Making faux fur high grass

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I have a webpage discussing the use of faux fur for high grass.

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/fur_grass/

Hope that helps someone[:D][:D]
Harold

2

Thanks!!! why just the other day I was wondering how to imitate grass. In some areas of the country the first vegitation to grow after clear cutting or forest fire is grass and that’s what I want to imitate.

3

Harold ; That looks like something I might try. Update us on the colors that work well. Thanks for the idea’s and tips.

4

Thanks for the article Harold! I tried dyeing fake fur with everything I could get my hands on, but could never find anything that worked well. I’ve been using green fake fur, but it’s hard to find in quantity, and I need a LOT! This gives me more options, as well as a varied color pallette!

5

I have found more alternatives to making realistic tall grass, using a combination of fake fur and silflor. Here’s more info:


http://siskiyou.railfan.net/silflor.html

The problem is fake fur does not make very realistic edges and silflor looks far better, but is way too expensive for large expanses. So a compromise of using each for where they work best seemed to be the best solution.

I have not found any problems with brushing thinned acrylic paint into the fake fur. Just make sure you thin it well with water that has several drops of liquid detergent added and it soaks right in and colors the fur quite well. The paint needs to be just a hair above the consistency of a watery dye to work (consistency of whole milk). If it’s any thicker you’ll just make a mess.

6

Where can one get Silflor? My local hobby shop, which is fairly well supplied, never heard of the stuff…

7

Ever heard of HEKI grass. I don’tknow where to get it here in the states, but I
was visiting some web sites in europe. And I found a german clubs site and
they use the stuff there. And no kidding it looked like they were growing real grass.
Best I’ve ever seen. But I can’t find any body that sells it here.

8

I get my silflor from Scenic Express. Here’s their website URL:

http://www.scenicexpress.com/firstpage.html

However, their website is not much. Email them and get their catalog … it’s a virtual gold mine of scenic materials! I keep one of their catalogs in the bathroom so I can flip through it and plan scenery projects. While their web site is a disappointment, their catalog is one of the best I’ve ever seen for scenery goodies!

There are also some vendors in Europe who sell silflor online. Try these links:

http://www.internationalmodels.net/htm/silflor-magic-carpet-extras.htm

http://www.eurobahntrains.com/product_listing.asp?cat=A&brand=Silflor

9

Eurorail Hobbies lists some 640 items in their online HEKI catalog. Here’s a link to one of the grasses:
http://www.eurorailhobbies.com/erh/eurorailhobbiesdetail.asp?pageid=&MN=13&stock=H-1575
I’ve not had any dealings with Eurorail Hobbies, so “caveat emptor.”
Bob
NMRA Life 0543