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When making terrain, what is the best solution for glueing sand to plastic base, of for example a building?

Cyanoacrylate works good, binding any material together and keeps strong. But this glue is expensive, comes in small containers and dries so fast you can only glue parts of the base at one time.

On miniature bases, PVA/white glue/wood glue works fine, but that doesn't hold a strong bond and could be weaker on larger surfaces. Terrain also gets more wear and tear, which the top of miniature bases doesn't get.

I tried some of the scotch glue tubes, but they were either useless or barely usable.

Any good suggestions for cheap strong glue to bond sand to plastic over larger areas? Preferably easy application, short time to bond and strong lasting effect against wear and tear.

Straight PVA to apply it to the area, and then mix PVA and water about 1:3 and paint that mixture over the sand after it has dried to the area.

This will make it pretty much impenetrable once the water/PVA mix dries over the top, but it will still paint well, especially if you use primer first.

So:
1. PVA for the sand
2. Let dry
3. Mix PVA and water at about 1:3 (or up to 1:5 or so depending on needs), then paint that watery mix over the area
4. Let dry and prime or paint

If you are afraid the PVA glue might not hold of the smooth plastic beneath you could rough up the plastic surface before applying the glue.
A few scratches with a hobby knife can already be enough.

Concerning the PVA sand mix itself. Once it's dry it should be quite sturdy even on larger surfaces.
What you could try is adding things portions coarse saw dust and/or very fine gravel (1-2mm like for fish tanks) to the mix.
On the one hand it gives you more texture and on the other hand it strengthens the mix the same way like gravel does in cement.

For smallish terrain, I use thick polystyrene glue - obviously it sticks to plastic great, and seems to stick sand fine too so long as you use the thick stuff. Not especially cheap though, for a lot of terrain.

Also, not all pva glue is equal.

I use "tacky glue" from the craft stores, and it works really well.

Also, the trick of scratching up the surface helps a lot too.

best of luck!

PVA glue works great, you just have to seal it with PVA, a thick layer of paint, or varnish.

This is my technique.

1. Glue model to base and let dry.
2. Coat rest of base with superglue.
3. Pour sand over wet superglue and let dry.
4. Clean excess sand from the model.
5. Coat sand on base with 50/50 mix PVA glue and water.
6. Let everything dry overnight.
7. Prime & paint.

If you are doing a terrain or board, I would suggest using a good quality wood glue, roughing up the surface underneath first. Coating the surface with the wood glue and then sprinkling the sand on top, tamping the sand into the glue. Let it dry and if you like spread a second layer of thinned down wood glue over top of the sand to lock it in.

Thanks sand has now been PVA-glued to plastic, and feels secure.

I was worried about how easy it peels off but I guess it just have to be that way.

Also found some good tutorial for it by TheTerrainTutor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1qa4aUJtfg

Another vote for lego burners method here.

Superglue and sand sounds like a lot of effort to me!

I like me wood glue. works out fine.

Thinned PVA with another coat of thinned PVA over the top when dry. For bases, i flood wash my sand with a mix of water and Liquitex soft acrylics with a bit of PVA to add color and help adhesion.

I've found that adding a small drop of dishwashing liquid to the glue/water mix for sealing helps it lock EVERYTHING down together instead of just topcoating it in a skin.

(surface tension changes mean it gets to flow around and disperse trapped air bubbles).

Bases I've done like this with just sand have become like solid rock.

 chromedog wrote:
I've found that adding a small drop of dishwashing liquid to the glue/water mix for sealing helps it lock EVERYTHING down together instead of just topcoating it in a skin.

(surface tension changes mean it gets to flow around and disperse trapped air bubbles).

Bases I've done like this with just sand have become like solid rock.

Yep. Old modeling trick - they used to call the mix "wet water"... Though, I tend to use alcohol instead of dishwashing liquid. It evaporates fully and entirely without leaving behind any trace. I've had a few detergents with other things added that caused issues (not with the actual adhesion...but some were a bit waxy, while others smelled for months afterwards...).

I usually mix up a slurry with whatever my dirt is (fine sands, fine gravels, ground foam, wood dust from my dust collector filters...), bit of pigment, PVA and ETOH. Dries fast, holds solid. When adding detail dirt - I will actually position it as I want on the base or terrain, than use either a misting bottle or eye dropper with acrylic/ETOH mix.

For those who are a bit more refined, you can actually use Flow Aid as well. Same end effect.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

Yep. Old modeling trick - they used to call the mix "wet water"... Though, I tend to use alcohol instead of dishwashing liquid. It evaporates fully and entirely without leaving behind any trace once I polish off the bottle.

I just use cheap super glue to hold sand on. Sand absorbs it a bit and I feel it gets a nicer bond than the pva to the base. For flock however I use pva.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:


Yep. Old modeling trick - they used to call the mix "wet water"... Though, I tend to use alcohol instead of dishwashing liquid. It evaporates fully and entirely without leaving behind any trace. I've had a few detergents with other things added that caused issues (not with the actual adhesion...but some were a bit waxy, while others smelled for months afterwards...).

I usually mix up a slurry with whatever my dirt is (fine sands, fine gravels, ground foam, wood dust from my dust collector filters...), bit of pigment, PVA and ETOH. Dries fast, holds solid. When adding detail dirt - I will actually position it as I want on the base or terrain, than use either a misting bottle or eye dropper with acrylic/ETOH mix.

For those who are a bit more refined, you can actually use Flow Aid as well. Same end effect.

Yeah, there are a variety of surfactants that work (what is ETOH?) from the common "rinse aid" stuff to methylated spirits, absolute ethanol, etc. The key function is simply to lower the surface tension.

I'm an old dog, hence me knowing the old trick ... As well as making my own "weathering powders" from artist pastel chalks.

EtOH more correctly I guess, regular ethanol that you speak of. I use that more often than Isopropyl alcohol that a lot of people use (safer with the animals...they just get drunk if they manage to get into it, as opposed to dead...).

The old tricks are one of those things that I often forget...not so much, forgetting the trick - it is something that I have been doing for years. I forget that they are not common knowledge from time to time, because I had been doing them for so long.

I used to use PVA glue, but I got sick of how little it took to break. One hard bump, and you've got flakes off.

So I switched to superglue. I use my regular superglue to put a few blobs on, and then I use brush on superglue to spread it around.

Yeah, it's a little expensive, but superglued sand is indestructable. And waterproof.

Whatever you do, don't use gorilla glue to put sand on plastic. That creates... problems.

I would not suggest PVA or any water based glues. My older models the bases pealed up on a lot of them. I would suggest super glue alone for bases.

It helps to wash the plastic first as any film of grease will weaken the glue bond.

If you are doing a large flat area like a concrete wall or a terrain base board, you can wash, spray prime with car primer, than paint with acrylic paint mixed with sand.

Household paint is good enough for this purpose and a lot cheaper than modelling paint.

I have no idea what kind of PVA glue people are using or what they are doing to their models to have problems. I have 8 different armies and countless other models that have lasted the better part of 20 years with never a single problem.

Lay down undiluted glue (Elmer's or Titebond for me) and dip the base into your sand. Tap off the excess. Let it dry thoroughly and then prime your model. If you REALLY need the extra layer, you can paint on a light layer of watered glue before priming.

Seriously, are you guys dunking your models in water or kicking them around on the floor?