uses a painting service to reduce his lead pile.
When I had been reading the scenics catalogue, I had been impressed by this magical little gadget called the Grassmaster...
GRASSMaster is the tool everyone has been waiting for! Finally a true 'electrostatic' grass device that can create a thick, plush, 'stand-up' carpet of grass from 2mm (1/8") to 4mm (3/8") tall. The GrassMaster utilizes an everyday 9-volt battery to create enough static charge to apply to even the tallest grass follicle.
Now to tell the truth, one of my pet peeves is static grass on figure bases that flops over the edge of the base, instead of standing straight. I've always thought it looked dumb... could this be the answer?
So I emptied the TMP Workbench budget and bought the gadget.
How does it work?
Fill the container with your choice of static grass or blend. Brush hi-tac glue (Noch's Grasleim NH61130) to your surface. Attach 'alligator' ground to your scene, and let the magic begin!... Gently apply grass to the desired density.
Sounds easy enough...
So I opened the box and unpacked the Grassmaster. The gadget looks like a marriage of a flashlight, a toilet plunger, and a cottage cheese container. The black cap unscrews so you can access the battery compartment. The "silver" part holds the circuitry, a sliding on/off switch, and an indicator light. The white part is where the flock goes, and can be covered by an optional screen (two sizes are provided). The black wire ends in an alligator clip, which you anchor to the glued area to create an electric field.
So I slimed the terrain tile, clipped the wire in place, loaded the Grassmaster with flock, screwed on the "coarse" filter, and started gently shaking away.
I soon learned that "gently" shaking wasn't getting me anywhere too fast - this particular grass blend, although recommended for use with this gadget, is a bit chunky to easily fit through the filter. But I didn't want to just remove the filter and dump the flock straight onto the tile, so I tried a "less gentle" approach - which makes the poor Grassmaster creak and groan (the connection between the parts is loose).
But eventually, the terrain tile was coated.
It was then that I noticed that the alligator clip had come disconnected from the terrain tile. The experiment was ruined! Well, not quite ruined, but now I wouldn't know if the result was due to the gadget, or just all the shaking action!