# Static grass



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

I find nothing on the forum dedicated to scenery, so it goes here, I guess.

I sprung for a Chinese static grass applicator...it's on a slow boat from China. It was cheep enough (40 bucks with shipping) to take a flier on. I'm not thrilled with Chinese manufacturing but they don't try to make back their development costs on a new product in a week.

Anyone have any pitfalls to avoid ...assuming the thing actually works? The best grass to use in the unit? I kinda like stuff from Scenic Express but I'm not locked in on anything


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I used the Woodland Scenics grass in the one we have at our club, that worked out well. There's a sample of one...


----------



## Steve S (Jan 7, 2012)

JPIII said:


> It was cheep enough (40 bucks with shipping)


At least you didn't shell out for the one that goes for over a $100. There are quite a few DIY applicators on the web that you can build for 10 or 15 bucks.

Steve S


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

The price of the applicator was a stumbling block prior to this widget. It's tough to spend the price of a nice loco on a tool.
After looking at this vid. it became a "gotta have it".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gih4N88WzrY&feature=related


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

The 40 buck beastie works....at least with the static grass (2-3mm long)supplied. The grass in my front yard should look that good. I need something taller and the only place I could find actual lengths listed was Scenic Express. They offer lenghts up to 12mm.....it jumps from 6mm to 12mm. I ordered some of the 12 for the bulrushes.....I plan to do lots of bulrushes. 

The screened container is a bit too wide for me. Application of a smallish area would be wasteful of the SG and it's not cheep. I figure I can narrow up the screen (block off part of it) to make it more user friendly, otherwise it goes in the vacuum cleaner.

BTW, Scenic offers an applicator which pops up when you hit the SG icon......don't look at the price if you have a weak heart.


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

Received the 12mm static grass from Scenic Express today. The Chinese knock off applicator worked fine on my test patch. I'm going to have to narrow up the size of the screen, however.........blue masking tape ought to do it.


----------



## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

Please post some photos.


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

I've applied the 12mm in a couple spots on my layout.....one over ground cover and one over latex paint only. Thus far , over ground cover seems best but it may be an operator induced problem. There is a learning curve here, me thinks.

I'll post pics in the My Layout section under my thread when there's something worth your time.


----------



## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

JPIII
Sure wish you would post some pics of your static grass. I'm seriously thinking of buying myself a Christmas gift  of one of those thingies and would like to see the results from another rookie like myself.
Bob


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

OK, I'll post a photo here in a couple hours....but it won't be anything to write home about.....but good enuff for a Christmas present to yourself.


----------



## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

The layout in the video looked great. Nice ballasting and the static grass was awesome.However I'd be interested in making my own applicator as mentioed above by Steve. You have a link to that Steve? Also what is the grass made of? pete


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

We gots pics.





























I think the coverage over the ground foam is the hot ticket. That makes for more surface area and more high spots to attract the strands of grass.

The grass over latex is thin....like the hair on my haid.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Works pretty well, no?


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

si
More practice will be good, tho.
My Shark mini vac is good for clean-up & salvage of the unused grass. The wife bought that years ago and used it till it was full....then put it in a box.


----------



## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Uhhh! Change the bag in the Shark ( or empty the bin) ??? Maybe???? Pete


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

Sure, cleaned it up in bout 5 minutes. Wrote "static grass only" on it.


----------



## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Can you reuse the grass that gets vacuumed up?


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

norgale said:


> Can you reuse the grass that gets vacuumed up?


Sure, I did a couple of passes and kept dumping it back into the container. Worked fine the second and third time around.


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

I haven't had the occasion to try that but I don't see why not....as long as it is clean. It seems that about half the grass actually goes where you want it to go. It is a messy operation.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

It is messy, but the results are great. I'm sure the folks like Woodland Scenics love it too, you use a lot of product!


----------



## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

That's why I asked what the grass was made of. Maybe there is a way to make your own. pete


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

The closest I could come to it with a natural fiber would be deer hair.
The grass is some kind of petro-chemical (plastic/nylon), I think. It is tapered to a point like deer hair or a paint brush fiber. Maybe one of those .99 cent paint brush fibers but for the color.


----------



## JPIII (Jun 24, 2012)

In my search for static grass I found an outfit in Australia that sells 6mm grass on evilbay. The prices are decent but the shipping is a killer so buy it in quantity. On the bay, if the seller doesn't list a length of the grass chances are very good that it's 2mm......which makes a nice lawn.

Still, 12mm seems to be Scenic Express only. If you find other sources, let me know.


----------

