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Hello all...

Well I have reached that point where I need to put some grass and snow and different terrain effects on my bases. I purchased some flock and iron ore from the local hobby shop for about 4.50 a bag. Pretty cheap price. I was against purchasing the Citadel stuff as it was to expensive in my thoughts. Anyway, shortly after arriving home I began placing the terrain on my bases. I used elmers glue and spread it out nice and thin over the bases, then dunked the figures with the bases into the flock or Iron Ore. Well, I was not happy with the result I received from the flock, it doesnt seem to stand up or anything like that. It just looks like green "stuff" on my bases. I then read that the grass citadel sells is "Static Grass". :Update: I just went to lunch and stopped off at the local hobby shop and asked the owner about static grass. He was well aware of it and said that he was going to order me some. It costs 9 bucks for a jar as big as the ones they sell at smart and final with the black pepper or different spices inside. The only thing is that I would have to buy two of them (which is no big deal) and mix the colors to get something similar to the static grass Citadel makes. The brand that he ordered is Woodland scenic, and it is made for railroad enthusiasts. Any help from anyone would much be appreciated, also if you can post pictures of how your models turned out (40k models please). And what experiences you have had with different brands and if you think static grass is all the same or should I avoid the woodland scenic brand or what. Any and all info will be much appreciated.

The key to static grass is all in the wrist flick.

Not had any experience with static grass. For my Deathwing, I just used the 40K Basing Kit (Resin Detailing, Slate and Etched Brass) and Army Painter Sand. In future, I'm planning on using Resin Bases.

From what I've seen and heard, Army Painter's Basing Grass is good stuff. It comes in little clumps which you can pick up with tweezers and plop on the base.

Static grass is excellent.

I apply it in the following way:

1) Apply the other basing materials, allow to dry, paint and otherwise finish the base.

2) Dot on some neat PVA where I want the grass to be applied.

3) Place the model on some clean paper and using some tweezers, fluff up a pinch of static grass and then place it on top of the glue. Lightly press the grass down into the glue.

4) Shake off the excess grass onto the paper.

5) Turn the model upside down and gently blow on the grass to help it stick up.

6) Leave glue to dry.

7) Repeat until everything is based with grass.

8) fold paper in half and shake collected grass back into tub.




You can also mix it into various "mud" mixtures (generally PVA, paint/pigment, fine sawdust/dust, maybe liquid nails or similar) to make it look like churned up ground.

Very nice, that was a really nice tutorial there SilverMk2. I will go ahead and buy the Citadel static grass tonight since it comes kinda mixed with some colors in it already. But when you say mix it into various Mud mixtures, do you mean the static grass. Like just take the grass and mix it with some PVA and I will get that effect?


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Oh and also, can you post a pic of one of your models. Thats if its not to hard or time consuming on your part. I dont want to be a burden.

I mean you create a mud mixture like this (though you can do it far more cheaply using PVA, paint of an appropriate colour, and fine saw dust for the texture - there is a good mixture in this thread), then sprinkle in some static grass to make it look more like chewed up grassy turf.

You can then press fresh static grass on top of the mixture.

I'm sure I had a tutorial for this bookmarked, but I can't find it.

Edit: Most of my models can be seen in my gallery, or in the thread linked to in my signature.

However, my DP has some clearly visible static grass on the base:

SilverMK2 wrote:I mean you create a mud mixture like this (though you can do it far more cheaply using PVA,

Also PVA will NOT chip like plaster does so easily. You can use Excalibre or another mix by weight material but PVA gives the same result with less work and no scale needed.

Personally I don't blow on the models having blown grass\parts\everything else all over my work area many times. I just put the model in my hand, flip it upside down, put my finger on it's head, and give it a very firm snap of the wrist to stand the grass up. (Put your finger on the models head unless you want to embed pewter mini's in your drywall after the basing glue lets go at mach 1)

Ok Ok I get it now, btw. Those bases are very nicely done. I specially like the mushroom effect you have going on. Now when we are talking about PVA glue, its safe to say that elmers white glue is PVA right? Also silvermk2 i can see that your base terrain is slightly elevated, is that due to you putting multiple layers on or what? Or am I just slowed and think im seeing that.

Woodland Scenic makes a very good product. The one problem is, those giant shakers are going to last FOREVER. I picked up a 4 pack on closeout about a decade ago, and I don’t even see that the level of grass has dropped in the shaker after several armies. If you don’t want to buy the enormous quantities that WS offers, check out Gale Force 9. They offer the same product, just in smaller containers. Price should be in the $4 range, but you get a manageable amount of flock.

