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Wednesday 13 April 2016

DIY STATIC GRASS APPLICATOR

I made this DIY Static grass applicator early last year, in preparation for future Terrain building projects, for the gaming table. 
Its also a cheap and ideal option for constructing  Tufts for Infantry bases.
On this page I describe: 

  1. How to make a DIY Static grass applicator.
  2. How to use the applicator to construct Tufts.  
  3. How to use it for general Terrain making. 

Completed static grass tufts for placement on miniature infantry bases
DIY Static grass applicator 

Disassembles to gain access to battery and flock holder




1. HOW TO MAKE A DIY STATIC GRASS APPLICATOR


Items needed
  • Small kitchen strainer
  • Small food container with lockable lid
  • IONB2 Negative ION Generator Module: maybe purchased for AUD $14.00 from Oatley Electronics at: http://oatleyelectronics.com/product_info.php?products_id=915
  • 9 volt connector
  • 9 volt battery
  • Plastic wire connector
  • Push button switch
  • led light
  • Crocodile clips
  • Extra wire
  • 2 x Plastic containers (or PVC drain pipe maybe substituted equal to the length of the 2 plastic containers approximately 8 inches in length, and use threaded end caps, found at your local hardware store)

  • Cut handles off strainer
  • Cut a circular hole in the top of the lid of the food container to fit mesh.
  • Push the strain thru the inside of the lid and glue into place.
  • Glue the lid of the circular container onto the base of the food container.
  • Drill 5 holes to allow for 3 x wire access, switch and led placement .
Electrical layout



2. HOW TO  USE THE  APPLICATOR TO CONSTRUCT TUFTS

Items needed to produce static grass

  • Static grass applicator
  • grass flock
  • your wife's oven baking paper 
  • metal biscuit lid
  • PVA glue
  • green paint
  • scissors
Open applicator lid and add flock and lock.
Cut wax paper sheet to fit metal lid
Clamp crocodile clip onto the rim of the metal container and mix 90:10 ratio of PVA to green paint
Use a instrument to apply varies size dots onto the waxed paper
Turn applicator on and shake the flock onto the dots.
Tufts of grass are formed as the applicator draws the grass upright over the PVA.
Remove excess
Completed tufts,continue this process until the sheet is completely covered and  allow to dry
Once dry, tufts are ready to remove off the baking paper as needed 
Currently working on completing  the basing of my British figures, hope to finish them soon.



3.HOW TO  USE THE  APPLICATOR TO CONSTRUCT GRASS FIELD

Follow the same procedure as described in section 2 above with the difference, the crocodile clamp needs to be placed into the terrain board (weather its MDF or Styrene foam) via a pin or very thin nail to complete the electrical circuit. 
 Grass on MDF
side view 


12 comments:

  1. Bloody genius mate!!! Cannot believe how easy you make it look! Last time I purchased tufts I was stunned at the price so this looks to be a very cost effective option indeed. Right - just need to find a UK stockist of the ion generator module (that sounds so Star Trek! ;o))
    Cheers
    Matt

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Matt,Yeah,tempted to say "beam me up Scotty"
      cheers.

      Delete
  2. That's awesome stuff - thanks for sharing! Now to find equivalent pieces here in the US.

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  3. I'm going to have to give this one a go. I tried making a static grass applicator a couple of years back. It involve soldering..there were many curse words and tears! No soldering makes this a winner!
    I also like the look of your running Tommy. Do you do that one using the Warlords plastic?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Aaron for your comments and yes they are Late war British Warlord Plastic, I modified the running Tommy by cutting off his left leg at the knee and re positioning to give a more dynamic look.
      (I performed quite a bit of plastic surgery on my British Platoon, hope to post them soon on my Blog)
      cheers

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  4. I might have to give cutting him up a bit of a try. Somehow I ended up with about 60 of these plastic tommies and even with all the other arm/weapon/head choices there is only so much you can do!
    One IONB2 Negative ION Generator Module ordered :)

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    Replies
    1. I agree Aaron,I have cut off some left and right legs,cut off hands and re positioning them to hold a weapon, even trimmed the underside of a boot to make a figure lean forward.
      Good to hear you are on your way to constructing a Static applicator.
      cheers and good luck with the models.

      Delete
  5. Hello thanks for the great share, unfortunately where i'm from I couldn't find the negative ion generator, can it be replaced by the magnet generator?

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  6. Thanks for your comment Unknown, if you do a search on ebay under the heading of 'IONB2 Negative ION Generator Module' you will find there are many available.
    cheers John

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  7. Thank you sir for the reply.

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  8. What exactly is the function of the generator? Difficult to find in norway, and i'd like to build the applicator this weekend!

    Is there a substitute that would also work?

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