Favorite Method for tall grass

[ronald_bowen]

I know there are many techniques , and I did some searches , just wondering what your favorite methods are to create something like Russian steppe?

[corsutton]

Looking forward to answers, as I am curious as well.

[BootsDMS]

I tend to focus on grass matting from say, a firm like Heki; it’s not as tall as the picture, and it doesn’t always sit straight-up. Other than that, I mutilate my shaving brush, but only for those isolated clumps sort of effect:

So, it’s either down - in my opinion - to identifying a decent grass mat (and I’ll try and locate one I have later) or perhaps a mass buy of shaving brushes(!) Whilst I say this a little tongue in cheek, they don’t have to be expensive ones.

[Alba_Scale_modeller]

I used tall grass mats in the above from a company called treemendus in the uk. I think its teddy bear fur and comes in A4 to A1 sizes if i remember correctly.

[Dioramartin]

It depends on your definition of “tall” but if you’re looking to replicate the image, I used a Grasmaster – if you word-search that in this forum you should come across previous discussions. The main problem is cost – those gizmos aren’t cheap, I got a pre-loved one on Ebay years ago. Its limit for laying tall grass is really no more than an inch/2cms and it tends to flop when the static electricity wanes…

So I think Alba’s solution above may be the best particularly if your dio base is fairly small.

[Biggles50]

You could use faux-fur (Teddy Bear fur) available by the yard/meter from a material/dress-maker’s store. Since it’s material backed, it will form over contours. Brush the “wrong” way to make it stand up, then spray with hair spray to keep it standing up (my wife suggests I use the same technique for other applications! )

[SSGToms]

@Biggles50 That’s what the little blue pills are for!
To make waist high grass in 1\35 scale, I went a cheap route. I went to the craft store and bought macrame rope. Yes it’s still a thing and they still sell it. Any heavy hemp rope will do. I unwound it, painted it green, cut it into 1 inch lengths, drilled holes and planted the strands. When they were dried in place, I fluffed them out and had beautiful waist high steppe grass.

[DAKjunkie]

Lucky you!

[ronald_bowen]

can you explain that process in detail with some pics?

[ANDREWTOMLINSON]

Hi
Old paint bristles also work.

Andrew T

[SSGToms]

Step 1) Go to your favorite big craft store ( Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Ben Franklin) and buy Macrame rope -

and while you’re there pick up some craft paint -

in your favorite steppe grass color. I don’t have it in stock at the moment so this brown is standing in for steppe grass green. There are 300 colors for 99 cents each so you can find just the right color.
Step 2) This craft paint is very thick. Thin it down in a tupperware to a milky consistency. Then take a good length of rope and immerse it in the diluted paint. Leave it for about an hour, agitating frequently. Remove the rope and let dry. You’ll have green dyed rope.
Step 3) Cut the Macrame rope into one inch segments.

Step 4) Seperate the rope strands.

Step 5) Drill 1\8" holes in your dio base and plant the rope sections with PVA glue. Let them dry thoroughly. Then seperate and fluff out the top ends.

Here’s what it looks like on a diorama I did decades ago.

[kornbeef]

Works very well.

[G-man69]

Great idea Matt, thanks for sharing, , and a nice teaser for your diorama, .

G, .

[18bravo]

Welcome. Nice first post.

[ronald_bowen]

Here is my tall grass in progress , Im happy with it

[ronald_bowen]

would love some feedback/opinions of this grass? realistic? too tall?

[justsendit]

Looks good. Just a tad too tall by comparison to the reference image. As a quick check, you could try placing temporary shims under the Stug’s tracks until you like what you see. Are you adding figures? HTH.

—mike

[KoSprueone]

Looks realistic. I agree with Mike. Your grass is taller than the ref photo in the OP. However, if you like it that way go for it. I think it would look good with a few figures sneaking through the grass at this height.

[brekinapez]

What if it was about even with the top of the center hub of the drive wheels? Would that be about the right height, give or take?

That’s about what I guesstimate the height to be by standing one of my Dragon infantry next to a Stug and holding their bases even.

[ronald_bowen]

Thanks for the feedback , I wasn’t necessarily
looking to mimic the picture exactly in height ,I don’t know where ,but I’m sure I saw grass that high in some WW2 pic , I could always trim it back but i will loose the realistic splitting at the top of the grass