Reeds, how to?

[Hammers]

I need to make reeds, and lots of'm, of the kind you would find in a delta. I've been looking for a ideas  for quite a while now but have to date  not been able to come up with something suitable. I have in particular been looking for rugs to cut up in patches.

The reed beds should give an impression such as these, which means of man height or more, dense, and in colours from green to tan:

Rufiji delta:



Danube delta:

[Svennn]

Sounds like you need to call in Delta Force


I presume you have looked at these?
http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=reeds

[dampfpanzerwagon]

You could use the old door mat technique (sometimes used for corn fields). Cut ovals of sisal or string door mats and mount on small plastic card bases then cut the tops into an irregular dome shape and decorate the tops with green grass scatter material.  This would definitely look like the small island reeds seen in your pictures.  The larger beds could be done the same and mounted at different heights or with packing under the door mat to give the 30mm plus height.

I hope that this helps.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/

[Hammers]

Sounds like you need to call in Delta Force


I presume you have looked at these?
http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=reeds

Sort of. I believe the Siflor reeds are to short and even if they are not they willl not be cost effecgtive since I need several square feet of the stuff. (They are for my Chicken Race on the Arumbaya project where the board measures 2 by 3m).

While looking good, piassava fibres as sold from Antenocity is *probably* out to as it will equre hours and hours of work to make dense beds of the stuff. I have a broom of the stuff which I sometimes harvest for hobby projects. Perhaps I should do a trial project.

[Hammers]

The larger beds could be done the same and mounted at different heights or with packing under the door mat to give the 30mm plus height.

Hmm, there's an idea... I have previously discarded the door matt idea because I could not find product with a 'shag' which was deep enough. I foresee one hitch though: door mats tend to be pretty rigid. I don't know how well they'll respond to 'bulking'.

[OSHIROmodels]

How about Richards method for his African grass for the Zulu board he did not so long ago?

The search menu isn't giving me anything but he used astro turf I think in separate clumps. Bunched together it could work quite nice as it wasn't a uniform height and quite a few of them were bent out of shape.

Or if you're a glutton for punishment you could use fine broom bristles and stick them on a board  

cheers

James

[Hammers]

How about Richards method for his African grass for the Zulu board he did not so long ago?

The search menu isn't giving me anything but he used astro turf I think in separate clumps. Bunched together it could work quite nice as it wasn't a uniform height and quite a few of them were bent out of shape.

I don't remember than one. I shall have a poke around.

Or if you're a glutton for punishment you could use fine broom bristles and stick them on a board  

As you can see above, it has been considered. 

[Hammers]

Found it! The solution is fake lawn and it wager it will work  perfectly if only I can find a source.

I have copied and placed an article on the topic in How to: Reeds, how to!

[dijit]

I think I'd combine the sisel string and door mat methods. Soak the sisel in different colours to get different colours than the mat. Then glue them down in the door mat. They'd break up the uniform appearance of the door mat, but would be much, much quicker than doing the sisel method alone.
Duncan

[Marine0846]

Have you looked at teddy bear?
It can be colored to the right color you want.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

OK I'm going to attempt to explain this in words - while one image would suffice!

Start with a large door mat.

Cut into a rough oval.

In the centre of the first oval cut a second oval (being left with an oval and a large ring of doormat).

Mount the smaller oval on to 3mm/5mm plastic card (try a For Sale sign).

Then mount the ring onto a larger ring of 3mm/5mm plastic card.

Insert the smaller oval into the larger ring and then trim the top with a sharp pair of scissors.

Blend in the base of the doormat with the plastic card base with filler or Milliput and

Add Grass flock to the top of the mat.

This should give you the right height - remember that if you need more height you can add another ring on top of a sheet of plastic card.

I hope this explains the idea easier.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/

[Hammers]

OK I'm going to attempt to explain this in words - while one image would suffice!

Start with a large door mat.

Cut into a rough oval.

In the centre of the first oval cut a second oval (being left with an oval and a large ring of doormat).

Mount the smaller oval on to 3mm/5mm plastic card (try a For Sale sign).

Then mount the ring onto a larger ring of 3mm/5mm plastic card.

Insert the smaller oval into the larger ring and then trim the top with a sharp pair of scissors.

Blend in the base of the doormat with the plastic card base with filler or Milliput and

Add Grass flock to the top of the mat.

This should give you the right height - remember that if you need more height you can add another ring on top of a sheet of plastic card.

I hope this explains the idea easier.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/

I get it. Intriguing.

[dijit]

That's certainly a good idea to get more variation in the height.
Duncan

[Ninja]

Depending on what types of reeds you can also take those individual bristles a run them through a bit of colored medium/glue etc to where it pools into a "clump" at the top to get the effect of the brown topped reeds http://www.clker.com/clipart-2517.html  Placing at least a few of these could get you an excellent look!

That is how they describe doing it in model railroading. If you would like a better description let me know!