Woodland Scenics Field Grass Question

[Sarge]

I thought ther was a thread on here about how to use the woodland scienics or similar type of long grass. I can't seem to find it though. I looked on the "other" site, but I don't like the way there new search engine works (to many adds)

If anyone has a good way to "plant" some grass, please let me know.

Thanks

[Trucklover]

Hi Jim

Are you talking about the WS Field Grass? That stuff can be a little difficult to use and the stuff takes some patients when planting and cutting it

This is how i used the stuff

I take 2 or 3 different colors of the grass and take a few Fibers of each of them and mix them into a bundle so that there is no uniform colors, there all mixed up, greens are mixed in with the golds and yellows..... Then i make sure that no Fibers are sticking out to far on either end, the Fibers that are sticking out to far from the others on the ends, i gently pull them out and re-set them in the mixed bundle so there not sticking out to far on either end anymore. You really have to do all this while you are holding all the fibers in between your fingers.

Make a bigger bundle for a larger grass plant, smaller bundle for a smaller grass plant, i try to mix them up and plant small and larger bundles close or near each other.

When you have the bundles so that the Fibers are not sticking out to far on the ends, pinch one of the ends with your fingers to the length you want the grass and then take a pair of sharp scissors and cut the Fibers at the end of where you holding. Make sure you do this over something, i like to do this over the bottom of a Athearn Blue Box, just take the bottom of the box and flip it upside down so you have a mini working area for the grass to fall on when you cut them. Make sure that when you cut the Fibers you keep them as close as you can to the bottom of the Athearn BB box so that the Fibers dont separate and un-bundle that much, otherwise, the Fibers will get all messed up and go every which way lol

After this (mind you the cut fibers are still pinched in your fingers) take a bottle of WS Scenic Glue (or whatever you choose to attach the grass to your layout with, wood glue also works well ive heard and dries to look something like dirt, personally i think the WS Scenic Glue looks fine as it dries clear) and put a small dot where you want the bundle of cut grass to go. If its in a tight spot, put the bundle of grass in a pair of tweezers and plant it that way if you cannot plant it with your fingers. This can be quite difficult when transferring the cut Fibers to tweezers, and i dont know how to explain doing it, you just have to figure out a way to keep the cut side of the fibers level while you put them in some tweezers lol Just try not to drop it, cuz you wont be able to re-do it and that cut bundle will be lost lol

After you have planted that cut bundle, go back to the Athearn BB Box bottom and pick up the remaining length of your grass Fibers. Take the cut end and pull some of the Fibers out a bit so the end is not level and it looks like a bunch of random lengths of grass. After you have done this, re-peat the cutting, gripping, gluing and planting....

like i said, this stuff can be a bit of a pain in the butt, but you just have to give it some patients and it takes some getting used to lol

Here is a couple pics of what i recently did with a little bit of the WS Field Grass along the front of my CAT module

[MasonJar]

Harold Minkwitz (hminky) has posted a How-To with faux fur at his web site:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/fur_grass/">http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/fur_grass/</a><!-- m -->

I have used a similar method to Josh (above), but I prepared my clumps of grass ahead of time:

1) Lay out a piece of wax paper, and dot with glue to form the bases of your grass.

2) Lay a piece of screen (small "spatter screen" used with frying pans is good) over the wax paper, but supported on some strip wood or thick card or something. You need to only raise it about 1/4" or so.

3) Cut your clumps of grass, and poke them through the screen into the glue below.

4) Let dry.

5) Lift off screen, and peel grass clumps off wax paper.

6) Plant grass with addition dot of glue, and then add more ground foam, dirt, or whatever around the base as needed.

Pictures might be possible when I make the next batch...!

Andrew

[Trucklover]

I have used a similar method to Josh (above), but I prepared my clumps of grass ahead of time:

1) Lay out a piece of wax paper, and dot with glue to form the bases of your grass.

2) Lay a piece of screen (small "spatter screen" used with frying pans is good) over the wax paper, but supported on some strip wood or thick card or something. You need to only raise it about 1/4" or so.

3) Cut your clumps of grass, and poke them through the screen into the glue below.

4) Let dry.

5) Lift off screen, and peel grass clumps off wax paper.

