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I am trying to look for replacement sand for basing without actually buying the GW sand.



The image shows the sand I currently use(I do not know if this sand is different from the current GW sand).

I use sand for birds. 2 bucks comes with a huge box with very fine grains.

Do you literally mean the old style gw sand that was coarser than he current gw sand or just replacing the current gw sand that you have? A good replacement to old gw sand is fine dried building sand or popping to the beach if you're close. New sand can be replaced by the army painter sand, or as already mentioned bird sand (which I've not used personally)

Bobug wrote:
Do you literally mean the old style gw sand that was coarser than he current gw sand or just replacing the current gw sand that you have? A good replacement to old gw sand is fine dried building sand or popping to the beach if you're close. New sand can be replaced by the army painter sand, or as already mentioned bird sand (which I've not used personally)

I want to replace the gw sand I have(the old style from 10 yrs ago) and I am looking for brands that sell something close to it.

Go to a sand box, with a fine screen filter. place in bucket

all the sand you can eat!

or maybe a less illegal way may be to go to buy sandbox sand and filter it. or otherwise most big box hobby shops have fine sand.

I use crushed sandstone for my basing sand - it's far more labour intensive as I crush it by hand, but the benefit is that it's not too regular. Unlike graded building sand, I can vary the grains dependent on the effect I need and it looks more realistic than the regular grains from 'manufactured' sand. Similarly, because it isn't sea sand, the grains are more jagged and akin to real boulders than sand that has undergone erosion in the sea. An afternoon or a couple of hours crushing a few stones has yielded me enough sand that I'll never run out.

I did a basing tutorial over in the articles section a while back so I've got a pic of some of the sand I use:

Another option would be a landscaping shop.

I was told by gw employees that the sand they used was construction grade sand from the local diy store. I bag of that should last you another ten years.

When I went to get more flock after using GW’s, I went to a model train store and picked up a thing of Woodland Scenics. Giant sized thing for $12. There were a few dozen colors/sizes of flock and sand there as well. I’ve not personally used GW’s sand, but you might be able to find something close, for a lot less.

I bought aquarium sand from the local pet supply store. It has different sized grains mixed together, gives some nice variation.

Get a bag of grout mix, it is literally the same thing.

I second the Woodland Scenics recommendation. I use the fine ballast. A $12 container lasted me 6 years of consistent usage.

Go to your local playground, pick up a pail of sand, dry it in the sun, then sift through a collander to get rid of the big chunks/garbage.

 Formerly Wu wrote:
I second the Woodland Scenics recommendation. I use the fine ballast. A $12 container lasted me 6 years of consistent usage.

I use a mix of three different sizes of Woodland Scenics ballast. I like the variation in the mix when applied to the base.