Grasses, Seaweed and Water for your Taxidermy Display

Author: Adrian Cowley

1)Grasses. Any hayfield supplies a variety of grasses, which, when in seed, dry well and readily take dye; but dull colours only should be used, and most grasses, indeed, are best used uncoloured. Many coarse grasses (not the seed stalks) grow near the sea and in uncultivated places, in tufts, and most of these dry well and can be easily coloured. Hosts of the seed stalks of weeds may be collected in late autumn, and take colour nicely, but the seed must be removed first. Use oil colours for all ferns, grass, etc There are a number of artificial alternatives which nowadays look very authentic.
Grass imitating felt: This stuff comes in sheets of 1m squared and is cut to fit and glued down. It has the feel of coarse fir. This stuff is not cheap but allows you to cover a large area quickly with no mess. it is also more resilient than using scatterings.
Scatterings: They come in all shapes sizes and colours including grass. First you spread glue over the area you want to cover. Use a lot of glue as this stuff often falls off if you don’t. Then spread the scatterings over the glue. It is a good idea to use a sieve to control the amount you use and/or a brush to move it in to all the gaps. Neither are essential but are useful. Once dried use a clean dustpan and brush to collect all the lose scatterings so they can be re used. Don’t use a Hoover as this can pull of a lot of the glued down material. It is my advice to paint the board under the scattering the desired colour so that any fall of due to wear and tear will not show through. Another option is to use hessian carpet matting (the underside of most old carpet will do) which you coax the fibres from into small tufts and either paint of leave as a dull brown for a dried grass effect. This is particularly suitable for rough grass.
Static Grass: If you want that 3 dimensional grass effect, go for static grass, it’s simple and effective. The grass is in the form of tiny synthetic fibres, in various lengths and colours. Using a simple puffer bottle* you apply it to neat PVA glue, it becomes charged with static electricity and stands on end, giving that 3D effect, the procedure is as follows:
a) Work on an area about 300mm square at a time. Paint the area you want to grass a suitable under-colour, a mix of greens and browns is best.
b) Sieve some of the grass fibres to remove any clumps, and fill the puffer bottle about half way up (don’t fill it to the top as it becomes a tightly bunched mass and won’t come out).
c) Apply a coat of PVA glue to the area you want to grass, ensure the area is totally covered but don’t worry about the odd blob as this just adds texture
d) Holding the puffer bottle about 100-150mm from the surface start puffing gently. Build the grass up slowly working around the area, puffing from different angles.
e) As you go along give the bottle a gentle shake every so often to loosen clumps.
f) Build the grass up to the thickness you want, don’t worry if the glue still shows through, it dries transparent and you won’t see it.
g) Every so often gently blow over the grass to loosen any stray particles, and to check your coverage. Some recommend passing a vacuum cleaner with a piece of cloth over the nozzle over the area, to lift the particles a bit, but take care not to suck it all off!
h) Once dry (best to be patient leave it a few hours) suck or blow off the excess.
i) That’s the basic principle. The grass is available in many colours and lengths. It’s best to experiment before starting on your actual scene. A good technique is to lay down some long grass, and then over lay with short grass. Any bald patches that appear can be touched in after, and laying one layer on top of another is good for a ‘scrubby grass effect’. The key is to experiment it’s good fun
2) Seaweeds. These must be well washed in order to remove the salt, and should be varnished if intended to look wet. Starfish dry well (after being well washed), but should be tinted to restore the colours. These and shells, as well as all the above, are fixed sufficiently tightly with glue.
3) Water. To produce a good water effect you need to produce a reflective surface. The method I have seen used involves using a sheet of glass or perspex, painting the underside a dark colour, try experimenting with dark green, brown or even black and then countersinking it in to the false bottom of your cabinet. Don’t worry if it is not the intended shape. you can produce the desired shape by covering the Perspex with scenic scatter. For more authenticity use brush bristles painted a yellowy brown to imitate reeds or green to imitate ling grass and weeds. For best results position your specimen the opposite side of the viewing point of the water feature so that it will be reflected in the water instead of something you don’t want such as the wall. When finished the Perspex will reflect the light from the surroundings and give you a perfect water reflection but it is important that the plastic is very clean and clear. This is why glass is often used as it does not mark and can be polished up.

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About the Author

The Author has written a number of Taxidermy articles and is owner of the site www.taxidermybook.com which has the most comprehensive guide to learning classic Taxidermy