Last night I'd come up with a plan for what to do this weekend - give the FlockBox a proper test for making tufts. So, with being off work for another day I decided to get some prepwork (cutting siliconised baking paper to size) done for the tests and to do some initial tests using a metal sieve to distribute the static grass and with the sheets on a baking tray rather than the FlockBox. And here are the results:
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| 2, 4 and 6.5mm static grass - yes, I did make the first strip too close to the larger tufts |
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| 2 & 4mm tufts |
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| 2 & 4mm tfuts, strips and patches |
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| 6.5, 4 & 2mm tufts |
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| 2 & 4mm patches |
Other findings:
1. Works fantasticulously for the 2mm static grass, OKish with the 4mm grass and poorly with the 6.5mm grass.
2. The 4mm and 6.5mm grass has a tendency to clump together in the sieve which makes it more difficult to shake out onto the sheets.
3. The 6.5mm grass also tends to form a mat over the glued grass which blocks any more getting to the glue.
4. Decanting the excess back into the bags is awkward - I think I might have to transfer my various grasses into tubs.
I think that the problem with the longer grass is that I was running the unit off a 9V battery - I'm going to buy a 12V adapter to see if that works better.
I'm also wondering if I might have got better effect attaching the green crocodile clip directly to the sheets rather than to the baking tray. I'll have to do a test of that tomorrow to see if that helps with the problems I was having with the 4mm and 6.5mm grass.
I've ordered some more colours of static grass from War World Scenics as the ones I've got at the moment are all too green for my Nubians (I'm after a scorched/dried look for any grass on their bases). If those arrive tomorrow (they were shipped today) I will have a play with those as well, trying different mixes of colour and length for tufts and in patches on bases..
Hope you feel all the way better soon!
ReplyDeleteAn interesting experiment. I've thought about making my own tufts a few times but would have to buy a bunch of stuff that always makes it seem easier to just buy tufts :-)
ReplyDeleteHope you feel a bit better soon. Those tuft experiments look great! Next year includes building a modular game board, so I may need to invest in one of those!
ReplyDeleteLook great. may have to try it out
ReplyDeleteThese are very effective and I presume a helluva lot cheaper than buying them.
ReplyDeleteVery impressed with your endeavours.
ReplyDelete@ Whisk - thanks sweetie! :)
ReplyDelete@ Millsy - I think it depends on how many tufts you'll be using. And it can be used for other purposes - flocking bases and terrain for a start :)
@ Paul S - cheers! If you're going to be doing a lot of flocking, it's worth getting something like this. Check out TheTerrainTutor on youtube - he's got some handy vids :)
@ Martin C - thanks! Just remember to put a lot of paper down when you try it to catch all the flying fibres :)
@ Zabadak - in the long run it will work out cheaper and you can use it for other things as I mentioned in my reply to Millsy :)
@ Dannoc - thanks! :)
Thanks for the youtube recommendation
ReplyDelete