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Friday, 16 December 2016

FlockBox Experiments Pt1

I was feeling better this morning - still a bit tired, achey and weak - and tried to go into work. However, after walking a couple of hundred yards, my legs started to go so I found somewhere to sit down and after a rest headed home.

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:


2, 4 and 6.5mm static grass - yes, I did make the first strip too close to the larger tufts

2 & 4mm tufts

2 & 4mm tfuts, strips and patches

6.5, 4 & 2mm tufts
2 & 4mm patches


All of these were done using carpet tackifier glue. I found that it takes this glue at least 3 hours to cure to the point where the tufts can be lifted.

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..

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8 comments:

  1. The Happy Whisk16 December 2016 at 19:17

    Hope you feel all the way better soon!

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  2. Millsy16 December 2016 at 19:35

    An 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 :-)

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  3. Endtransmission16 December 2016 at 19:47

    Hope 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!

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  4. MartinC16 December 2016 at 20:38

    Look great. may have to try it out

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  5. Zabadak16 December 2016 at 21:05

    These are very effective and I presume a helluva lot cheaper than buying them.

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  6. Dannoc16 December 2016 at 22:53

    Very impressed with your endeavours.

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  7. TamsinP17 December 2016 at 23:09

    @ Whisk - thanks sweetie! :)

    @ 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! :)

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  8. Endtransmission18 December 2016 at 02:32

    Thanks for the youtube recommendation

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