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Who here paints their basing sand? I've never done it myself personally, but am coming onto the idea as I become a more obsessive compulsive modeler... What techniques do people use to paint their sand ?

Also, does any one here paint static grass?

Do you mean before it's glued on?

Udo wrote:
Do you mean before it's glued on?

No

Yes, I often paint my basing sand after gluing it to the base, mostly because the paint then acts as a sealer to stop sand flaking off the base. It also helps hide inconsistencies with sand colour. Once it's completely dry, a dark wash then brings out the texture nicely.

The only drawback is that some sand gets on the brush and then into the paint bottle, so I have to keep separate bottles of basing paint.

I always paint it.

First with very watered down paint, almost a wash.
Then two layers of drybrushing.

Sorry I couldn't work out why you wouldn't paint it.

Usually I basecoat it, then give it a wash and then drybrush it. Adding flock like grass or snow last. No painting the grass.

MadMarkMagee wrote:
Who here paints their basing sand? I've never done it myself personally, but am coming onto the idea as I become a more obsessive compulsive modeler... What techniques do people use to paint their sand ?

Also, does any one here paint static grass?

I inkwashed the entire base. I only used actual basing sand once though with foliage. I prefer a nice city scape ruins base or chaos base (rocks and blood) myself.

I always paint it. I give it a layer of watered-down paint, then ink it. Like Clang said, it helps seal in the sand.

I paint it if I want it to represent grass, but if I want it to represent sand I leave it natural except for a sealing coat of watered PVA.

I used to. But for some reason, in the last 6 years (been doing the hobby for near 8), anything touching the sand makes it fall off. I can't even paint it, never mind drybrush it, and most of my Grey Knights are now, partially based.

Which is why I love Games Workshop Citadel Texture paints! For only £2.30 you can own 12ml of ready to use basing texture, painted and perfectly suitable to recolour and enhance with Citadel Shade and Dry paints!
Citadel Texture, Shade, Dry, Citadel, the Citadel logo, Space Marines, the Imperial Eagle, Power Armour, the galaxy, futuristic guns, aliens, Elves in space, swords in space, evil Elves in space, humans in space, and generally all things vaguely sci-fi are the sole and unlawful property of Games Workshop Ltd. The use, copyright infringement, speaking about or thinking of the IP of GWLtd is strictly prohibited by the letters of Cease and Desist. Any violation or creation of products including names, images or concepts vaguely similar to GWLtd will be met with extreme and brutal legal action and intimidation. Please read terms and conditions of purchase. Purchase of Citadel Texture paints may and probably will in the bear future incur additional charges up to and including a wife who loves you and your life's savings. GW is not responsible for any divorce caused by continual purchase of our products and frankly doesn't give a flying fiddler's f***. Citadel Texture Paints can be delivered to your door, postage and packaging with our premium courier servicez included, and will arrive within the week, once the courier get's his mate in the business and recovers from his hangover. All rights and f***s reserved.

I always paint the sand I use on the base, considering I base my miniatures before I prime them.

When I base with sand (and any other details - weapons, bones, barbed wire etc.) I do it after the figure is assembled, then it all gets a coat of primer at the same time as the figure.
Once the figure is painted the sand gets a basecoat and drybrushing for whatever colour scheme I'm using. Static grass and tufts are added last.

For some reason sand (and rocks) just don't look right if left in their natural state. I have to paint them, even if it's recreating (as best I can) their original appearance.

I don't paint static grass because I blend different colours for the effect I want, but I will drybrush grass tufts to add a touch of yellowing to the green. Long grass isn't one uniform shade.

Another vote for painting it. I do it to match whatever theam I've cooked up (ie: desert, tundra, forest.) The stuff I have currently is Woodland Scenic brand in assorted "grits" and is a neutral grey, so it's almost mandatory for most landscapes. If I had more natural looking sand I'd still probably throw a wash on it though.

When I was using sand, I would apply it and then prime the model. Now I don't use sand, instead I use Liquitex coarse texture gel. It goes on easy, takes paint, can be mixed with paint (making your own texture paints is possible with it), cleans up easily, and is fairly durable. It also dries relatively quickly.

Anyway, paint and drybrush your way to victory.


They've got multiple texture gels, some of which look really interesting.
http://www.liquitex.com/blacklava/

I prime my basing material when I prime the model.

Makes life easier that way. I'll take a pic sometime.

You can see it here.

I glue my basing material (a mix of different ballasts) before I prime.

Then when I prime the mini, I'm also priming the basing material

Udo wrote:
I always paint it.

