Gene Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 http://shortlinemodelers.com/forum/grass-weeds-primer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Brilliant! Who needs an expensive Grassmaster or a fiddly electrified tea strainer? Its so simple ... David C Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Excellent technique, but may I recommend using wool, available in craft shops pre-dyed in a huge range of colours, a small embroidery hank goes a very long way,, and colours can be mixed. The hair size is smaller diameter than wig hair or other stage prop hair, best used for real scrub grassland or river side rushes and long grasses.....and don't forget real hair can be used, human or pet hair. The rolling in to the cigar is useful, and well known, but you can also apply with pinches and a puffer made from a squeezy washing up liquid container. The cut up wool will naturally exit the nozzle straight and glue upright as it touches the glue. Expensive spray glue is not really needed, use PVA, cheap, and dries quickly, and does not smell of solvent! Buying scenic materials is an expensive way to do scenery, sand, soil and sawdust will cover most needs, with airbrushed colours applied afterwards to add extra touches. All my workshop sawdust is saved, and dyed in batches for various shades with Dylon cold cloth dye. This includes MDF, which always makes a very fine grade dust. My own experience in this is making professional museum dioramas and displays, and the simple, but well handled ways are often the best. Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Englishman Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 A great technique. THanks Gene for the link. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Very nice video - the effect is rather good isn't it?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted June 6, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 6, 2011 Brilliant! Who needs an expensive Grassmaster or a fiddly electrified tea strainer? Its so simple ... David C Brilliant! I agree. But I wouldn't trade in my 'Grasmaster'. Using both techniques opens up great posibilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 And my Grasstech 2 arrived today! Had quite an amusing conversation this weekend with 2 S gauger's (at the Exeter show) about this very clip! Must admit, it looks like a good technique, all I need now is a wig! Wonder if it works with mirkins! lol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinty3f Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Wonder if it works with mirkins! lol If you want short and curly grass Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sheep Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Hmm, my wife is blonde and has long hair and is planning on getting it cut need to get my baseboards finished before she gets it cut! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moorlander Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Excellent technique. Im off to the cheap shops on the high street to see wha i can get. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandc_au Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Pendon used to use real hair for thatched roof's, but it deteriorated and had to be replaced. Khris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clecklewyke Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Wool also makes excellent twigs on trees. Cut it into short (5mm) lengths, tease it out finely to produce a loose mesh, spray it with cheap, sticky hair spray, toss it into a plastic bag full of foliage and apply to a tree made of sea moss, hydrangea flowers (after removing the petals) wire creations or plastic trees. Works beautifully. I had thought of using sweepings from the local barbers - an experience out there? My one fear is that (as with Pendon's hair) organic materials might be nibbled by wee beasties. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullie Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I live an hour and a half drive from my nearest model shop so tend to look for alternatives as I don't always want to order things by post, using artists paints for instance, hanging basket liner, anything I can find. I also work on quite a tight budget. This is really clever! and I will be trying this for sure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 I've tried the cigar technique - I used it for (most of) the grass on Whitemarsh and I can thoroughly recommend it. It does require some practice though - it's not as easy as it looks in the video - you need to wait the right time for the glue to get tacky (2-5 minutes) and you need to keep an eye on the end of the cigar in case too much glue builds up on it and the grass fibres get clumpy or misaligned. The results can be quite pleasing: Expensive spray glue is not really needed, use PVA, cheap, and dries quickly, and does not smell of solvent! I spent some time looking for non-spray glues which I could use for small areas (I don't like the solvents either) but I didn't find anything which worked as well as Super 77. I tried normal woodworking PVA, tacky "craft" PVA and some other non-PVA glues I don't remember. None of them had enough grab to cleanly pull the grass fibres from the 'cigar' and hold them in place. While the spray glue costs more by weight than PVA, it's not ridiculously expensive - I've used a tiny part of the can I bought, and the rest will keep for other projects. It's good for flocking trees as well. I agree that there are some good free materials - dried soil makes very good ground cover. Some of the bought ones have useful qualities which I don't know of a free equivalent for though - the Noch "leaf" flakes are chopped paper, or something like that, and have a flat structure which sawdust doesn't. I think I paid 5 euro for a bag of which I've used a couple of teaspoonsful on the whole layout. Also worth considering that for the free materials you exchange up-front cost for time to prepare the material for use. may I recommend using wool I've never tried that though - and Mrs. V. has a huge stash I could raid - is it possible to get the twist out of the fibres, or does it not show when they're cut short? Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 The original video seems to have gone, I get a page not found report Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Howe Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 The original video seems to have gone, I get a page not found report Hi Terry If you want to watch the video, it's embedded in Will Vale's Grass on Whitemarsh blog, linked from his post above. Cheers Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Thanks found it after reading his report, should have deleted the post but, wanted to try my new wig on the layout!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozshrek Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Well its amazing what you find when you go surfing for info. I started looking at grass and found this thread. Ican only describe your modelling Mr Vale as brilliant. Youve captured the texture and nature of grassy, weedy, flowered areas with aplomb. The attention to detail around that drain is superb. Well done. I showed my brother in law who just happened to be here ( also a modeler) and he was quite convinced I was having him on...lol Well done. I like many ( I suspect ) am nlt mad about forking over a princes ransom to purchase proprietary scenic materials. Am always looking for cheap substitues and long ago discovered teh riches to be found in DIY warehouses , craft and art stores as well as the discount haberdasheries. I hadnt thought to modelling flowers lineside but they are there ( seasonal ) so why not Thankyou for the inspiration, from down under. cheers Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dseagull Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Just wanted to up this excellent tip to add a word of thanks to Gene & Will for publicising it here, and to add some of my own experiences. I've tried it this afternoon as a test piece prior to application on the layout itself (described in a bit more detail here Firstly, as has been mentioned, it is very important to leave the glue long enough! - otherwise it simply won't work, and you will be left with a sticky mess and covered in static grass fibres. Rather than a wig (although worryingly I do have one very similar to the one in the video ) , I used some Noch field grass cut to length which works just as well (and at £2.85 for a bag from one of the local model shops, not expensive either). Secondly, I found it easier to make the cigar as if I was rolling a cigarette - although using newspaper rather than Rizlas! - tried this the second time round after I found the method shown in the video wasn't producing reliably 'tight' cigars. Finally - the hoovering bit at the end shouldn't be treated as optional - the difference it makes is very noticeable, and what suprised me is that even if you do go very close (the force of the hoover pulled the bit of Celotex I was testing on out of my hand at one point), it won't take what is firmly stuck down off. So - well done guys for showing us this, it's excellent Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dseagull Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Actually thinking about it - although I picked up a huge can of spray glue from the carpet shop today for a fiver - would extra hold hairspray not work on the basis that it more or less is spray glue if you are worried about the price/solvent smell? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Iceman Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 A lot of adhesives these days are going SOLVENT FREE such as Evostick impact 250m for £5~£8 (dep on where you go) and has a good coverage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornamuse Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 fantastic video and further advice. can't wait to give it a try. is the wool mentioned the felting type that is not twisted? I have eard of fake fur being used- pretty much as is - anyone tried? any advice? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandc_au Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 fantastic video and further advice. can't wait to give it a try. is the wool mentioned the felting type that is not twisted? I have eard of fake fur being used- pretty much as is - anyone tried? any advice? Have seen fake fur used here in Oz. At the first showing it looked OK at the next showing it was looking good as they had done quite a bit more work on it to make it look realistic...ie painting etc. IMHO it is worth it if you spend some time and effort. Noting of course, it won't be for everyone. Khris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dseagull Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 A lot of adhesives these days are going SOLVENT FREE such as Evostick impact 250m for £5~£8 (dep on where you go) and has a good coverage With this method it's not so much the coverage that's important, it's the 'tackiness' of the glue to pull the fibres from the cigar and hold them upright. As mentioned I bought a can for a fiver from a carpet shop. If I'd have thought about it and looked in Wickes, I would have got the same for less than £4. Ahh well, live and learn! - http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/240143 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Iceman Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 to look at and use the evostick can be mistaken for PVA but after a few mins due to it being an impact adhesive it will do a commendable job. I have done a 8" x 3" ply practice with the solvent free method and can carry it round holding the grass fibres.... one BIG problem i found with this method................. I now need a new wig Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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