Basing question from a rookie

[ImmortalJedi 12]

I've finally begun painting my core set. Started with the barricades so I could get the feel of it. Now, I'm attempting some blaster damage on the front of the barricades.

 I'm almost done with the barricades and preparing for the stormtroopers. My plan is to go with a desert theme. When working on the base of the mini, can I use actual sand? I was thinking of brushing glue on the base around the mini and then dipping it in the sand to create the desert theme. Could/should this be done? Or do I go with fake terrain that looks like sand? Thanks in advance!

[Alan Noir 426]

Fine sand, such as childrens play sand, should work fine. Glue it on with PVA, leave to dry, tap off the excess. I'd recommend painting over it however; natural sand will look oversized; you only really want to give an impression of texture.

If you want a simpler way, you could invest in some GW textured basing paints. Agrellan earth for a cracked desert texture, or agrellan badlands for more clumpy sand. You don't really have to paint either once dry, but you can if you wish for enhanced effect. (I used Agrellan badlands on my speeder bikes if you want to take a look at my thread)

There are many tutorials online which show how those paints work. The same for your first method if you prefer. 

[srMontresor 165]

Yes. Depending on the grit you use, most sand will end up looking more like gravel. If you want a rocky desert, that should be fine. Alternatively, use a very fine grit, like what you find at most beaches. Make sure you at least put a wash over the sand when the glue is dry. Even though it's entirely natural, sand will look very unnatural next to a painted miniature, so ink it heavily.

I use two different grits of sand, with the larger grain going down first before being covered with the finer grain. I then wash it in 50/50 gold sepia and brown sepia for a quite good look (in my view).

[Qwrety77 57]

For fine sand, you can also use baking soda. It's more in scale to the mini. Learned it from the tabletop minions YouTube channel, and it seems to work for me. 

[Albertese 159]

4 hours ago, Qwrety77 said:

For fine sand, you can also use baking soda. It's more in scale to the mini. Learned it from the tabletop minions YouTube channel, and it seems to work for me. 

To do this, spread a thin layer of superglue (often referred to as CA--for cyanoacrylate, which is what superglue is chemically) and then lightly sprinkle the baking soda into it. The baking soda will instantly cure the CA and look like scale dirt, but if you just dump it on, the CA will wick through the loose baking soda and give you a weird wrinkly looking texture once you've cleared off the excess. So sprinkle it lightly to control the effect. 

Advantages: better scale than sand, you won't have a huge bag of leftover playground sand to figure out where to store, CA is infinitely more durable than PVA (that is: white glue : polyvinyl acetate). 

Disadvantages: there are only advantages. 

[Bohemian73 161]

I have a bowl mixed with sand, flock, static grass and whatever else I added. After the clear coat, I use white glue, dip, tap on the upside down mini for the static grass, and I am done. I attach larger rocks and other bits before the dip to add additional texture too. 

I wanted to add that I paint the base ( almost always a shade of brown)before applying the clear coat. 

Edited August 7, 2018 by Bohemian73
added

[Stasy 2,502]

I've gone to empty lots or where water runs on the street to get small pebbles and fine sand/silt. It's great if you're looking for that rocky landscape feel. 

[stainsbury 47]

Some good advice here. I agree with all of the above.

However, just to give a different approach, I went with transparent bases:

 

[hemblecreations 190]

For sand at this scale I use fine sand mixed with a little spakfilla and it turns out great.