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Model Railroader associate editor Cody Grivno shows how to work with static grass using a Noch Gras-Master Static Grass Applicator.
How to work with static grass
By Angela Cotey | December 20, 2013
| Last updated on December 7, 2020
Using isopropyl alcohol is a potential fire hazard with the static electricity unit, Wet water would be safer Thanks Cody as allways very informative piece.
As always, Cody is fun and informative. It looks as if he got a little of the product on his chin!
very effective..i built a static applicator a while back and it does make a difference to the layout..
I beleive static grass truely enhances scenery on a layout. However, not all static grass fibers are the same. Some work well, some do not, as well as applicators. Maybe MR could do a nice comparison of some of the static grass fibers and applicators commonly used, as well as some tips for better results. Thank you.
breack down components what we need would be a great help for some of us. aj
youtube has a site for using the electric fly swatter for applying satic grass and shows how to make it and operation very helpful for the low budget hobby handyman.
Here is a video of the best way to do grasses, comes from the UK and was developed in the 1930's.
John
Are there other tools or diffrent methods of doing static grass? can you use other scenery materials. Thanks Norm.
I have the components to make one.If it works as well as my homemade foam cutter I will be happy!
I too would like to see the magazine do an article on how to build your own applicators both ways. with everything in the Model Railroad spectrum going up in price…then after paying the mortgage, buying groceries, making the car and cards paayments….hobby money comes last and must be spent wisely. My high end purchases are always aimed at motive power and anything I/we can do ourselves to save "hobby money" I believe would be well accepted anongst the reader base. It will also give you the opportunity to attract electronic supply house advertising as well.
looks good gotta try this it may help
One tip I picked up from Guy Cantwell of Santa Cruz during the X2011W layout tours was to use several grounding pins in the are you are applying static grass to. That way you can start in a small area and switch the alligator clip lead to the next grounding pin and continue to progress along the trackside area to be covered and save time in the set-up.
thanks cody
for the helpful tips
I agree c Mr. Shivik. My normally clear images of Cody were about 20-40% blurred and the closeups were 40-80% blurred. (Sorry, but this attemp at quantification is purely subjective.) Camera may have needed a different lens to move this helpful tip from good to great.
Cody – love all your workship pieces.
I couldn't see the static grass. I am going to try it in the near future.
Thanks for demonstrating this. I think this will help with the scenery on my layout.
Thanks for the demo Cody. I've been reading about this subject but it all comes togeather in your simple demo.
Where do you get these applicators and how much are they?
I concur with Richard Shivik- Couldn't see much in the way of results with the static grass.
I saw an article some years back that had to do with the use of fake fur maybe colored green and possibly airbrushed tan or lt brown for accents it`s cheap and seems to have done the job any thoughts on that gentlemen?
Dave
Thank you, Cody, I did not know about this product.
I was suprised by how large of an area he was able to cover around the grounding pin. I have a home made "bug zapper" applicator and I have been only trying to cover an area of 2-3" around the grounding pin at one time. Does anyone know just how far away you can get and still get good static attraction?
loved it
very helpful
Maybe it's my eyes, but I really couldn't see the behavior of the static grass very well. I have a brand new computer and had the video on full screen and still couldn't see much of anything other than a tan blur with some possible clear fibers at the edges of what Cody applied. Perhaps a redo with larger fibers or a depth of field/f-stop tweak with somewhat brighter lighting?