Heki wildgrass tutorial

[Steve]

This is a short tutorial on how I use and apply Heki's wildgrass.

I should begin by saying that I was made aware of this product by fellow modeler and good friend, Kurt (cnw1961), who uses it on his layout. He also gave me a heads up on what he found worked for him. Having said that.... you will see that it's pretty straight forward.

First the product.......
I used grasses #1840, 1841 & 1861. All of these can be found on the link below, just scroll down the page:

http://www.eurorailhobbies.com/erh_list....&offset=50

Here is how they look side by side:


The sheets are 18" X 6-5/8".


On the backside is a thin rubbery membrane which makes gluing them easy as pie. I LIKE EASY!
Both #1840 & 41 have the same solid membrane. You will notice that #1861 has a less solid membrane, this makes it easy to use it for small tufts and to help hide some of the edges of the other grasses (not necessary the majority of the time):



Let's get to work!

I tore off three pieces of grass (one of each kind) to fill in a small spot on the front of my layout. I will take advantage of the straight side of the biggest piece to go along the front edge of the layout:



The small section up front is where we will be working:




It is a good idea to do a "dry fit" before gluing (at least in the very beginning) to see how to best arrange the grass to get the look you want. In this case we only have three pieces and we already know where one of them is going.
I used Tacky glue (plain old white glue would work just as well) to adhere the grass to the layout. As you can see I apply it liberally:




Pressed firmly in place:




Next piece.......it will be placed above the first one with some separation:




Looks good:




Last piece....actually it will be pulled apart to make smaller "tufts":






These tufts were scattered about to help blend both the new, and, the preexisting grass in the area. You can see the glue in this picture, but it will disappear as it dries like the other small tufts in this shot:




Let's take a look at the finished product:



As you can see, the hardest part of this process is deciding where to put the pieces, and that becomes pretty easy after working with it a while and experimenting. The grass blends together beautifully with dirt and bushes to makes for a realistic ground cover:



It will work for a variety of locales as well. Here it is on Kurt's Miami layout. As you can see, it looks perfectly at home there as well. It helps make a beautiful scene, even better!......WOW!!!! That is a beautiful scene!


This whole tutorial could be summed up in one phrase: "tear and glue!"

Now I have to call Heki and see if they will pay me for doing their PR work

[Sumpter250]

This is a short tutorial on how I use and apply Heki's wildgrass.
Now I have to call Heki and see if they will pay me for doing their PR work

And well they should ! Neat product, and a nice tutorial. It sure beats the (ai caramba !) out of planting brush bristles one at a time ! , or even WS's "field grass"

[faraway]

I would like to add a remark.
Don't be lazy and use bigger patches. That would ruin the effect. It is very important to assemble the scenery out of many small patches as used in the tutorial and on Kurt's layout. I did that failure at some spots and the result is much less attractive. Take your thump nail as the absolute max size.

[Gary S]

Thanks Steve. Good stuff.

What size are those mats? Looks like I'll be using that stuff on my layout too, because it looks so good, even though it seems a bit expensive.

[Steve]

Gary, the sheets are 18" X 6-5/8". They are expensive .....but you do get a lot of scenic bang for the buck

[Trucklover]

Beautiful Tutorial Steve! Im either going to get the Heki Grass or the Scale Scenics/Mini-Nature Grass (either way ill be ordering them from Scenic Express lol) but it was nice to read just HOW EASY this stuff really is to work with! And it gives amazing results!

Thanks for taking the time to do the tutorial Steve, im sure it will convince many other to get some grass and experiment with it on their layouts

[torikoos]

Steve, nice tutorial. I have to say that Heki has come a long way since I last used products of them almost 15 years ago. Their colours etc are much better now than the fluorescent stuff they used to do, time to give it a second chance I think :-)

Koos

[train_guy]

Curious,Does the Heki wildgrass have a "shelf life"?does it get brittle or deteriate over time?The reason i ask is because of the rising cost of model railroad supplies is on the rise,I am considering on stocking up on these kind of materials(cause i will need alot of it)in the future.

Thanks Don Shriner

[Herc Driver]

Very realistic grass effect and great tutorial! I'm gonna have to try some of that stuff.

[Gary S]

Don, if you find a source in the States, let us know. I ordered some from Euro-Hobbies in Canada and it will be at least a 3 week wait on shipping due to backorders.

