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I am about to make a 4x4 gaming table at my house, and I need to base it. I am going to glue down a layer of fine grain sand mixed with some thicker gravel I picked up

But, my problem is where can I buy nice fine grain sand? Something that has a nice consistency to it to make a table out of. I don't have a dollar store near me, and I'm not sure if home depot stocks anything less than 50lb bags. Any suggestions guys?

Also, any other tips on making a nice surface would be great. I am going to just spray paint it black then drybursh it with grays/off white on top. Keep it easy and simply. (and cheap the spray paint is $.99 a can!)

Building sand is usually quite fine grained, it often almost has a dusty consistency.

I have found that 'play sand' that is sold for kids sandboxes is actually pretty coarse by comparison.

I usually base my figs with building sand and use the play sand for scenery pieces and occasionally for a change on larger bases.

As for buying from homebase, that might be your best bet. For the same price as getting a little pot of 'modeling sand' from a model shop, or Micheals etc, you could buy two of those 50lb bags.

I'm a bit confused, where should I buy sand? 'Homebase'..is that a store? hehe


edit:
Oh or were you referring to like a Home Depot/Lowes? etc

Buy the 50 lb bag of sand and a window screen. Sift the sand yourself into a large container and let it dry in the sun for a day or so. I actually bake trays of sand in the oven to evaporate out all the extra water then sift out the large stuff.

Mix it up a little - Play sand and building sand can look great together for a board. Use the building sand as your primary, but add streaks and small patches of play sand here and there. Many real deserts are not purely fine-grain. They'll have rocks strewn about, dry patches, and areas of rough sand where large rock formations once stood. And as for the leftover? You could always do a display base for your army

Why should the fine grain sand Stubby mentioned have large stuff in it?

I've had good luck simply buying medium to fine grained sandpaper and using it as a base, then spreading fine hobby sand or art sand over the gaps for depth. Much less loose sand to vacuum up after the game.

Oh wow....not a bad idea has anyone else tried this? How does it work out?

could you post some pictures of your table, some close ups maybe?

sandpaper or playsand will work.

We found a great product called "bird sand" from a pet store; it was pretty cheap, and contained bits of shells and so forth. The store which sold it was next door to GW Sheffield, and we used to send kids there to buy sand (and aquarium plants, and rocks, and even the odd castle). Ah, back in the day when a Red Shirt could get away with sending a kid somewhere rather than GW for scenery.

Come to think of it, we had a DIY store just over the road . . . man, Sheffield Central store had the BEST location ever!

You can try craft sand from a craft shop like Hobby Lobby or Michells or some playground sand you might be able to find a Home Depot or Lowes.

Craft sand comes in different colors if you want to mix
it for a different more earthy look.

I was going to suggest Michael's also. They have sand for decorative flower displays. They also have an aisle for sand art projects. Though these are too fine for my taste. It would probably look like a beach sand at that scale. Check out Train Modelling hobby shops. They would have different grades of sand for different scales.

model train shops seem to have a pretty good selection of different types of ballast w/ varying size.

I personally used a bag of play sand from Home Depot to texture the 2'x2' boards that I made for my gaming group about a month ago. The bag cost about 4 bucks, and it worked well with a very thinned layer of carpenter's glue to seal it to the 2" foam. I slapped on a thin layer of glue and practically buried the boards in sand, then left it alone for at least 12 hours. Afterward, I was able to knock off the excess and using a trowel I knocked down any ridiculous hills that formed, to keep a relatively flat but now textured surface. A second layer of watered down glue helped to seal it up really nice. And then for a nice and generic grassy green, I was able to get a can or two of mis-tints from the hardware store, blend those up to a good enough color, and roller those on.

Kiln dried sand is great, very fine and a nice texture, also it isnt too bad if it gets in your eyes
Also, its fairly cheap, so even in a 50 lbs bag it should be cheap (and will last )

Mamox wrote:I am about to make a 4x4 gaming table at my house, and I need to base it. I am going to glue down a layer of fine grain sand mixed with some thicker gravel I picked up

But, my problem is where can I buy nice fine grain sand? Something that has a nice consistency to it to make a table out of. I don't have a dollar store near me, and I'm not sure if home depot stocks anything less than 50lb bags. Any suggestions guys?

Also, any other tips on making a nice surface would be great. I am going to just spray paint it black then drybursh it with grays/off white on top. Keep it easy and simply. (and cheap the spray paint is $.99 a can!)

