South River Modelworks

Static Grass: Sometimes, it’s just a little tweak that makes a process work….

I struggled with static grass for a couple years. No matter what devices or techniques, the grass would just lay flat.  This year, I learned from some others, and I added my own technique to the final stage. First, though…

....I bought the Woodland Scenics Static King applicator, which has a power supply. You need POWER! Besides the point that a nine volt battery is just not enough, it looses most of the power needed for this task within minutes.

Then, I met with Martin Wellberg at the ARS show in MA and talked to him at length.  After explaining the virtues of the Static King, I watched how he applied the base glue, handled the device and added a multitude of little tips that helped tremendously. There are a plethora of videos on Youtube, but I encourage you to look at his video here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UakltWBRJ_s

My technique with the final layer. My photos show the part I want to stress as a bit different - the final grass layer. I use the popular layering technique where you start with using a wide, moistened brush to apply almost any water based glue to apply your first grass layer. As Martin will point out, all glues will start to dry almost immediately and the fibers have to be applied in a timely manner to pierce the skin on the glue (don’t dawdle or use fast glues like carpenters glue!) This first layer (for me) is 2mm grass…

…which I will skip (leave it to Martin's video) and move to the final 4 or 6mm grass, here is the difference:

The overseas product for this step is to apply an aerosol spray on top of the first layer (2mm grass), which is very nice & works great. However, aerosol sprays can’t be shipped overseas to the US. Instead, in the states we get the pump spray, which resembles diluted white glue. In my experience, this just makes a mess and leaves a glue applicator this is difficult to clean and keep working. So, here is what I do…..

….I apply the 4/6mm grass as soon as I can (while the 2mm is still wet) to assure good current flow. My final glue solution has been to just use cheap aerosol hair spray. I’ve used this for a couple decades to attach fine WS fine turf to various deciduous and conifer trees that I make. In my photos, I do a final stage of 4/6mm grass on a small area I need to “rehab”. Note that application of hairspray in the first pic (about 1.5”across). The nozzle is held about 1” away. The thousands (?) of small beads you see indicated it's properly applied. Now, immediately apply your 4/6mm grass.

Some final points; I haven’t tried even more layers. I favor Silflor Miniature static grass. Besides the more natural looking color range, I’ve always had somewhat better luck with it. Could just be me…also use Noch at times.