# Working with ws field grass



## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

I am working on a idea for “planting” Woodland Scienics Field Grass.

My issue is that my larger fingers just plain get in the way, when I follow the instructions of a small dot of glue and try to put those extremely small diameter threads into the glue and have them stand up.

I hope I can explain my thought correctly:

1. I have measured some filed grass on cattle ranch and found that they typically are 9 to 12” in
diameter and stand about 36” high – here in southeast Texas
2. My thought is to mass produce the field grass clumps.
3. First take a piece of graph paper and lay out a grid of 3/4” spacing and highlight each intersection of the lines.
4. Take a piece of clear plastic that is the same size as the graph paper, over lay it on the graph paper and mark the intersection of the lines on the clear plastic.
5. Take a drill that represents the diameter of the clump I wish to produce (for N Scale, a 1/16” drill should work) and drill a hole in the plastic at each line of intersection.
6. Install legs on the underside of the clear plastic so the plastic is raided about about 3/8”.
7. Now for working with the graph paper and drilled plastic sheet -
8. Cover the graph paper with was paper and place a blob of glue (need to not make a large blob of glue).
9. Line up the plastic, over the graph paper/was paper. This might be a piece of Masonite with ½ x ½ wood material, around the edges, for lining up and holding the paper/wax paper and plastic together. 
10. Cut clumps of the field grass and push them through the holes in the plastic and into the blobs of glue. Let dry and when dry lift off the plastic and remove the grass clumps from the was paper.
11. After “planting” the grass clumps, add some ground foam to cover the glue blob.


Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, in advance.


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## Davidfd85 (Jul 4, 2011)

I haven't gotten any pictures of it yet but for the longer grasses what I found that works pretty good is this I took a seam splitter from my daughters sewing kit. Get a seam splitter and dull the inside curve with some sandpaper and pull off the little round bead on the end. I punch a hole in the foam with the splitter first, put a small dot of glue on top of the hole, then fold the grass on both sides of the splitter holding it with two fingers and reinsert splitter and grass. Pull out the splitter and the grass stays in place. Then just trim to how ever long you want. If you go to a store to get one they come in several sizes, just look for the smallest one. Just know it works for me and looks like clumps of natural growing grass.


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## KTFlory (Feb 28, 2013)

Have you thought about using a electrical "static" grass spreader? They can be a bit fun to get going but the results are nothing short of spectacular.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

I haven't tried this yet but i have packages of grass to use

Couldn't you just slice the top of bag open so a small portion of the top strands are sticking out of package, take a peice of tape and tape the strand ends to it

Put your glue down and pull some strands out cut to length and stick it in the glue, wait for glue to dry then pull the tape off the ends of grass??

If the grass sticks to the tape like im picturing this should work


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## feldon30 (Dec 30, 2012)

Dumb question, but what kind of tweezers and other tools have you tried to grab a tuft of grass and stick it into glue?


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

I have given up tweezers, etc. My fingers are just way to big to handle the stuff.

The tip on using the seam splitter, I think it is a great idea when you are “planting” the grass on the layout and one that I will employee when I get back to the layout.

In my case, I will not be around the layout when I try to make the field grass clumps. This will be another project to due while living in a hotel in New Orleans. 

Here is a picture of the field grass I am looking to reproduce in N Scale size:


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Well, it works in o scale, but I take a few strands, stick them in a tube of water and squeeze out the excess so they stick together. Then I take a dab of superglue and stick the ends together, followed by a spritz of accelerant so I don't have to hold on to it while the glue dries. Then you can just glue those clumps anywhere.

FYI, the field grass is just dyed hair. I found that you can tease the ends with a soldering iron which basically burns and curls the tips of the clumps a bit, so it looks a little more realistic like grass or weeds and less like a clump of hair sticking out of the table.


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## txdyna65 (Aug 17, 2012)

Carl, take a look at the two links below and see if this helps you. I have the materials to do this, I just havent gotten around to trying it out yet. The first link just has comments about what he used and how he did things. The second link is a video of how he did it. Hope this helps

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/3584

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2rOO1hN8_U


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

Thank you for the links, great help!


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## txdyna65 (Aug 17, 2012)

Carl if you try that method out, be sure to post pics, Id love to see them.


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## Charewill50 (Feb 6, 2012)

In reference to the water and the CA glue. No need to use the accelerator as water is the accelerator. That's all you get when you buy the bottled stuff. Try it. Just drop water on a glued joint. It sets instantly.


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