Preorder my terrain book here - Here's a real simple way to speed up your terrain building by making simple tall grass bushes in advanced. . Support TTT on Patreon - / theterraintutor Follow TTT on Facebook - / theterraintutor
I know this wasn't meant to be a model train tutorial but I liked it and found that it is going to be of use to us model train people. Thanks for the idea.
Fantastic. I've never seen that idea before and it's a great one. Makes getting the varied lengths along the top much easier and more controlled. Will be doing this in the future. :) Thanks.
Really good idea and very well presented! For my next diorama I will try out the variant right away. Your positive lifestyle is contagious! Thank you very much!
Typical of my luck/timing, that I find this video AFTER I've breen struggling with a hot glue gun to stick clumps of this stuff on my first ever [modular] terrain gaming boards! Still, this excellent tip will be put to good use, as I prep up and am more organised for my next terrain making escapades! As always Mel, you are a shining light within this hobby; a beacon of practicle ideas! 💡👍
SUGGESTION: Use twwo sets of lollipop sticks on the grass material. Cut through to the chosen length. Now, you have two strips ofgrass ready for glueing. This saves lining up the end of the off-cuts for a second batch. Your idea is great.
Thanks Mel, I'am making a diorama which has long grass in a Kursk scene, having just got ready to cut up my Wilko brush I remembered seeing this video weeks ago. Its great, now I can contain the grass it while I glue up . John
To hold your sticks together, you could also use the large clip type paper clips. The type of clip that has to rotatable handles that you pinch together to open and then clip them on to the sticks. That would make it easier to clip on and reduce the movement of the sticks quickly and easily.
10 years later, and I finally get to see this gem. i've been mucking about with superglue, trying to make these clumps, and it's basically the reason my bases are not getting finished: too much hassle. Going to try this tomorrow, I'm confident that this will be a gamechanger for me, thanks for sharing!
Actually for wargamers this is a much better tip than the usual way of placing a rubber band around the grass, cutting it to length and then dip the end in glue. Although for your tip I would replace the rubber bands with bulldog clips. It would be much easier.
Excellent vid M8 for my model railway SUPERB.I also use cheap hanging basket liners from the £1 shop. Glue them down under some weight, with PVA leave to dry for couple of days (depends on temperature) rip them off and wala long rough grass of the correct colour
You could also put a second set of sticks along the bottom to hold the excess grass together instead of throwing it in a pile. Then you can neatly store it away.
What a great tip Mel! At the moment I'm building a three foot by four foot scaled Civil War period Diorama for the National Parks service here in Fredericksburg, Virginia. As you might be thinking that will mean a huge amount of natural looking grass, etc. I will be using my just learned tip from you to cover this area. WOW! BTW, I'd like to know from what supplier you bought your huge graphed cutting/ work board. I can't find one anywhere to buy from in this area, or anywhere. It's just the size that I'm looking for.--- Sam
If you take away the lollipop sticks, this is how we make wefts for wigs for action figures and dolls. I knew you were going to do that but obviously we want the hair all one length but I get the principle here!
Just a thought. Prior to cutting, use 2 more sticks and rubber bands on the other end leaving room for your cutting device. After cutting you won't have that unmanageable clump left over.
Great video, sorry I am just stumbling on it now..lol Anyway, quick question, could you use this to create a large meadow of tall grass? Any suggestions how to do something like that?
I want to make my first diorama but I don't want to buy unnecessary stuff that's expensive. Easier than buying that tall grass from woodland scenic, Take a little twine, (coloring it and then drying it Is optional), and then unravel it. Cut a long piece, pinch it in your hand or whatever way you do it, and then add glue to the end and place it on the preferred area. Cheap, long grass that can be made into any color and shortened or lengthen to desire. I hope this makes sense and I'm going to try it out soon (hopefully) :)
Cool idea! Have you tried doing two pairs of lollipop sticks next to each other and cutting between them? If it works you could do two at once with minimal effort.
Nothing against Woodland Scenics - they're a great manufacture of scenic materials but they are also pricy as well. The part of doing scenery is to do it as cheap as possible without having to spend a fortune on small packages of this or that! Doing so only takes the enjoyment out of the hobby! It's a "Creative world" we live in!
I want to make my first diorama but I don't want to buy unnecessary stuff that's expensive. Easier than buying that tall grass from woodland scenic, Take a little twine, (coloring it and then drying it Is optional), and then unravel it. Cut a long piece, pinch it in your hand or whatever way you do it, and then add glue to the end and place it on the preferred area. Cheap, long grass that can be made into any color and shortened or lengthen to desire. I hope this makes sense and I'm going to try it out soon (hopefully) :)
