Small Scale Military Headquarters

I need a fairly large amount of 1/18 scale straw or hay looking material. I tried spray painting cotton, and it looked good except that it is not coarse enough to look to scale...

Anybody have a good idea on how to make 1/18 scale straw/hay?

Long shot idea mate.
Have you thought about unpicked wicker & fray it ??

Ja
Steel Bonnet

unpicked wicker.....that should be easy to find.

I was trying to think of something that is like cotton, only much coarser, maybe pink home insulation? Something like that that i can spray paint in big gobs and will look like clumps of hay when dry.

use real hay/grass and burn it?
It might leave the center part of each grass blade, and the residue will form the main part of the haystack.

I never tryed this, it is just an idea,

good luck!

Wow. There has got to be a better solution than fiberglass insulation.

The frayed wicker idea has merit. I'd suggest perhaps finding some small diameter reeds, vines or some such fibrous stemmed plant. Dry the stems, cut them to a uniform length (let's say a couple cm), and fray those. Should be a bit easier to locate than unpicked wicker if that's the issue.

fiberglass insulation....
wow - before I can show you my diorama i must ask you to sign this form and wear this mask!
Thank you

well, it would only be a couple of handfuls of the stuff and it''s going to be soaked in paint....i should think the danger factor is zero.

I remember using the stuff as a kid once in a diorama i made. Painted it to look like straw, had it in my bedroom for years....no ill effects. <twitch>

You could take clippings of Bermuda grass, let them dry, and the cut them to the desired length. Bermuda grass is pretty short and may just work in scale, especially if piled in a stack. It usually doesn't grow more than 1-2 inches (2-4cm) and the clippings are often smaller. I don't know how much of that type of grass you have in Canada, though. It is pretty common in residental yards in sunny California...

yes, there is zero bermuda grass in canada, not a lot of unpicked wicker either...

I need a fairly large amount of 1/18 scale straw or hay looking material

The arts and crafts retailer Michael's sells miniature bales of the stuff, that ought to be perfect for you. It's past my bedtime, but I have a couple of these "mini bales" around here somewheres, and if you like, I could snap a couple digital pics and post them here for ya...just say the word and I'll get on it in the morning.

yes i'd be very interested in seeing them

I had started making a grass hut for my Viet Nam figs a couple months ago. I had the same problem. I ended up buying a 6" paintbrush on clearance and cutting the brissels to make the grass roof. There are several thicknesses of brissels, the thicker the better. You can paint them when you are done glueing them on.
Good luck. Kevin.

OK Ferg, here you go.... First pic in plastic bag which says "Rhyne straw bale". In the second pic you can clearly see the wires holding the "bales" together just like a real bale of straw. I put the 1/32 soldier in there to give it some scale. Sorry this pic is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. Michael's also had some slightly larger bales that were about twice the size of these. For me, this size is going to be perfect for a "Russian Farmhouse" dio that I plan to do someday. Good luck, and I hope these pics are of some help to you.

Scott

those bails look good....i assume you can pull them apart? I need loose straw. Unfortunately there are no Michaels in Canada. I'll check some local craft stores though.

The paint brush idea is pretty good...i'll look into that. Need to figure out how to glue all the individual brissles together. That's why i was trying to think of something that is already 'clumped' together.

Thanks for the help everyone....keep the ideas coming if you have them.

Yeah, the stuff actually appears to be compressed, so I see no reason why you could not pull it apart. I would suppose that a similar arts/crafts type store in your country would have similar items to Michael's in stock, but you may have to do some looking around to find these or something else that is suitable. I'm pretty sure Michael's has an online store, maybe you should check that out before you go on a hunt for mini hay bales. If you've never been in one of these big arts and crafts retailers, I suggest you go when you get a chance, there is all kinds of stuff in these places that has modeling applications if you use your imagination a little, plus it is usually very reasonably priced. Good luck.

i just discovered that we do have Michael's in Canada. I found this out today when i went to my favourite local crafts store, Lewiscraft, and they were out of business.

I looked up on the net and they have gone bankrupt nation-wide. Sad, i've been going there since i was but a small child.

Anyway, in my panic i found that Michaels have a few stores in canada now, a handful in toronto, although nothing very close. Still, at least i can continue to get my bags of cotton fibre, little jars of snow and now, maybe even some hay bails..

I have a great solution for you Aferg. Try
coconut mat material. You can fray the material easily and it can be found at most garden supply stores. It's used for linning the inside of hanging baskets. Shredded it looks just like piles of straw.
Standing on end it makes great looking grass. The scale is spot on and it looks better than natural grass. Hope this helps.

Mark