[Fluesheet]

Don, if you find a source in the States, let us know. I ordered some from Euro-Hobbies in Canada and it will be at least a 3 week wait on shipping due to backorders.

Hi Gary,

Try Scenic Express. For the items that Steve has in his tutorial:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HK1840">http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo. ... ber=HK1840</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HK1841">http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo. ... ber=HK1841</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HK1861">http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo. ... ber=HK1861</a><!-- m -->

Just under $15 for a 17 1/2 by 6" sheet.

[Gary S]

Try Scenic Express. For the items that Steve has in his tutorial: Just under $15 for a 17 1/2 by 6" sheet.

DOH!

2 weeks ago I ordered a bunch of scenery stuff from Scenic Express, how the heck did I miss that they had the Heki wildgrass? Crap, I could have already had the stuff, know I am a week and a half in on the three week wait from Euro-Hobbies.

[P5se Camelback]

... but your thinking-outside-the-box creative solution is 1 1/2 weeks further along than it would have been otherwise ... if at all!

[Gary S]

True, biL! I'm really stoked on the GrassBlaster and its potential. Now I just have to learn the best techniques to use. The other night, I did a 12" x 12" area on the layout, and although the grass is standing up nicely, the overall uniformity is not realistic for a partially wild area around my large bridge. I think the technique will be to do a single area in multiple passes, with different heights and colors of grass, to get some variation.

[P5se Camelback]

They say confession is good for the soul...

Mine must need some help as I feel suddenly compelled to "spill the revealing beans."

Some years ago, intrigued by examples of what I had seen of the results of its use, I started dropping end-of-the-day spare change into a Kosher Dill Pickle jar, building a fund to purchase a Noch Gras-Master. Having tried the "gluing individual bristles severed from a natural bristle floor scrub brush" to form clumps of wild grass, I had decided that life was too short to spend that much time on such a small but prolific detail on my layout. The pickle jar gave way to a baby food jar and a "secure" envelope containing paper money. It took a while ... the Noch device is not inexpensive, as anyone who has been in the hobby long enough to remember the first time they saw a Durango Press Handcar Kit will attest.

Well, at some point last fall, it was my good fortune to be email a link to the most enjoyable, supportive, and information laden model railroad forum on the internet due to a question asked of a modeler on the Model Railroader Forums (thanks, ever so much, doctorwayne) and began the long process of absorbing the wealth of "insider" modeling techniques that can be found in volumes here. As I think back, I have a vague recollection of seeing a "how-to" on building a homemade version of the Noch device, but with my history with electricity (there's a picture of me in the electrical dictionary under the words "Short Circuit") i passed it by as a dangerous, undesirably shocking experience not necessary in my lifetime and continued to drop end-of-the-day change into the baby food jar and subsequently exchange it for paper in the envelope.

One day, in the Walthers "Flyer," I noticed that the Noch Gras-Master was on sale at what amounted to 1970-something price and I ordered it. I was so pleased with myself that the diligence of saving and combing through listings of sale items to find this "deal."

O.K. ... here it comes.... and admitting to a gross error in judgment is not easy for me, especially when it involves the expenditure of money poorly spent! But, after taking the time to actually read Gary's accounting of construction the "GERN GrassBlaster" (along with an actual reading of doctorwayne’s original construction tutorial, and the success Gary has had in its use, especially his recent creative research in developing "clumps," I hereby confess to the error of my ways, admitting that had I had more confidence in first, the relative sanity of you guys to not suggest the building of a life-ending scenery generation device and second, my own innate ability to carefully follow directions with more than a little regard for personal safety, I would have more than enough available funds at this moment to purchase enough ties, rail and spikes to lay all the trackage planned for the branch line terminus of Weissport on my Lehigh Susquehanna & Western and possibly be actually installing clumps of tall grass here and there throughout the yard area instead of watching , with great interest, the results of the work of Gary and Steve and Reinhard, et.al.!

I questioned my own abilities and spent way more money than I should have! There ... I said it ...

I feel better now ... poorer, but better ... somehow relieved that I have gotten that dark, embarrassing secret off my chest!

EDIT: Geez ... Sorry, Steve ... I didn't mean to ramble on like that at the end of your incredible tutorial ... it moved me ... but I should have moved before starting to pound on the keyboard ... I apologize! ... maybe I can have this post removed to it's own "Confessions" thread!