Bingo, Gary! That's precisely it - protolanced, of course, and double tracked! Good catch! Thanks, Jerry! The grass is WS flock, mixed from 3 different colors - Golden Harvest, Light Green, and Wild Honey - that gives it the proper hue, at least to my eyes. And when you look at it closely, it stands about 18 inches high....Just about right, I figure.
I use the Noch device - spent more than I wanted, but didn't want to go through the search for parts and all to build my own - I wanted it NOW! IMO it was worth it, look at all I've gotten done!
Jim, talk about getting your money's worth for the GrassMaster, almost your whole layout will have a use for that thing. -Mike
Jerry, if you want to build your own I know there are at least two available sets of plans to do so. Regardless, static grass is the only way to go IMO. I started out "painting" on white glue for the first layer (it takes 2 or 3 passes) and found out when you dribbled matte medium for the second pass it would liquify the white glue and make a mess. You could spray and then grass, and I did so initially but I really don't care for that method - just too messy. What I plan to do when I grass the fascia area is to "paint" with matte medium instead of glue and hit with the first grass layer, then go with the dripper method from there on - dripping from high areas to low until it's all wet, then grassing. The whole grass application thing can be a lot more complex than it's made out to be. It pays to develop your own techniques - it is, after all, whatever works FOR YOU.
I have been very happy with the Noch glue that Scenic Express sells specifically for static grass application. It paints on without running and it stays tacky for ~1 hour, so you can go over the patch with the applicator repeated times to make the grass really stand up. One jar will cover quite a bit of real estate. Here's an old shot of a test patch. It has held up very well for ~2 years now. Best, Gary
Jim, Love the layout and you are progressing at a great rate. Do you have many industries and switching opportunities along the layout? My layout was based around mainline operations but over the ten or so years or the layouts life my preference is more switching. I know long term the layouts future is most likely to be dismantled and a move to dcc operation with a greater focus on operations
Jim, all I can say is WOW! I love the long trains running through some really great scenery, you have a really impressive layout. I've used static flock grass on my layout applied stright from the shaker, it looks ok but I would love it get to stand up and look a little more grasslike. I may have to bite the bullet and buy an applicator!
Paul, since the prototype has no industries to speak of - except in the areas I haven't modeled - the answer is no. The layout was built as a "railfan's layout", for views, not for operations. If I want to switch, the Oakville yard is very accomodating. It makes all the difference IMO, Cleggie. You don't need to get the Noch, there are several build it yourself options. But I didn't want to mess around sourcing and then waiting for parts, so I bought the Noch - and yes, from Scenery Express. Excellent service, BTW. Thanks for the comments, guys.
Better Late Than - Oakville's main peninsula is pretty much done in the "Broad Strokes" sense - still putting fencing in but I'll soon move on to another portion of the layout. Here are some shots.
Jim, there is something about your layout that sucks! And that is the part of it not being in "my" house! lol But seriously, that is one beautiful looking railroad and railroad room you have there. You are doing such a fantastic job! Craig
