Regs

Ian

Is that true about the balloon? Genius if so!

Very nice, trees look cracking.

I think it depends on the effect you want with the grass, with a powerful homebrewed (fly-swat/cattle prod) device you can get each strand of static grass standing to attention in a very regular fashion. I suspect even more so if you invest an a proper contraption.

However, if you are content for your grass to be a little more haphazard, with some bits sticking up, some sideways, and some still sat sideways:

a bit like real grass blown by the wind with mulch and dead grass lying in amongst it;

a party balloon worth at most a penny or two will suffice. Simply sprinkle the grass onto a bed of fairly dilute pva. Inflate a balloon, rub it repeatedly on the carpet or wooly jumper for just a few seconds, then wave it over the bed of grass. You need to get close. There will be a noise like rain on a tin roof as some of the bits of grass are torn from the glue and stick to the balloon, but a good number of them will do the trick and stand up. You will get a thin covering of grass strands on the balloon itself, and these are hard to reliably harvest back into the packet, so this might be a part of the method that is wasteful.

It does work more effectively with quite long strands of static grass, the shorter cut variety maybe needs more of an attractive force.

I will try to get a closeup pic to show the effect, not the full 'static grass' experience, but maybe perfect for a number of scenic applications.

One wonders if the balloon was inflated, hand held but not tied, rubbed and passed over static grass and then deflated, whether it would be easier to remove the fibres....just a thought...

Very clever, I will have a go at that one!

Ah, it must have been Coombe Junction that gave me the idea.. I shouldnt want to make out it was my own!

Why are the best ideas so simple? Why does someone else always think of them? Doh!!!

Homer Simpson

Yes the balloon does work and does a reasonable job. Can be a little difficult in the tight access areas of a layout, where room is negated by structures or walls. I made my own static grass dispensor for as little as $28.00 AU (approx GBP 18.00), using PVC pipe (2"), some other PVC fittings, steel fly wire, insulated wire, a nail and a negative ion generator (Oatley Electronics IONB2 'Grassinator' High Voltage Module, available on ebay Australia for $14.00 + postage). Simply push all parts together, add the generator, some wiring and a 9volt battery and hey presto !!

A lot cheaper than the Noch version for exactly the same results...

If anyone wishes to purchase an Oatley Electronics IONB2 High Voltage Module, they are available now on ebay Australia

The item no. is; 120845557359. Details on how to manufacture a dispensor can be found on by googling 'static grass dispensor'.

Cheers, Gary.