Elephant grass is grown as a house plant, known as 'Mother-in-law's
tongue'. It is not really a grass in the botany sense of the word, and
has substantial fleshy blades. In the wild it grows to amazing heights,
covering large areas.
On the wargames table, this can be represented by plastic grass,
widely available from shops selling home decorations and what can only
be described as designer bric-a-brac.
Construction
The back of the mat |
Splitting the mat
The grass is sold in mats about a foot square, the individual plants
being clipped onto pegs on the upper side of the grid
The mat needs to be cut up, because the pegs come in useful for attaching
to the base as the rubbery plastic is not all that easy to stick.
Use a pair of side cutters to snip off little crosses, slightly smaller
than the coins/washers that you are using. It's best to pull all the
plants off first, or you might accidentally cut bits off them.
Making up the bases
The crosses can be stuck to the coins with PVA. If you have the enthusiasm
then roughen both up with a bit of sandpaper to improve the bond, but
it isn't really necessary. Lay out a number of coins, put a big blob
of PVA in the centre of at least 20 or so in one batch, and then press
the crosses on. Leave for a few hours to dry.
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Sticking
plants to bases
The plants can also be stuck down with PVA. It doesn't stick all that
strongly but it's adequate. Put blobs of PVA on the pegs and then press
the plants on.
Basing
Once the plants are stuck, paint PVA onto the base and cover it with
sand. This will disguise the shape of the cross. You can then paint,
apply flock etc. in your normal basing style.
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