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Dioramas
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Diorama-Static Grass Question
spstreeter
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: August 09, 2015
KitMaker: 37 posts
Armorama: 32 posts
Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 01:03 AM UTC
I am new to the site and have a question regarding static grass. I am looking to purchase some for a diorama I am working on. However, I am overwhelmed by the number of products available.

I was wondering if anybody had some suggestions regarding static grass. I am looking for a good quality product that is easy to apply and is realistic. Thank you for your help.

Shawn
sdk10159
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Oregon, United States
Joined: December 08, 2005
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Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 02:09 AM UTC
Hi Shawn,

Welcome to the site. YOu basically have two choices for static grass: Woodland Scenics and Heki Silfor.

YOu can usually find Woodland products in most hobby stores and Heki products I get online at

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/Static-Grass-Material/products/1230/

I have only used Woodlands static grass and I think it works well. I have used Heki/Silfor products, but not their static grass. Their other products are very good. BOth Woodlands and Heki come in a variety of colors.

HTH,
Steve

americanpanzer
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Iowa, United States
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Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 03:28 AM UTC
I've had good results with Woodland Scenics static grass too; good stuff;
spstreeter
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Massachusetts, United States
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Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 03:37 AM UTC
Thanks for the replies. I will look into both of those options.
Biggles2
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Quebec, Canada
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Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 07:53 PM UTC
If you haven't looked into static grass applicators yet (you absolutely will need one as static grass will not stand up without one), they are relatively expensive. There are tutorials on line for DIY at about $20, or less, of materials and are pretty simple to make. If you're working in 1/35 you will need the longest possible static grass, about 10 - 12 mm. The shorter stuff only looks good with model railroading.
spstreeter
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: August 09, 2015
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Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 08:48 PM UTC
Thanks for the tip. Are there other options for realistic grass?
11Bravo_C2
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Texas, United States
Joined: May 12, 2015
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Posted: Monday, August 31, 2015 - 07:55 PM UTC

Quoted Text

they are relatively expensive. There are tutorials on line for DIY at about $20, or less, of materials and are pretty simple to make.


If you do decide to go the diy route, stay away from the electric bug zapper model. Voltage is low and does not stand the static grass very well.
Dannyd
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England - North West, United Kingdom
Joined: March 27, 2007
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Posted: Monday, August 31, 2015 - 08:03 PM UTC
I bought a negative ion generator from Ebay, only a few bucks
to get hold of and it works a treat.





I built my own in a few hours, used a PSU from an old router and made the handle from some plastic tube.









The results







Probably less than £20 to make.

Hope this helps

Dan
brekinapez
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Georgia, United States
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Posted: Monday, August 31, 2015 - 09:00 PM UTC
What plans did you use for the router psu version?
Dannyd
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England - North West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, August 31, 2015 - 09:12 PM UTC

Quoted Text

What plans did you use for the router psu version?


My own fella, I read a few that I downloaded but came up with my own, I used a Futaba RC receiver switch soldered onto the the 12V negative ion generator and took the 12v socket from the router PSU. You just have to remember that the white leads from the generator goes to the mesh screen and the negative goes to the earth pin, which gets pushed into the groundwork.

Really simple really, no issues and it works better than some of the expensive ready made versions.


Dan
sdk10159
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Oregon, United States
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Posted: Monday, August 31, 2015 - 10:03 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Thanks for the tip. Are there other options for realistic grass?


Check out the grass tufts

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/Grass-Tufts/products/1258/

11Bravo_C2
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Texas, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, September 01, 2015 - 01:10 AM UTC

Quoted Text

What plans did you use for the router psu version?



I used this DIY Tutorial from youtube and modified the power input cabling/connector to accept a 12V wall-wart.





brekinapez
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Georgia, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, September 01, 2015 - 05:13 AM UTC
Thanks, Dan and Ivan.
Hohenstaufen
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England - South East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, September 01, 2015 - 04:46 PM UTC
You might also like to check out Noch 00412 Grass mat. It is available from model railway shops, mine came from www.ontracks.co.uk in Wales. They do a useful line in scenic materials. The product is a mat of grass that you can tear or cut into whatever size and shape you need. The length is good for 1/35.
avenue
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Philippines
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Posted: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 09:02 AM UTC
can bug zapper you brought on the market do the same job?
erichvon
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England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 05:39 PM UTC
That looks a superb bit of kit which to be honest I'd never seen before. I'm currently working on a big Normandy dio which will have a decent sized field next to the farm I'm putting on it. THis will be ideal to get the grass looking right rather than that uniform golf course look, especially once tufts go down on it. Definitely going to build one of these. The You Tube videos really easy to follow as well. Thanks for putting them up.
henkp
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Overijssel, Netherlands
Joined: September 30, 2005
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Posted: Thursday, September 03, 2015 - 05:16 PM UTC
http://modeltrains.about.com/od/Scenery/ss/Build-A-Static-Grass-Applicator-For-Model-Train-Scenery.htm

henk
avenue
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Philippines
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Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2015 - 12:25 PM UTC
well. I ttempted to construct my own static grass applicator using cheap chinese made electric fly swatter,when unscrew the cover,there are 3 wire,not two.
which one go strainer,and which one go to the diorama base.that left one extra wire,should I cut it off?
M4A1Sherman
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New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
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Posted: Wednesday, September 09, 2015 - 02:07 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Thanks for the tip. Are there other options for realistic grass?


Check out the grass tufts

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/Grass-Tufts/products/1258/



SCENERY EXPRESS makes some pretty good products. I like the NOCH Static Applicator. You can't go wrong with WOODLAND SCENICS products, either...
11Bravo_C2
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Texas, United States
Joined: May 12, 2015
KitMaker: 475 posts
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Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2015 - 11:41 AM UTC

Quoted Text

well. I ttempted to construct my own static grass applicator using cheap chinese made electric fly swatter,when unscrew the cover,there are 3 wire,not two.
which one go strainer,and which one go to the diorama base.that left one extra wire,should I cut it off?


Picutre? One i made with the fly swatter only had two wire coming off the charge capacitor on the PC board. One cable went to the "hot" middle mesh and the other wire went to the outer neutral/grounded mesh..
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