First with very watered down paint, almost a wash.
Then two layers of drybrushing.

Sorry I couldn't work out why you wouldn't paint it.

I do this too- no basecoat needed (the sand / flock natural color provides that), just a wash and two dry brushes does the trick perfectly . I tend to do it as the last step for an army, and it goes really fast if you assembly line it.

 RiTides wrote:

Udo wrote:
I always paint it.

First with very watered down paint, almost a wash.
Then two layers of drybrushing.

Sorry I couldn't work out why you wouldn't paint it.

I do this too- no basecoat needed (the sand / flock natural color provides that), just a wash and two dry brushes

Also what I do. Although if I have a lot of added effects to add I'll sometimes only do one drybrush layer.

You caught me mid edit elaborating . But yeah, when I discovered this I thought it looks way better than it should for how easy it is to do!

 Chrissy_J wrote:
For some reason sand (and rocks) just don't look right if left in their natural state. I have to paint them, even if it's recreating (as best I can) their original appearance.

This. Leaving natural materials unpainted generally results in them looking out of place. Miniature painting is quite stylized (even the more "realistic" styles) - since the models are so small, we have to take certain liberties with light and color to be able to fit in even a fraction of the nuances you could see on a figure standing at full height. Putting a stylized miniature next to natural materials can create a jarring dichotomy that breaks the suspension of disbelief.

There's also the issue of scale. Say a model is supposed to be standing in a desert and is based with plain sand. Those grains would look like sand under our own feet, but compared to the model's they're more akin to the coarse gravel you might find in a driveway. The lack of breadth and depth to the layer doesn't let the sand "read" the same as it would to us, either - the translucence of the grains, slight color variations between them, etc. are all magnified when each grain is one of tens, not thousands (or more).

Even if the texture doesn't change when it's painted, the sand gets pulled back into the suggestive realm with the miniature - the base now represents sand, which we can recognize and accept without ever considering the material it's actually made of. It seems counter-intuitive, at first glance - painting sand to look like sand, rock to look like rock - but it's simply a matter of avoiding clashing styles. If you were watching a cartoon and a real person popped up on screen, they would stick out like a sore thumb. Conversely, a cartoon character running through the middle of an action movie would raise every eyebrow in the audience. Same idea.

I paint my sand and basing materials. After guleing it all on to the base I then coat it with a layer of very thin plastic glue to ensure nothing comes off. That leaves me with a nice hard coating to paint on using a base coat with some dry brushing and a wash to finish it all off. I'm post some before and after pics later.

I always paint the bases. It looks jarring if it's not painted.

 oadie wrote:


There's also the issue of scale. Say a model is supposed to be standing in a desert and is based with plain sand. Those grains would look like sand under our own feet, but compared to the model's they're more akin to the coarse gravel you might find in a driveway. The lack of breadth and depth to the layer doesn't let the sand "read" the same as it would to us, either - the translucence of the grains, slight color variations between them, etc. are all magnified when each grain is one of tens, not thousands (or more).

On a blog I read recently ( Rusty Robot - Power of Powders), the author swore by the use of weathering powders applied to textures such as sand because he believed it 'fills in' the depth and spaces between grains of sand.
I think he might have something there and I'm conducting trials on sample bases to learn this for myself.

I always put it onto the model before priming, so it always gets painted too.

 oadie wrote:

There's also the issue of scale. Say a model is supposed to be standing in a desert and is based with plain sand. Those grains would look like sand under our own feet, but compared to the model's they're more akin to the coarse gravel you might find in a driveway. The lack of breadth and depth to the layer doesn't let the sand "read" the same as it would to us, either - the translucence of the grains, slight color variations between them, etc. are all magnified when each grain is one of tens, not thousands (or more).

This very reason is why I started using Vallejo Sand Texture (I think it's called). The grains suspended in the acrylic mix are much smaller than the grains of sand used for basic, so they actually look like sand, relative to the miniature.

The textures from Vallejo are very nice for other reasons. They are WAY cheaper than GW's textures, and (to me) easier to apply. They are in an acrylic mix, so you don't need to prime them, but can directly paint or wash them. In addition, it's really easy to work with them. I have applied the sand texture, then let it dry a little, and rolled model tires across it for tire tracks, and pressed the model's feet into it, for footprints. I use all desert bases, but Vallejo makes other textures which work better for dirt, mud, or rock, too.

It is horses for courses.

My unpainted sand bases look fine against my brown desert mat.



I grabbed the sand off the beach at West Bay in Dorset and roughly graded it with a sieve.