6) Plant grass with addition dot of glue, and then add more ground foam, dirt, or whatever around the base as needed.

Pictures might be possible when I make the next batch...!

Andrew

Andrew that sounds like a great method, ill have to try it out next time i plant some grass

[LynnB]

Good ideas guys, was wandering how that was done, I have 4 or 5 packages of the stuff maybe I'll incorporate it into the dioramma I'm working on.

[Sarge]

Thanks guys That is what I was looking for. When I finally do it, I'll post pics

[iis612]

I like Andrew's method better than mine, but I will share it anyways.
I use Hemostats. You can find Hemos at Radio Shack, a well stocked LHS, medical supply stores, and sometimes in the first aid aisle of a pharmacy. They are also available at "Head Shops."
I place a small bundle into the jaws of the hemostats. I keep the portion of the grass that I am working with inside the curved portion of the jaws and cut from the bottom, over something like Josh mentioned. Once they are cut to the desired length I use a dab of "Goo" which is available at most craft stores, even in the craft aisle at wal-mart. I then place the cut end into the glue and hold it for a minute or two.
The trick is opening the hemostats without removing the grass from the glue. It will require 2 steady hands.
If you don't mind losing some of the grass, you can take it out of the hemostats after cutting, and pinch them in your fingers.

Matt

[KevinKrey]

Any advice on making a large field of tall grass? I cant spend the $300 on the grass master from noch.

[LynnB]

Ive heard of a few people using straw from a broom.

[Trucklover]

Any advice on making a large field of tall grass? I cant spend the $300 on the grass master from noch.

I hear ya Kevin, i think i might just choke up the money and buy one tho lol

seen a couple videos on the Grass Master from Noch and boy does it look like it works good!!

[KevinKrey]

They do look nice, but I cant come near affording one.

[MasonJar]

Any advice on making a large field of tall grass? I cant spend the $300 on the grass master from noch.

I hear ya Kevin, i think i might just choke up the money and buy one tho lol

seen a couple videos on the Grass Master from Noch and boy does it look like it works good!!

If we wait a bit, doctorwayne may recreate his tutorial on building the Gern Grassblaster (or something like that). He had it on the old site, but who knows if it is still intact? I will see what I can find...

Andrew

[MasonJar]

Ive heard of a few people using straw from a broom.

I have used the strands from what I call "craft brooms" to make cattail weeds in ditches and swampy areas. You can get miniature ones at the Dollar store, and they are good for several dozen bunches. They can be painted green for summer, or left "natural" for a fall/winter look.

The one in the attachment is pretty fancy, there are others available with finer bristles, and less fancy (i.e. lower price) overall...

EDIT: If you look really closely in the ditch beside the tracks, you'll see some weeds made with this method in the pictures that accompany this article: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ovar.ca/Articles/BatchelorDiorama/small_diorama_kick.htm">http://ovar.ca/Articles/BatchelorDioram ... a_kick.htm</a><!-- m -->

Andrew

[Sumpter250]

To plant Woodland scenics field grass, I use this tool:    
This is a 12" upholsery needle, with the eye cut open, and a wood ball for a handle.    
   
The open eye of the needle holds the bundle of WS grass, as described earlier in the thread,with equal lengths on either side of the eye, which can be punched down into the scenery, or pushed into a hole drilled or punched in the scenery. the wood ball acts as a handle, fit in the palm of the hand, to apply the required force. I also use a glue bottle, from Xuron, the rail nipper folks in Saco Me. with a .020" ID syringe needle, to apply glue to the "grass plug".
In this particular case, I used this tool for a 1/35 scale diorama. In the set of needles I found,(4 total) the smallest, 6 inch, would work for HO, and smaller scales. the wood ball, available from most craft stores, is 1" dia. on this tool.

[Spitfire]

Any advice on making a large field of tall grass? I cant spend the $300 on the grass master from noch.

I used Busch grass mat from Scenic Express for large grass areas. At $35 for an 8" x 12" sheet it's a bit pricey, but still much cheaper than the Noch system, and you can cover a large area very quickly. IMO with its individual grass blades. much like the static grass systems, it looks great and comes in the usual colours.

Here's an example of where I used it on a large embankment.



cheers
Val