FILAMENT
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Grassy BasesI see alot of mini pictures online that have the whole base covered in static grass. I was trying to put glue down and put the static grass on, then try to make it stand up with a toothpick, but it ended up looking like my player was standing on hay. Nothing stood up like grass at all.
Does anyone out there have some tips or a link to a tutorial on how to make good-looking pitch grass on a base?
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Lychanthrope
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I'll be waiting on a good answer to this one myself. I've had OK results, but not as good as I've seen in some pics.
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Nyarlathotep
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Static grass is really quite easy. First, put the PVA glue down on the base in the spots you want grass. (I personally don't like the 100% grass look - YMMV.) Put some static grass in a box, I use old-school skeleton warriors boxes, but that's because I had them lying around. Then put the figure you want to base in the box, holding onto the figure, and swirl it around in the grass until the areas you want covered are, well, covered. Then remove the figure from the box, and invert the figure over the box to get rid of the excess grass. Tap the side of the base to help the really loose stuff off. Next, stand the figure upright, and here's the important stuff: blow gently on the grass and watch the grass stand upright! Don't blow too hard.
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Lychanthrope
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| Nyarlathotep wrote: | | yada yada yada... and here's the important stuff: blow gently on the grass and watch the grass stand upright! Don't blow too hard. |
Read: tricky as hell and needs some practice with some minis not looking so hot until you get the hang of it.  
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FILAMENT
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How thin of a layer of glue is that?
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Nyarlathotep
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| FILAMENT wrote: | | How thin of a layer of glue is that? |
To be honest, I use a glue for model trains scenery called scenic cement, which is extremely thin. When you laquer the mini afterward, that also helps hold the grass down.
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Nyarlathotep
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| Lychanthrope wrote: | | Nyarlathotep wrote: | | yada yada yada... and here's the important stuff: blow gently on the grass and watch the grass stand upright! Don't blow too hard. |
Read: tricky as hell and needs some practice with some minis not looking so hot until you get the hang of it. |
It's also important that the glue you use to adhere the sand is dry, also.
Here are my (old school) steps:
Apply Elmers White glue to surface of base.
Dunk figure in box of sand.
Shake loose excess sand.
Allow glue to dry.
Use an eyedropper to apply soaking of scenic cement to sand.
Allow glue to dry.
Loop through the above two steps until sand really isn't going anywhere.
Brush a little scenic cement to random areas until around 20 - 50% of the base is covered.
Dunk figure in static grass.
Shake loose excess grass.
Invert figure, tap base gently to shake loose more grass.
stand figure on paint jar.
Blow across the base of the figure to stand grass up.
Glare at any cats who come near until the glue dries.
Laquer, typically 2-3 coats of Testor's Dullcote.
Allow laquer to dry. Repeat baleful cat glare.
Display proudly to indifferent wife.
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Nyarlathotep
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double chestered...
New school: I have really come to love this Liquitex Resin Sand Texture Gel. I apply one thick, gloppy coating to the base, wait for it to dry, and paint to the color scheme I want. Saves me around 2-3 days of glue, dry, repeat with my old method; and additionally is much more durable a texturing agent. Even with my going nuts for glue, I would loose sand from the bases of my minis after a season of gameplay. This material seems to be nearly impregnable to casual use.
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Lychanthrope
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You dulcote AFTER you have applied grass!?  Never heard that before.
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Bonehead
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Here's my variant:
1 - Clean mini and glue it to the base.
2 - Fill gaps between mini and base with greenstuff.
3 - Add a layer of pva glue to tne base. Not too thick, not too thin. Mayby 0,5 mm.
4 - Dip it in a jar filled with fine sand you find everywhere outside. Let it dry.
5 - Prime and paint the mini.
6 - Apply varnish.
7 - Another fine layer of pva glue (good if mixed 50/50 with water) on top of the painted sand and dip it into the bag of static grass. Your choice of how much of the sand you want to be covered. Then blow away the excess grass. Then I also blow across the base or a bit from below to make the grass stand up.
Don't know if it really helps but you could also store the grass in a plastic container or bag and shake that before use to get the "elecrtostatic grass charged".
Hehe, I also read somewhere that it helps to put your freshly grassed mini on top of a TV and switch it on. Never tried that. Maybe it helps.
After that you can paint the tips of the grass with a lighter colour to create some highlights. Varnishing the mini after applying the static grass works too and makes the grass more durable. We are still talking about gaming pieces here. I just add the grass as the last step as I have made good experiences with it and the grass never came off while the minis were in use. Also I use spray-on gloss varnish for my minis and paint-on matt varnish after that and I don't want shiny grass or paint it with matt varnish.
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Nyarlathotep
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| Lychanthrope wrote: | | You dulcote AFTER you have applied grass!? Never heard that before. |
As the poster above states, the dullcote does increase the durability of the static grass a bit.
I personally use a brush-on gloss varnish (another liquitex product, maybe I should buy some of their stock...) for durability on the figure, then dullcote after everything else is done.
If you get little balls of dullcote on the grass tips - so much the better! That's when you get out some light brown paint and drybrush the grass! Looks like seed-heads on the stalks.
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Hoomin_erra
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And do NOT blow the excess grass off while leaning over the container with the static grass in it. 
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Nyarlathotep
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| Hoomin_erra wrote: | | And do NOT blow the excess grass off while leaning over the container with the static grass in it. |
Umm.... Yeah, that's a good thing to avoid....
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Gobbo
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A few tips I use:
1] I use sand, but use superglue to secure it to the base.
2] I fill gaps with Vallejo Plastic putty. It is easy to use since it comes in a dropper bottle and you can just squeez it into the gaps, then after it dries, you can clip it right off super easy with nippers or an Xacto.
3] Static grass should be kept in a container that allows you to shake it up before use as it helps it to stand up easier.
4] Always varnish last after static grass and all other fidly bits [except clear plastic windows and parts that are to stay clear.
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