Thursday, May 14, 2015

Static Grass

The next step in the scenery process is to add some grass.  By late Fall most grass has turned golden brown with some grasses still holding on to a bit of green  I chose rather long strands of static grass in yellow and pale green colors to add to the area between the background and the tracks.  I use shorter length (6-8mm) light green grass material and longer strands of yellow (10-12mm).  The effect turned out rater well.  From the above photo you can hardly make out the Chapel Lumber siding.  The grass texture covers the siding track in most places and the ties are barely discernible.

I  built my own static grass applicator from an electronic fly squatter available from Harbor freight tools and an ordinary kitchen strainer.  It's rather easy to do and only costs a few dollars.  Here's a photo of my completed applicator:

I won't go into detail on how to make one, but if you search Youtube for static grass applicators, several instructional videos will show up.  I was overall pleased with the result.  It could be a little more powerful and some folks suggest adding more power than the two D sized batteries that fit the device's handle, but mine worked just fine.  Now time to plant some grass in that foreground field.