I have learnt how to use the static grass applicator! I was doing two things wrong before – trying to scatter from too high up, and not applying enough. This time I scattered the flock from just 1-2″ above which itself caused a better effect, and I found the thicker I scattered it, the better the results. This makes sense I think, as I assume the applicator is mildly charging the strands so when they get grouped together their charge causes them to align, or something.
The downside of this is that there is much less glue to flock, so the flock ends up being relatively loose. At this point I have been reminded of a quote I saw in White Dwarf about 20 years ago that I found so funny that I have never forgotten it:
You have to hoover it every day for a year, and after that what’s left on stays on
– Rick Priestly, on the insanity of flocking an entire game board.
Happily I learnt all this on the second half of the pitch which means all the boring bits (landscaping, brown paint, earth, and above all painting and fixing the 100’s of tile spacers) are out the way so I am definitely on the home stretch.
Here’s roughly where I’m up to on the second half:
I’ve left tile spacers off where the wide zone lines go so I can mask and spray the lines later.
And some closeups of the static flock in action:
I will have to go back to the first half and flock it again as I went much thicker on all types of flock this time. I don’t think the first half is looking lush enough to be a meadow in Athel Loren.