Scale sand

[stona]

Not sure this is the correct place for a question but anyway..! I've just seen Noble's (Scott's) most excellent desert diorama and see that he used budgie sand as ..errr..sand. I'm doing a smaller scale 1/72 and wondered if this would look okay. I'm aware that I can't do "true scale" sand as a medium sized grain of sand,around 0.5mm,can't really be done in 1/72 scale!

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Richy C]

Steve I`ve just ordered some of this stuff from eBay for a future dio - mixed basing sand & fine basing sand , might be worth a look , its from a company called foundations of war

Richy

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[yak face]

Hi steve, AAH! sand,1/72, It just so happens ive done the base for my desert dio using wilkos budgie sand and it doesnt look too bad.The scale of the grains is obviously a bit big but if they were in scale it would just look very smooth and not very sand like. The budgie sand is very fine and only needs a quick run through the seive to get out a few pieces of fine white shell thats mixed in. The only other thing i can think of to get a smaller scale grain would be to try baking soda,as has been used many times on peoples winter dios, and spray it sand colour, im sticking with the sand cause ive already done it!The pics on the other thread look intriguing,with the fieseler and p40. Ive recently got the academy storch with kubelwagen in 1/72,a nice little kit and great value, which kits have you got for yours? Our modelling seems to be running a parallel course at the moment! p40,storch,desert dio , youll be telling me youre about to start a yak 9 or a 1930's air racer next!!! cheers tony

 

[stona]

Thanks chaps.

Richy I've checked their site,it looks interesting but I figure if they can find fine sand to sell in little bags then so can I. I'm just being a cheapskate really Lol!

I think you may be right Tony. 1/72 scale sand will be like talcum powder and I do want it to appear sandy rather than be strictly scale. Scott's desert diorama has given me a rather high bar to aim for,but if I can get anything near that I'll be well chuffed.

I got an Airfix P-40 Kittyhawk (in a starter pack,whatever that is) for £6.43 and an Academy Fi156 Storch for £6.99. Both models for less than half the price of one of my normal kits. The boy scouts,soon to be Luftwaffe airmen, cost me a couple of pints from a friend of a friend who is a railway modeller! Incidentally he suggested some sand that they use but I think it was ballast sand and quite coarse.

A 1930s air racer mmmmmm! Only joking.

Cheers

Steve

 

[yak face]

Good luck with the figures steve, i hope theyre easier to work with than the polythene types im struggling with for mine.Ill try and get you a pic of the base so you can see for yourself what the sand looks like, ill not put everything on it,im waiting for a final dramatic reveal!LOL! On the subject of tiny figures and 1930's air racers,ive today received a 1/32 lion cub to go with my 1/32 soviet tank officer (to be converted )which i hope to represent colonel roscoe turner and his pet lion, gilmore. These two will stand in front of the 1/32 wedell williams racer (williams brothers kit,1/32) which im hoping to start as soon as ive finished one or two of my current projects!! Off now to get the camera , back soon cheers tony

 

[yak face]

steve, heres the base. Hopefully you can get a good idea of the look of it,also ive shown a pinch on the rule to give an idea of the size of the grains. I think i might spray the sand on the base to stop a bit of the reflection on the grains ,which makes it look coarser than it is (plus you can see through it in places to the tile adhesive on the base) hope this is helpful , cheers tony

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[stona]

Very nice Tony,thanks for that. I'm going to have a look at this budgie stuff and investigate some fine grain sand. having seen that and Scott's effort I'll definitely go with something similar. I was originally thinking about something finer like a make up type powder but have no idea how to fix it. Besides I could end up looking like a panto dame! At least sand is sand.

Cheers

Steve

 

[backonthecase]

As expensive as it may be, some form of sand coloured pigment, whether the Mig stuff or some sort of chalk pastel or artist material might work.... ground up and sprinkled onto PVA, like with grass..