Brigand wrote:Ok Ok I get it now, btw. Those bases are very nicely done. I specially like the mushroom effect you have going on. Now when we are talking about PVA glue, its safe to say that elmers white glue is PVA right? Also silvermk2 i can see that your base terrain is slightly elevated, is that due to you putting multiple layers on or what? Or am I just slowed and think im seeing that.

I believe Elmers is PVA, but I am not sure as I don't think Elmers is sold in the UK.

The base has some putty on top which has raised and shaped the base. I would not recommend layering basing material to make mounds, as that would be really expensive and take forever

As an optional extra for the static grass bases I like to add some taller 'reeds' to help give the base a nit more of a 3D feel and really give the impression that the mini is in the environment (if that makes sense).

1. Buy a cheap art brush from a $1 shop.
2. Hold a few of the thick hairs with tweezers and snip them off to desired length.
3. Small dob of PVA
4. Stick brush hairs in PVA .. allow to dry.
5. Place a small amount of brown ink at base of reeds once dry.

Example below .. before ink stage.



Just a little something extra.

Rock on

You can buy field grass from various places. I find it works out cheaper than cutting up brushes in some cases, as you get longer "grass" which can be cut in half, or even shorter to increase the yield.


My Avatar uses field grass from either GF9, or Woodland Scenics.

Note, I have not tried these yet, but the new 'tufts' from army painter seem like they might be a decent product as well, you get a sheet of static grass already set to look good on a sticky backing, you use tweezers to pull off a bit and then stick it onto your base, seems like it might have some potential.
I saw this vid on youtube a while back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36DdSzX1fvU

You definitely get a lot more bang for your buck by buying the loose static grass however.

SilverMK2 wrote:

The base has some putty on top which has raised and shaped the base. I would not recommend layering basing material to make mounds, as that would be really expensive and take forever

Cork sheet works too for building up and layers great for mounds. Plastruct sells a few different thicknesses. Roughed up it looks just like the large basing rocks sold by many companies or just flock right over it. Railroaders have used it for years and no dry time like white putty.

i found that a mixture of yard sand and kitty litter works great, i brush PVA onto the base and dunk it in the sand mixture, then paint it with 4 shades of brown , then when that is dry, i put some patches of PVA and dunk it in flock, then spray the base with high gloss clear coat, it turns out quite realistic.if you base it with the model already on and want it to look think they were trudging through the mud, just spread the glue a little ip there feet, or up there legs if you want lots of mud up to the knees, once i manage to find the charger for my camera i will post pics and a how to

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/339312.page

I found this tutorial amazingly helpful. Thats how I base all my guys now. This helped me, so it might help you too.

Apparently static grass is named such for a reason, rub a flat piece of plastic on you jumper and hover it over the grass you applied in dilute pva should stand up. Apprently the $200 high voltage static applicator is pointless when you can generate static with a bit of elbow grease.

The simplest way to apply static grass in my experience is thusly:

Finish basing your model with rocks, sand etc...
Paint on blobs of Elmer's Glue in the areas you want the static grass to be.
Dunk the base in a small container of static grass (I use the lid of the Woodland Scenics shakers)
Turn the model upside down and tap gently on the bottom of the base. This knocks off any excess and also makes the grass stand up. If need be, blow gently on the grass from the side to help it out.

Great great, thanks so much guys. I went out and bough some GF9 static grass and snow and what not yesterday and applied it onto some of my bases and it already made a world of difference compared to the other stuff I was using. Thanks for all the feedback to guys. I will try to post some pictures of how my basing is coming along later this evening. Sorry but the SM are not painted as of yet. I'm still open for new tips and tricks if anyones got them.

Woodland Scenics is an excellent brand and you shouldnt have any trouble with application. Static grass si pretty simply to apply. Essentially, you will glue it on in the same way you were before (dipping the bases in the grass). When the entire base is covered in grass I then turn my model sideways and tap the bottom of the base to let the excess grass fall back into the bag. then I blow the base to remove the last bit of grass that didnt stick; this also help to get some of the grass upright. finally, if your having trouble with the grass staying upright, you can take a dry paintbrush and move it around a little until you get more of it to stand up. Best of luck!

i heard some stuff about static grass applicators... it kinda keeps the grass upright