Flexifield grass material

Spotted at Banbury show - this rather fantastic new scenic product.

What we have is a flexible substrate on to which is electrostatically deposited some fibres to represent grass. Three lengths are available - Standard Grass, wheatfield and course. This is then sprayed with colour (better than in the photo which I took in dodgy light at the stand), cut into 19 inch square chunks and sold to modellers and wargamers for 15 quid a pop. The later market were the original targets as they tend to produce marvelous armies and then fight games on squares of carpet.

The system has the advantage that the results are very strong. Unlike normal glued on nylon grass you can really abuse this stuff. I bought an off cut and have screwed it up without anything falling off. The little diorama is made up on a plaster base with "grass" stuck on. Sand is fine stuff from Games Workshop.

On the stand there were other demos. It seems that hammering the material produces some nice flattened areas for gateways but even a minidrill can produce some interesting effects. You can chop it with scissors for slivers or edges and PVA will be fine to glue it down.

Some interesting effects were shown using Plasticote spray paint to give "bobbles" on the bristles. This looks like undergrowth and is particularly effective on the longer versions which could pass for bracken and gorse.

I like the look of this stuff. Needless to say I don't have a grassy model on the go at present but when I do, I think I'll give it a go. The price might seem high to those used to buying 2 quid bags of flock but we compared the sheet on sale to one reasonably rural layout and I reckon a couple would do most of the greenery that the owner had required. Add to this the durability of the product, important for exhibition layouts or anywhere you will get idiots leaning on your baseboard, and it looks pretty good.

More on the website: http://www.hedgerowscenics.co.uk/ (Under construction at time of writing)