I am interested in a home made applicator. I have been facinated by static grass for some time. I read the 80’s article but didn’t understand it. I read the May issue article that referred to a home made applicator, but it didn’t say how. I am not quite ready to spend the money on Noch’s. Who has experience and/or plans?
That’s what I noticed - the author mentioned the home made one, and referred to the one you can buy. Being a European item, I imagine it’s not cheap. Too bad they wouldn’t have at least given a small rundown on the home made one.
Bob Boudreau
Maybe it’s a 2 part series that MR didn’t mention…someday they might have an article with plans to build one after everyone renews their subscription…chuck
Prehaps you could write the author care of Model Railroader. And yes the Noch one costs an arm and a leg ($220 MSPR)
Nick
ouch
http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NH60130
Its almost half off of MSRP but it still seems a little steep to me.
The homemade version would be worth looking into but I came up empty when I googled it and as mentioned, the article only made brief reference to it.
Bryan
I wonder if it would work on my bald spot, you could defray cost by doing “temporary” scalp follicle infusions/transplants on other follicularly challenged men. You know a cut rate hair club for men…(just kidding)
Keep in mind to use it on your chrome dome, you’d first need to drive a nail into it as a ground! [:D]
Bob Boudreau
Also folically challenged!
With body piercing as “advanced” as it is it might be easily do-able (not necessarily the smartest, but do-able)…
I was reading a late 91’ MR mag and it had a home-made thing that you just blew into and it put the grass down in a so called ‘neat’ fashion, but I didn’t see how you could use it w/o blowing grass everywhere. It seemed easy enough to make. I’ll see if I can get more info. Good luck![tup]
Hi Art,
I too found the Noch applicator a little too expensive for the application. Here’s how I apply the static grass.
I emptied out a 17 oz. bottle of Palmolive dish washing liquid and rinsed it well. After the inside was thoroughly dry, I placed a tablespoon or so of the static grass inside, held the bottle over the area where I want to apply the grass and squeezed “little puffs” of air out of the bottle along with little puffs of the grass. I think it worked real well and I am pleased with the look of the grass. The trick is to lightly “puff” out the grass from the bottle. It doesn’t take much practice to get it right.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
What a super idea!! Thanks.
-Crandell
Mondotrains -Does the puff process add any static effect or just blow out a little grass, some of which stands up by random chance?
Maybe I’m halucinating , didn’t the article refer to a past issue date about the homemade one? I’m at work and can’t look.
The article in the current issue referenced a September 1980 article where they used a Wimshurst machine, which are usually quite large and expensive, to generate the static charge. The author of the current article mentioned that his friend substituted “some electronics” for the Wimshurst, but no details were given.
I will be very surprised if MR ever publishes plans for a homemade (and much cheaper, I’m sure) alternative to the Noch applicator, when doing so could undercut a manufacturer and/or distributor who advertises in MR. Hopefully, someone who does know how to build a cheap version will be kind enough to post his plans somewhere on the internet.
Tom
Tks, for straightening me out on that, just could remember for sure what I read.
Try rubbing a cat across the layout (use thick leather gloves for protection).
All we really need to do is find out what brand of hair spray Don King uses.
I found an interesting article on testing the Noch Static Grass Application Tools.
The results of the test found if your doing a small area, the $4 Grass Dispenser Bottle works better than the $150+ gun applicator.
The original article in the September 1980 MR uses a Wimshurst Machine. You can buy one 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 to be a bargain, compared to Ron’s contraption.
I’ve tried the plastic bottle application approach, and it’s been 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]