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Hi, I am painting my Menoth Warmachine army with a very dominant fire red/brass look. For the basing I wanted something that looks charred but clean so I was thinking black sand or something similar.

Does anyone know a good way to make basing sand black or a place that sells it black? I haven't been able to find any and just paining it black probably won't achieve the look I am after.

Thanks!

Your local model railway shop should have something suitable.

Some craft shops also sell coloured sand.

Painting sand after it's glued on actually isn't that bad - so long as you can avoid getting paint on your model's feet

You can do it a bit easier than that as well.

Apply the sand to the bases with glue as normal before putting your model on it. Clean it up to your liking and prime it with black. once it has dried hit it again (there are always those few spots that stay tan). After the second coat is dry I hit it with a matt varnish. This helps tremendously with keeping the sand attached to the base.

if you want to add highlights just dry brush and viola yer done.

Great tips there darefsky - another tip is to paint watered down pva glue over your sand once its dry from the first coat, that'll fully seal it and stop any runaway grains.

A friend of mine used roibos tea when basing some terminators, it looks epic, like fire/golden autumn leaves. Might be worth a shot for basing your models uniquely? It would match your colours.

CaptainRavenclaw wrote:Great tips there darefsky - another tip is to paint watered down pva glue over your sand once its dry from the first coat, that'll fully seal it and stop any runaway grains.

A friend of mine used roibos tea when basing some terminators, it looks epic, like fire/golden autumn leaves. Might be worth a shot for basing your models uniquely? It would match your colours.

That works really well too.

I'm just lazy and figure since I'm already outside and have spray cans out, I might as well just hit it with the varnish.