Hi,
I am in the process of making a small diorama set in Russia and would like to know what you guys (and gals) use to represent long grass. Books set in the Ukraine always show massive fields of long grass and this is what I am trying to replicate. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Phil

Stugman, First I'd like to say welcome to Armorama :H ,
As for long grass or any grass that is, I like to use a painters brush and cheap at that. Just paint on the color your after and then cut the length you need. Hope this helps you some. Again Welcome

A warm welcome aboard Stugman to the Big A. I use the same method as Joe (Mother) and I find it very good for both short and long grass as the brush hair holds paint well.

Another alternative is coconut fibre found in cushions and "Welcome" mats. Painting is what makes it realistic in both the above cases. The big plus is they're both cheap.

Here's an article which has a section on painting grass. I wrote it for tropical jungles but grass is grass whether its Russia or Vietnam.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/572

I also go for the cheap method, I use a painter's brush for long grass...see result below....



Cheers

The only problem with using brush hairs is that you get that look of them growing in clumps like someone planted them. Grass of course grows all over in a more even pattern. So, I like to get very cheap fake fur (the attic, fabric store, garage sales, wherever) in a brown color. It is usually lying in a certain direction, so I comb it in the opposite direction to get it to stand up, and then spray paint it an appropriate color. The brown will generally show down deep, which is good, and then later I go over the tips with some sort of highlight color, say yellow.

When using vehicles in this setting, making track marks are very easy. Just take a soldering iron to where you want the track marks and the fake fur melts into very nice clumps like the ground was turned up. Whatever you don't like can be pulled away.

Hudson and Allen sells something like this too on a matt. There is also a European RR modeling product (Heiki grass?) that comes on a matt too that many people like. I have not seen it though. I think it is used by 1/35 modelers for more of the shorter, wild grasses, as most of what I seen is that the grass is lying down, and not up like you describe.

Sorry, I know this isn't the best picture, but this is the fake fur that Burik is talking about. I picked up two mats from a craft store for about three bucks each. I cut it to match the terrian, glue it down, cut it to the height I want and add paint. I have also used the Heki grass, that works good two, but it doesn't come in really tall lengths. Hope this helps. There is one more picture in my gallery of this dio showing the grass, but it's not the best picture.

Thanks guys.....I like all the answers and will endevour to put your advice into practice. I dont know why I never thought of using cheap paint brushes before but I like that idea. Utilising fake furs sounds an interesting concept also. Hopefully I will master the art of taking a few pics of my finished diorama and will post on this website. Many thanks again.

Hi, Stugman! You can also use lots of stuff from artificial or dried flower arrangements. So have a look in whatever local stores sells that in your country. That's what I've used here, along with brush bristles for the shorter grass.

Hi
I had put a post some weeks ago to evoke my method.
This recipe not to be dear(expensive) for a realistic result, I think

Here is the link for the recipe
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/53482&page=1

Edit by Eagle : Made link clickable

I like to use a variety... I have used for long grasses, unraveled predied hemp twine, paint brush bristols, woodland senicics field grass, and the short static grass. I start by laying down a good coverage of a mixture of woodland senics ground work glue or matte medium and white glue tinted with paint of the ground color, and begin with short static grass. then I move on to the longer "grasses". I repeat the same process, lay down the glue and grass, I would suggest NOT planting the grass in holes, but rather holding the grass upright and put the ends in the glue and spreading it out along the glue. I prepare my grass first by mixing the types of grass I am using in a kind of bundle in my hand purposely leaving the lengths uneven. I wouldn't use all one length in my grass as in nature even in fielsd of tall grass you will see grass in all stages of growth. I cut the end I am gluing down even with a pair of scissors so it is easier to glue. With a twisting motion of my fingers I spread the grass over the glue keeping the grass upright. If needed I will paint the grass in between applications.

In my opinion, for what it is worth, I like variety in my grass I think it is more realistic than just using one type only. I usually will go back and plant "weeds" or "flowers" for effect as demonstrated in photos posted by spooky6 (David Blacker). Another good reference for this is Jackhammer 81's (Kevin Garner) dioramas. He uses grass mattes which are also great for appropriate types of grass but he too will go back and plant weeds and flowers through out his "fields" of grass.

first of all welcome aboard good to more Aussies on here.

I built this dio about 6 years ago and I used woodland scenics tall grass all I did was added superglue in the middle and once dry I cut it in half and inserted then into the base.

Ron