I buy large bottles of grasses and fake sand used for model train sets. They are pretty cheap and a amazingly useful for large projects.

I just go to the beach for sand.
I've done up a desert table for my gaming (looks almost like a 'tattooine village' with the buildings and crashed ship in the middle) using sand from a local beach - the very beach that they used in ep2 for the desert scenes on Geonosis.

Flocking/grass and trees, however, I get from a model railway supplier. No less than double the quantity for less than GW charge.

chromedog wrote:I just go to the beach for sand.
I've done up a desert table for my gaming (looks almost like a 'tattooine village' with the buildings and crashed ship in the middle) using sand from a local beach - the very beach that they used in ep2 for the desert scenes on Geonosis.

Flocking/grass and trees, however, I get from a model railway supplier. No less than double the quantity for less than GW charge.

and 5x cheaper too

razorlead wrote:Much less loose sand to vacuum up after the game.

I find this comment intriguing. I have never had to vaccuum up any basing material after games. I would suggest that you add an extra step to your table/terrain basing procedure.

Base your table/terrain piece in your desired manner. Allow the glue/adhesive to dry THOROUGHLY. One the glue is completely dry (for whole tables, I will generally wait overnight), thin down PVA glue to the consistency of milk. Liberally coat the dried basing material with the thinned glue and allow to dry.

When I say, "liberally coat...", I mean put it on pretty heavily. You need to see the glue pooled between the rocks/gravel/sand/grass flock/etc. It will look like somebody spilled a glass of milk on my table and it spread out all over. Also, I HIGHLY reccommend the use of Elmer's Carpenter's Glue (a.k.a. Wood Glue). This stuff dries with a mighty bond, despite being thinned out.

Once this topcoat of glue is dried, you will be hard pressed to have the material flake off. I use this technique on ALL basing I undertake, from full tables to terrain pieces, right down to individual models. I have 80 Guardians and many, many more Elites/Heavies/Tanks/fast vehicles that I have been lugging to and from my house and FLGS's for a decade now. I have about 4-5 Guardians and a Farseer that have ever had any basing material come loose. This includes run-ins with *that kid* "Little Johnny Grabby-Paws" and dropping models.



Ghidorah

I used play sand on my table and it was great. 2.50 for a 50 lb bag. All the modelling I do and I still havent used half of it in a year and a half.

Ghidorah - There is something to be said about a sand box style game board. I have seen them used and have always wanted to play on one. It looks very realistic because you can loosely cover terrain peice edges and make rolling hills that the models dont fall over in.

Ghidorah wrote:

razorlead wrote:Much less loose sand to vacuum up after the game.

I find this comment intriguing. I have never had to vaccuum up any basing material after games. I would suggest that you add an extra step to your table/terrain basing procedure.

Base your table/terrain piece in your desired manner. Allow the glue/adhesive to dry THOROUGHLY. One the glue is completely dry (for whole tables, I will generally wait overnight), thin down PVA glue to the consistency of milk. Liberally coat the dried basing material with the thinned glue and allow to dry.

When I say, "liberally coat...", I mean put it on pretty heavily. You need to see the glue pooled between the rocks/gravel/sand/grass flock/etc. It will look like somebody spilled a glass of milk on my table and it spread out all over. Also, I HIGHLY reccommend the use of Elmer's Carpenter's Glue (a.k.a. Wood Glue). This stuff dries with a mighty bond, despite being thinned out.

Once this topcoat of glue is dried, you will be hard pressed to have the material flake off. I use this technique on ALL basing I undertake, from full tables to terrain pieces, right down to individual models. I have 80 Guardians and many, many more Elites/Heavies/Tanks/fast vehicles that I have been lugging to and from my house and FLGS's for a decade now. I have about 4-5 Guardians and a Farseer that have ever had any basing material come loose. This includes run-ins with *that kid* "Little Johnny Grabby-Paws" and dropping models.
Ghidorah

2nd this.

Glue, apply sand/flock then apply another coat of glue. Sand stays on forever that way (and you don't end up with sandpaper texture).

That's how my desert table was done.

I played 40k on a sandpit table back in the 2nd ed days (we had a 8x5 table that was 8" deep) and would sculpt a new layout for games when we tired of the old one).

chromedog wrote:

Ghidorah wrote:

razorlead wrote:Much less loose sand to vacuum up after the game.