Just an idea, HTH

Stuart

 

[Ian M]

I have been looking at the sand you use to dress block/brick paving with. You know the sand that you sweep into the joints to stop weeds and the like comming up. It is very fine sand and looks pretty good. I was going to do a desert dio with a Storch and Rommels staff car, but seems like we got the desert plane dios idea all at the same time. Add to that that 1/35 scale Fiesler are not that easy to get hold off. Tristar did/does them so I'll have to get one off flea-bay.

Ian M

 

[stona]

I've got a piccy somewhere of Albert Kesselring sitting in a Storch being saluted by a chap who looks like his trousers might be blown off by the propwash! I nearly did that until I found the P-40/Storch combination. Kesselring's machine has a squiggly camo which would be challenging at 1/72.

Steve

 

[Gern]

"I was originally thinking about something finer like a make up type powder but have no idea how to fix it."

Hi Steve,

If it's any help I used a thing called Spray Mount by 3M to fix the 'silt' (ground up pastels) on my FW 190 GB. It's a general purpose spray adhesive which I find easier to use than PVA. I'll be sealing the finished 'plane with a matt coat. Gotta wait and see what it looks like though.

Gern

 

[noble]

Hi steve first of all ta much for the kind comments on my dio second and this is going to sound weird have you tried brown sugar? Just a weird thought, Tony the budgie sand doesn't look bad at all in 1/72 it looks very passable to me, besides the pic's of the north african dessert i've seen shows a more rocky surface with the sand interspersed between the rocks so whatever you use if you add a load of tiny rocks all over it it will be fine, or spray over the sand with spray glue and allow the whole thing todry then drybrush your sand with lighter and lighter tones.

scott

 

[Fenlander]

My memories of a great holiday in Tunisia was the total lack of sand as you would expect to see! I know when you get into the 'real' desert with the huge dunes etc, it is pure sand but in the more populated areas and surrounding areas, it is fine fine dust or incredibly fine sand. Sand coloured and quite heavy dust, like dried earth. We did the usual tourist thing and had a camel ride into the 'desert' and it was much the same there. Although heavy and not blowing about in gentle breezes, this dust was everywhere on the pavements and road edges, where they could be defined. The only time I saw natural sand as we know it was on the beach but sadly there were so many other sights on the beach that my eyes were constantly drawn away from what it was made of

 

[Gern]

.... and we're back with Catwoman and Santa's helper again I see!

Nurse! Bring him his medication!

Gern

 

[dansmith]

Having the same problems myself doing a d-day diorama for my son, but being a bit of a detail geek i have tried various things to recreate 1.72 scale sand. I have decided on ready mixed poly filler as most of thsand i am copying is from low tide area so it is pretty smooth. But here is something i found pretty interesting for non wet areas, dont laugh, but go into the kitchen get some ground white pepper and sprinkle some onto a flat surface and then add a 1.72 scale figure, i think it looks prety convincing.Also it does not have that fake glistening look you get when using real sand, which shouldnt be apparent at small scales.

 

[Fenlander]

Thanks for that tip Dan, I cannot stop the dogs sneezing now :laughing:

 

[Montyman]

I once tried sieving plain flour over a thin PVA/plaster mix and it looked pretty good for a few days. Then a white mould began to grow over it! I think 1/72 scale widblown sand would look smooth. It would also probably be soft and any vehicle or aircraft would probably get bogged. If the material you are trying does look a bit out of scale, paint it grey and tell people it's gravel!

 

[Elizxa]

The scale of the grains is obviously a bit big but if they were in scale it would just look very smooth and not very sand like. The budgie sand is very fine and only needs a quick run through the seive to get out a few pieces of fine white shell thats mixed in.Digital scales...

 

[dm73]

Have you had a look at playpit sand, its a lot finer than standard building sand but i don't know if its fine enough for your needs.

cheers

Darren

 

[Dustbin]

Hi, I'm new to this site but I hope I can be of assistance where possible ! For scale(ish) sand I would suggest micro-balloons. Used as a filler for resin by motor repairers,yacht repairs etc. It comes in various grades and is an inert filler. Just use a mask if shaking out onto PVA or matt varnish. Micro-balloons can also be used as an instant filler when used with C.A glue.

Paul