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Hi

Can anyone help please?

As per the title i have used pva glue, dunked my minis in the sand and then shaken off the excess, when i go to apply a black wash a little while later, with my brush it washes the sand away... help!

Use another layer of pva on top or a layer of acrylic paint. Because pva is water based it can really wash away when you add the wash and moisten it.

Best bet is a layer of paint over the top to seal it all on.

Try letting the glue dry and then apply a thinned layer of PVA glue to the sand (mix of water and PVA glue). The important thing is to make sure the glue has time to dry. Hope this helps.

"little while later"

Let it dry 100% (24hours at least)

If possible try to hit it with some sort of arosol varnish. as it will help keep the sand in place.

ok, so

leave it 24 hours

spray varnish on it

add a layer of paint

add wash

.. is that right?

I had left them around.. 15 hours or something.. was worried maybe i just had crappy pva glue.. maybe there are better kinds of pva?

will try varnishing them later, then basing further

thanks guys

The key is just to let it dry fully.

Though at 15 hours it might be something else.

Personally i use pva wood glue and i dont thin it down for the sand. i use a bit more glue, thinned down this time) over that and let it dry for the rest of the day. usually have no issues with sand coming off.

(also the initial layer is done with a brush. the second layer i make a little cup of water and glue (3/1 ish) and basicly dunk the thing base just up to the feet to seal in the sand. this way i dont remove sand with brush strokes. (make sure if you do this to set up some paper towels to dry it off on. (if and when paper sticks just sand it off lightly)

I have found that if I glue my sand down before priming, let dry, then spray prime the models, I have no problems with the sand coming off. It also eliminates the need to black wash the sand.

You can get waterproof pva from b&q.
Also when you go back & cover the sand with a layer of watered down pva add a tiny drop of washing up liquid to break the surface tension so it flows better.

Glue together your model.
Add White Glue to the base.
Dunk the base into whatever you use for basing sand.
Let dry a "day".
Prime the model.
Paint as you see fit (yes, some "flow aid" will help for coverage).

My steps are this

1) Assemble model
2)Glue sand on using pva or crazy glue (I find sometimes depending on the base the pva glue just peels right off over time)
3) prime

I usually wait for 12 hours or so after I lay down glue and sand and then flood wash the sand. So far, I haven't had any problems.

How much sand are you losing? Not every grain capable of resisting a light tapping on the underside of the base is necessarily strongly bonded. If the whole layer starts sloughing off then something is definitely wrong, but I expect a bit of sand loss after the glue dries. Generally, I'll go in and lightly scrub with a cheap chip brush to knock off the half loose grains before I move to sealing/basecoating. For that, I slather on a watered down mix of PVA and paint to both color and lock down the sand layer.

For the sake of expediency, the underlying glue isn't always 100% dry and the watery sealing mix can soften existing bonds. I just apply gently (more daubing than brushing) and it all still dries up nice and firm with minimal shift, let alone loss.

BTW, after I put down the glue, I dunk my figure in the glue so that the base it totally covered and leave it there for 12 hours.

 Desubot wrote:
Personally i use pva wood glue and i dont thin it down for the sand. i use a bit more glue, thinned down this time) over that and let it dry for the rest of the day. usually have no issues with sand coming off.

^This.

Once your sand is fully stuck on, give it a good wash of watered down PVA.
Don't drag the brush with the watered PVA across the base because you'll pull away the sand that isn't 100% stuck down, instead just dab the watered down PVA on thoroughly and let it dry for 24hours, the sand should then look textured but not likely to come off if you rub a brush across it.

You can also be lazy (like me) and use textured paint (I think GW call them technical), or just save a pot of brown (or whatever color you use for bases) and directly mix sand in it.

Are you applying a decently thick layer of PVA?

Personally I apply a pretty thick layer of PVA and then rather than just dunking it in sand and shaking it off, I slightly smoosh some sand in to the PVA to make sure it's stuck good and proper.

Some will always get knocked off, though.

Firstly not all PVA is equal. Cheap classroom type PVA has very little sticking power. Try the stronger varieties, often sold as 'wood glue'. You can still get it for very good prices. Dollar/Pound stores usually carry it in the DIY section.

When it comes to basing don't water the PVA down and apply it good and thick, then dunk in the sand. Leave it for at least 2-3 hours, but preferably overnight. Then paint it with thinned down paint. Some will come off but you should still have a good coverage.

Make sure you shake you PVA glue container- it can separate just over time and you could just be using the watery part if you didn't shake it