Somewhere I saw a diagram for building a tool to make static grass stand up. I also want to use it to get tree leaves to stand up and look bushy instead of flat.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Sealhead

Get a balloon and blow it up. Then rub it against the carpet and voilà, your balloon will be charged with static electricity. Now just gently wave it over the static grass and watch it stand up.

You can use a cat too. :-)

Really!

I tried the cat trick but it did'nt work I guess thats because I rubbed the cat on my driveway?

Ahh yes that's where you went wrong you see, you are supposed to rub the cat on the balloon, and then wave the cat over your static grass.

Henk

LOL. Does that really work? The ballon part...of course. how do you get the 'grass' to stay up? spray adhesive or something?

You'll want to use adhesive of some sort before putting down the static grass, otherwise the grass is going to cling to the balloon. You may be able to give it a light spray of dull coat or something similar to hold it in place once you have gotten it to stand up.

Cat didn't go Godzilla on your dio or work desk? :-) :-) :-)

To put static grass on a dio, I first brush matt cote (varnish) where i want the grass, fairly thick. Then sprinkle the required amount of grass on top of this. Leave to dry a while, and then I gently brush over it with a soft brush. This makes the grass stand up, and I also find that with this technique you have more control over the area where you add grass. Especialy when adding smaller patches.

Cheers
Henk

I will give you my personal opinion on how well I did on using actual Static to get static grass to stand in a diorama

I FAILED - Miserably.

I tried the balloon thing
I tried a comb and paper thing
I tried the PVC and silk tie thing
I tried the rubber balloon over a 2 liter soda bottle thing
I tried to figure out how to use electricity and said "man you bombed out on all the above you better not add electricity" so I stopped.

Have to be a pessimist on the balloon thing - how many balloons large enough to hold a decent electric static charge will be small enough to fit in a diorama without knocking into the bushes, trees, figures, buildings etc.........

I put down white glue and water (or you choice of adhesive) sprinkle grass over the glue. Let it sit for a while, then remove the excess by tipping it over, then brush the grass up using a soft paint brush. No funny balloon, no recharging, I can get the brush everywhere. Works for me.


My hats off to you guys who have gotten the other techniques to work.

Ola

My guess is that the thin metal rod made static with a silk cloth would do the trick too but I have never used static energy to let the grass stay up. Simply blowing over the diorama works quite well too.

Thanks to everyone (including the comedians). My dio is about 30" in diameter and weights about 30 pounds, so tipping is near impossible.

I thought there was something in FSM or here about a make-your-own tool. Otherwise, I'll huff and puff and see what happens (to my blood pressure).

Sealhead

yes you puff it up!
works quite well but very short!
Go to GMW and the have some!
Ron

Since the age of real teeth..... I have never had a problem getting static grass to stand up......
It's really very simple.... it's call static grass... it is what needs the static charge to stand up.....for years I have simply been keeping it in an old plastic grated cheese shaker, shaking it in the plastic container is what imparts the static charge it needs..... sprinkle over the glue, let it set up, BUT NOT DRY, turn the base over and tap it, collecting with left over for reuse, and then with the base up-right again I gently blow across it.... I use to use a straw, now it's easier to simply use my air brush and set the air pressure as low as I can, and gently blow across it until it stands up. After it is standing then I simply let the glue dry....
If I need to add additional grass, I simply add thinner white glue/water mix, and add some more, and continue on. I also do small sections at a time.

If you can't turn your base over to collect the excess, I suggest you have a vacuum running..... to collect the excess that's going to blow around.

I've yet to worry about what color static grass I use, simply because I paint it after it is dry anyway. Nothing looks as lovely as unpainted static grass, with all the little red and blue fibers mixed in. Brands I use are Hudson and Allen, Verlinden, and Noch. (I like the Noch the best, since if you look hard enough you can find a long and a short type.)