modelling sand dunes?

[rocketandroll]

Hi all


I\'ve been doing quite a bit of hunting the last few months for any info on modelling drifting sand (a desert) in 28mm scale and making it vaguely realistic... and can find NO ONE who\'se done it.

I want to make a drifting sand base for a vehicle and although I\'m happy to experiment, it\'d be great to have some pointers as to how to achieve a vaguely realistic sand effect that actually looks scale as a starting point?

Any ideas, or web links for any scale modelling of sand dunes?


Cheers all!!!!



Ben

 

[Gilvan Blight]

There was an article in a White Dwarf a long time back when Inquisitor first came out where they made this Stargate looking thing on a desert planet. IIRC some of the tips were to find a very fine grain white sand (the type from parts of Florida) and coat styrofoam. The foam was cut with a hot wire cutter then sanded to smooth humps in dune shapes. Then it was just painting in the right colours, all of which I can remember was Snakebite leather and lots of bleached bone added to it.

I have the WD in question but it\'s in storage somewhere with my other old issues.

 

[freakinacage]

that sounds like a good idea. just mix up a load of sand and pva and smother it over. then toss some more sand over it and leave till its dry. then brush off the excess loose sand

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Yeah the main thing is use a VERY fine sand dust (I use a tea strainer).

You could use the snow stuff and paint it brown as that is very fine.

 

[uberdark]

i have actually done this before.

i use a white sand that you get from a store like lowes for play sand. i then take the sand i am using and put it in between two different sheets of sand paper and rub it back and forth. this makes the sand extra fine. the secret is to make sure you dont pummel it too much. other than that you should be fine. any other questions feel free to pm me.

 

[airhead]

is this for gaming terrain? or diarama background?

As gaming terrain, it is really hard, if you make it steep enough to look right, the models won\'t stand up on in. You almost have to terrace it to allow game play.

 

[rocketandroll]

Cheers all for the ideas so far.... to answer airhead\'s question... it\'s for a Golden Demon entry so no, standing minis on it isn\'t a concern.

My main concern has been getting something that looks fine enough (as several people have said... real sand is far too coarse)... was wondering what other finishes or powders could accurately give the right texture... colour will be applied afterwards with airbrush.

Given the work and cost going into the vehicle sitting on top of it, this needs to look REALLY realistic


Ben

 

[squidders]

use regular sand... just invest a few quid in a pestle and mortar.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

You could try Cumin powder, I have been looking at that and thinking hmmmmm.

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by squidders
use regular sand... just invest a few quid in a pestle and mortar.

Sorry to rain on that parade. Sand is silica quartz. Generally harder than a pestle and mortar.

you can try a home center (proably more pro oriented than Lowes or Home Depot) - look for fine or extra fine sandblast sand. It is graded by the sieve size it goes through and is retained on. Couple of bucks for a 50 lb sack.

Home Depot/Lowes Play Sand will probably be too coarse.

doing a quick google, extra fine may be too coarse (30-50 - think coarse sandpaper)

Paasche makes an air eraser. (think airbrush sized sand blaster). Might try some of the aluminum oxide for it. It has got to be fine.
http://www.paascheairbrush.com/airbrush_specialty.html

Dick Blick
Bear Air
Dixie Art

Should have it.


Another option would be microballoons (snow) as already mentioned.

 

[rocketandroll]

Cheers for the ideas airhead, I was gonna say, sand is harder than porcelain so a pestle and mortar won\'t work

I guess any fine non porous non hydroscopic powder should do... I think I can get hold of polishing powders in different grades... but I guess something white would be best to make it easier to paint it up.


Thinking about it.... the particle size would be very small indeed for scale desert sand... what about just modelling the dunes in Milliput or greenstuff and then just spraying it with roughcoat or a similar textured paint? Wonder whether that\'d look ok?


Anyway, thanks again all for the ideas, keep em coming!


Ben

PS: I\'m in the UK so, thanks for the retailer suggestions but probably need to find my own suppliers

 

[squidders]

Originally posted by airheadSorry to rain on that parade. Sand is silica quartz. Generally harder than a pestle and mortar.

My parade isn\'t the slightest moist

Generally you can buy ones made of materials both hard and soft

6.2 seconds on google yielded this: http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/mortar-and-pestle-cast-iron-2124-p.asp

 

[chrispasseno]

I use playground sand or kids sandbox sand.

I did a 4x4 ft. by putting on a thick layer of white glue, pouring a metric buttload of sand on, patted down with my hand, dry for a couple days, vacuum up loose sand, and coat in two more layers of white glue.

It looked great.

 

[No Such Agency]

You could just skip the sand altogether and use a lightly textured paint. On a miniature scale, sand is essentially a smooth surface, after all.

 

[darkartminiatures]

Originally posted by DrEvilmonki
You could try Cumin powder, I have been looking at that and thinking hmmmmm.

Now theres an idea!

 

[Sand Rat]

I\'ll go through my photos and see what I\'ve got of drifted sand and objects, cause that can be a bit tricky -

Other than that, the finer the grain the better.

 

[rocketandroll]

Originally posted by No Such Agency
You could just skip the sand altogether and use a lightly textured paint. On a miniature scale, sand is essentially a smooth surface, after all.

Yeah, that\'s what I said in my last post!!

Thinking about it... sand at that scale would simply look like a verry matt smooth surface.

I\'m gonna have a play today, sculpt some dunes and then tomorrow try different surface finishes on them from fine powders on top of glue to rough coat and then primer.

Will let everyone know how it goes and what works best...

 

[squidders]

I\'d make you about right regarding the scale... I guess the most important thing is that they are dune shaped and not just sandy coloured hills.

 

[matty1001]

MIG pigments, doesn\'t get much finer than that, and you can really build up texture with them.

But I wouldn\'t use them for gaming pieces.

 

[DaN]

@RocketAndRoll - are you gonna do a WIP thread, or is it all hush-hush for the competition...?