I find this comment intriguing. I have never had to vaccuum up any basing material after games. I would suggest that you add an extra step to your table/terrain basing procedure.

Base your table/terrain piece in your desired manner. Allow the glue/adhesive to dry THOROUGHLY. One the glue is completely dry (for whole tables, I will generally wait overnight), thin down PVA glue to the consistency of milk. Liberally coat the dried basing material with the thinned glue and allow to dry.

When I say, "liberally coat...", I mean put it on pretty heavily. You need to see the glue pooled between the rocks/gravel/sand/grass flock/etc. It will look like somebody spilled a glass of milk on my table and it spread out all over. Also, I HIGHLY reccommend the use of Elmer's Carpenter's Glue (a.k.a. Wood Glue). This stuff dries with a mighty bond, despite being thinned out.

Once this topcoat of glue is dried, you will be hard pressed to have the material flake off. I use this technique on ALL basing I undertake, from full tables to terrain pieces, right down to individual models. I have 80 Guardians and many, many more Elites/Heavies/Tanks/fast vehicles that I have been lugging to and from my house and FLGS's for a decade now. I have about 4-5 Guardians and a Farseer that have ever had any basing material come loose. This includes run-ins with *that kid* "Little Johnny Grabby-Paws" and dropping models.
Ghidorah

2nd this.

Glue, apply sand/flock then apply another coat of glue. Sand stays on forever that way (and you don't end up with sandpaper texture).

That's how my desert table was done.

I played 40k on a sandpit table back in the 2nd ed days (we had a 8x5 table that was 8" deep) and would sculpt a new layout for games when we tired of the old one).

^this idea is for someone who wont move there table anywhere.

You can get a very fine sand in ten pound bags used for sandblasting at home Depot. Take it and bake it or let it sit in the sun to make sure it dry.

If you dont want a 50 lb bag of sand hanging around after you are finished, go to Wal Mart and in the craft section they sell 2lb jars of very fine craft sand for a $1.99 or so. One of these should texture a 4x4 board with extra to spare for basing your army. I have been using the same jar of sand mixed with a bag of coarse ballast from woodland scenics for two years now and have textured hundreds of bases and about 12 display boards and I am not even close to using half of the mixture. It is a good deal and storage is easy after the job is finished.

@Son of Russ:

Yeah. That table didn't go anywhere. It sat out under the awning of the shed. Had to clean it out occasionally, as the mate's (whose place it was at) mum had cats.

GMMStudios wrote:Ghidorah - There is something to be said about a sand box style game board. I have seen them used and have always wanted to play on one. It looks very realistic because you can loosely cover terrain peice edges and make rolling hills that the models dont fall over in.

I was under the ipmression that he meant a table that was based in sand. You're absolutely right about "sand tables" though. I've seen some mighty impressive sand tables. I saw one that was about 6' x 10 and about 8" deep. They used water to shape the sand into hills and ravines, etc. They played some sort of sci-fi 5mm game. I thin it may have been a homebrew ruleset, but I can't be sure.

sonofruss wrote:

chromedog wrote:

Ghidorah wrote:

razorlead wrote:*some stuff*

*buncha stuff*
Ghidorah

*more stuff...and*

I played 40k on a sandpit table back in the 2nd ed days (we had a 8x5 table that was 8" deep) and would sculpt a new layout for games when we tired of the old one).

^this idea is for someone who wont move there table anywhere.

I'm going to assume you meant the last statement by Chromie about sand tables. What I described can be done mobile very easily.


Ghidorah

I use a pretty simple technique, and I like the results.

Material:

1 Bag of Play Sand (Home Depot or Lowes is where I buy mine)
1 Large bottle of white glue
1 Large paint brush

I pour a large puddle of glue (about 5-8 inches in diameter, rather thick) someplace on the board, and use the paint brush to pull the glue around. The glue is thick enough to make certain textures if you like; I end up with it somewhat thicker in the middle, and thinner on the edges. I then throw on a very thick layer of sand, and use an old piece of wood (like a 2x6) to lay across the sand and pack it in. Then I just let it dry for about an hour, and sweep the sand into a bucket. Then I make another pool near the first, and have the glue cover some of the original sand, and repeat the process. For me, it ends up with a varied texture across the board, which I like, and it seems to be quite durable.e

I usually finish it off with a combination of brown and black spray paints, and leave some areas sand-free so I can use flock to vary the look.