The May MR has an article about applying static grass using a static grass applicator. It references a homemade applicator but gives no details. Does anyone have plans for or know how to build a homemade static grass applicator?
Where’s Mr.Wizard when you need him?
got no idea, but I’m on it http://www.alaska.net/~natnkell/staticgen.htm
After reading the article in the latest MR, I was just about to ask the same thing. Looked up the price for the Noch, runs close to $ 200.00! [:0]
I read somewhere that SLF Control Ind. is coming out with a low cost static flocker but you have to have the 5 DCC system to use it. Also, it requires a full head of hair and a gross of latex balloons.[:D]
This is definitely cheaper than the NOCH. I am going to the store at lunch and buy some balloons. Of course it may be a few more months before I can use them, I have to wait for my hair to grow back out. [:D]
I sure like to know exactly how the applicator works or generates static charge. Scenic Express is selling the Noch static gun for $116. Still too much for the average modeler, in my opinion. Most of the cost might be in the exchange rate with Germany. If it was made in the China or Mexico, it probably cost $20 retail. And maybe break after five minutes use.
I know the grass is plastic, like polyester or Rayon, and the purpose of the static is to keep the grass pointing towards the applicator as it lands on the glue.
If you take a sheet of plastic, it can be charged up by rubbing it with dry cotton cloth…Hmmm…I’ll have to stop at the hobby shop to see if I can get some static grass so I can do a little experimenting.
I found an interesting article on testing the Noch Static Grass Application Tools. The electrostatic gun is the older Turbo model and not the Grass Master tested by MR.
The results of the test found if your doing a small area, the Grass Dispenser Bottle easier to control than the gun applicator. However for large areas, the gun is better.
I have the same question on the other side, and getting the same response. Someone has to know how to modify the 1980’s article to a more usable form. Who ever getts an answer needs to share it, there must be a lot of us who need something between foam and fake fur on our layouts.
You know, I think I’ll go with the $4 applicator. It’s cheaper than the Noch static grass gun, better for small areas. It would be safer and less trouble than home brewing my own electrostatic applicator.
It’s a high voltage device that could make you pee your pants or worse. If you ever got zapped by a leaky spark plug wire, you know how painful it can be.
But for those who get their kicks from getting zapped (or zapping their soon to be ex-friends) here’s a few links I found in my searches.
How to make a Simple Electrostatic Generators
Here’s an article on using a Wimshurst electrostatic generator by the Hovedbanen Model Railroad Club
German Brew Elektrostatisches Begrasungsgerät (Electrostatic Grass Applicator)
There was an article in the November 1994 issue of Branchline Modeller about someone making a applicator from car ignition components. You have to buy a back issue or find out if the Kalmbach Memorial Library can photocopy it for you.
Having used the Wimshurst machine after the article in the 1980’s it produced fair results in large areas. It is also messy and hard to control length of the grass.
That is why I tried to find a way of coloring faux fur. It is a much easier process.
Just a thought
Harold
The May 2006 issue, in the “Model Realistic Tall Grass” article, does reference the September 1980 issue as being the source of the homemade version in an article titled “Zap-Texturing for Foliage” It’s a 6 page article with ALL kinds of safety warnings. It uses a Wimshurst machine and a Leyden jar, probably similar to the principle of the Noch brand one. The Noch one sounds a LOT safer.
Be careful! Using any kind of electrostatic charger is as serious hazard for anyone with heart disease. If you get zapped, you may be permanently ZAPPED.
Yep, you just might win youself the Darwin Award for taking yourself out of the gene pool.
Miniatures gamers use static grass to flock figure stands. These are small areas – no electric gun is used, just put glue on the base, add grass (where a mask, its very fine and you don’t want to inhale it), and then rub it lightly to create a static charge to raise it up, or just blow on it .
Cheers,
Maureen
I’ve posted this on other static grass threads, but in case you missed it, here you go:
There was an article way back in the September 1980 MR that talked about how to build your own static grass applicator using a Wimshurst Machine. You can buy one today online for $150:
http://www.sciencefirst.com/vw_prdct_mdl.asp?prdct_mdl_cd=10069
A friend of mine, Ron Collins, built the static applicator from the 1980’s article and used it on my HO Siskiyou Line to apply dozens of square feet of static grass in the Rice Hill area on my layout. You can see the results in this photo:
(click to enlarge)
(By the way, this is the same area that’s on the cover of the new MR Realistic Layouts issue, coming this May … click here for more.)
The results were fantastic, but the machine always struck me as a sort of Rube Goldberg contraption, being bulky, awkward to use while whirring away and spitting blue sparks around! Ron, who was a real scenery connoisseur, has since moved away and I miss him.
But his static grass was fantastic, and I’m sold on the method. I consider the Noch applicator ($116 from Scenic Express) to be a bargain, compared to Ron’s contraption.
I’ve also tried a plastic bottle application approach (like an empty dish soap bottle), and I’ve found it disappointing. You get grass going every which direction and it’s not consistantly standing up like you get when you use real static electricity. [swg]
I seen the Noch unit in the MRR new products pages. It states that it takes battery power up 15000v DC. I looked like a flash with a plastic tube on attached to where the light bulb would go. I think (but have not tetsed) what they are doing is similar to a pet shock collar. 2 coil windings are used to step up the voltage with maybe a capacitor used to create and destory the magnetic field. I would have to tinker with this idea to see if it’s workable.