Static Grass

My previous experience of  creating a grass effect has been with conventional scatter, a sort of fine sawdusty like material, usually a lurid shade of green, and producing a flat uniform effect. I'd noticed that many of the 'professional' layouts in magazines, and on the web achieved a very realistic effect of grass, that had both a 'depth' and shading. Studying the articles, asking about, and browsing the web, I discovered the revelation that is static grass. One sixteen digit credit card number later, and about five days, I had in front of me a  puffer bottle, a packet of long 'wildgrass', a bag of short summer grass and a bag of short spring grass (all supplied by Noch). This was followed by a further period of research, and much experimenting.

I present this now as a tutorial in what I have found to be an effective technique.

The basics you will need, are the essential puffer bottle (costs about £2.50, an absolute bargain!), and a selection of grass materials (I stuck with Noch as my favorite online supplier can easily and reliably supply it, although other brands I believe are available) You will also need some PVA glue.



The scenery to be 'planted' was painted a mottled green, once again I mixed the green on the run from blue and yellow acrylic paint.


Once dry, I coated the whole area with PVA glue straight from the tub, making sure the whole surface was covered, but not worrying too much about the odd 'blob' it seems to add a bit of texture later if the glue isn't absolutely smooth.


In the above picture an area of painted scenery has been left for contrast. Next comes the fun bit, fill the puffer bottle about half way up with the long static grass material, you may need to sieve it a little to break up the lumps. Once in the bottle I give it a very gentle shake, to loosen the particles. Now you start puffing! Holding the bottle about 100 - 150mm from the surface puff the particles into the neat PVA, I found working around the area puffing from different directions gave a nice variation in the grass.


At this point it all looks very worrying, lots of glue showing through, fear not. I then emptied the remaining long grass back into it's pot, and filled the puffer bottle with a mixture of the short grass (I mix it purely to get some variation in colour, it can easily be used straight from the packet). I lightly over 'puffed' the long grass with the short grass.


I've read various methods which at this point say gently suck the excess fibers off with a vacuum cleaner; I found an equally gentle blowing gave me the best effect (although experimentation is the best to find what suits your needs). Still concerned that glue is showing through, I leave the grass (usually overnight, a soothing Stella Artois may be again be applied, though I have also found a single malt to be just as effective). On your return, the glue has dried clear and their is no white showing through. At this point I suck off the excess (I use a car vacuum, it doesn't suck that hard and I can easily recycle the grass I remove). All going well you will have a lovely patch of grass!




The images above just do not do justice to the effect, it is quite stunning, and so easy! By varying the ratios of applied lengths you can achieve all sorts of effects, from bowling green to rough meadow. This stuff is so good, I am considering doing the lawn in my back garden with it!

Warning: This stuff gets absolutely everywhere, don't attempt anything else whilst grassing, no painting, other scenery, nothing, you'll have the fibers stuck to it all if you do. Once completed, vacuum the entire area to remove the excess, I am still picking the bits out of my hair!