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Anyone have a good source for the reeds / tall grass you see on a lot of bases? I've got my guys daemons based with grass over mud type basing, and it looks pretty decent, but it could really use some tall strands to make the bases feel real... any suggestions?

Uhhh...toothbrush bristles?

Try to find a coconut bristled doormat. A mate of mine did his whole Empire army with it on the bases, no need to paint it either as it looks realistic anyway.

I was about to say, yeah the door mat is perfect, I use that on my FOW bases, you can get all different lengths and widths, and they're really cheap from your local hardware store, and you get HEEAAAPPPSS

I used the bristles of an old broom. Some websites and shops for modelling sell horse hair which works too

I've used the static grass from Woodland Scenics and a little white glue. I did that for my FoW German infantry. Just put a dot down, wait for it dry just a little, clip some lengths of grass, stand it in place and then use a paintbrush to keep it standing while it dries. The glue dried clear so you don't even see it. Never tried it on anything bigger than 15mm, but I'm sure it could work.

Brunius wrote:Uhhh...toothbrush bristles?

If you're just after small clumps, that's the way to go. I just keep all of my old toothbrushes... give them a good clean and they're good for scrubbing minis when they've been for a Simple Green bath, texturing putty for rough skin or clumpy dirt effects, and for plucking out clumps of bristles and using them for reeds, like this:




For larger patches, coir doormats can work. If you want to get really carried away, you can also buy squares or strips of scale reeds/long grass/crops from stores that sell model train terrain gubbinz.

If you want something a little more 'tall grass' and a little less 'reeds,' get yourself a bit of jute twine and a wire brush. Soak a short-ish length in green paint-tinted water (thin green over the natural light brown of the fibers gives a rather natural color), let it dry, then fold in half, unravel, and brush it out. You'll be left with a neat little stand of tall grass in your hand and a nest of fibers in your brush, waiting to be plucked out and assembled into a somewhat less neat stand.

I've seen a tutorial for this that explained it better (especially considering the pictures), but I can't recall where. If anyone else remembers it, please post a link.

Found the link: http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/making-tall-late-autumnwinter-field-grass-from-jute-twine/

If you have a large enough base and you want a grassy plains look, you could use a static grass applicator (although this is more used for dioramas/trains)

Thanks for all the responses guys!

Most of my bases are Dreadnought bases since Bloodcrushers, Fiends and all my Monstrous Creatures are on them, so there's plenty of room.

Insaniak and Oadie I'm going to have to try both of these methods and see which I like best.

Kenshin I think my dad has one of those (he's a model train guy) but he lives across the country. Maybe next time I'm over there I'll have him show me.

tooth brush bristles and large (E.G. house) paint brush bristles are what i used