"Alternative to gw basing sand" Topic

I have been experimenting with a new basing technique using cheap superglue and basing sand. I have been using an old round tub of gw basing sand but it is beginning to run low. The tub i have does not seem to be made any more, does the new packaging have the same content? Also where can i get it at a more sensible price? It must be something else that gw have branded.

I bought two bags of Woodland Scenics brown ballast in fine and medium for 10 bucks. Mixed them to my liking and now I'm set for a thousand miniatures.*

*Actual number may vary.

When friends visit different beachs I have them bring me sand . It is amazing how different beaches and deserts have different sand ,. florida , Mexico, Myrtle beach , hawaii, Omaha beach, Juno Beach, Africa , Iraq , ( thanks to my secetary's son in the Airforce . Loadmaster on C% and he cleans the dirt from these places out of the plane. i trade Jerky for dirt

50 lb. bag of fine (clean, dry) playground sand from Home Depot (or your favorite DIY store), $3.99 USD.
10 gal. plastic tub (to put the sand in), $7.27 USD.
For around $11 USD, neither I, nor several generations to come, will ever need to buy basing sand ever again.

About once a year I pour a cup of sand into a small container and mix in a handful of Woodland Scenics fine/medium ballast for some variation.

I just ran regular old all purpose sand (the Home Depot stuff) I had around the house for traction on ice, and filtered it through some scrap window screen.

I my self use bird grit from Hartz,found in the pet dept for $1.50 USD a box.It has different sizes of grit in it,and I mix in some rr ballast as well.Any of these suggestions is fine.However,unless the grit is in larger chunks,I advise that if you paint it(which I do),you should thin your paint down,as thick paint will fill gaps between smaller bits of grit and result in a smooth surface.

I mix regular sand with the fine (colored green, red blue etc.) sand from the hobby places for a bit of variety. I usually get the tan or black etc. but it works well with some ballast etc. and other bits.

7 years ago when I filled a sandbox for the kids with a couple of 40 lb bags from home depot, I took a gallon freezer bag of it for myself to base with and still have 1/4 of the bag left. There are less expensive options than GW or Gale Force 9.

I have the fine ballast from woodland scenics. I have the medium grey color, but am looking at maybe the brown. You have to paint the grey and it is just one more step that I wish I did not have to do.

Mark, next time you are over I want to to look at the stands I have done for your thoughts.

Matthew

Pet store also, if you want different colors and grades, and smaller bags.

The beach or stream is cheaper though, assuming you have one or the other near you.

Just don't start up a conversation asking which beach's sand is finer with Aussie wargamers…

otherwise gentle docile uni types coming to blows over the differences in sand granularity between North Beach, South Beach and City beach, oh jeez…Lets just stick to religion and politics

I either grab sand from the beach and bake it to kill and creepy crawlies then add a little train ballast; or go to Michael's Crafts and check the flower section for decorative sand. They have lots of different sizes and colors to choose from.

Just be careful about leaving the bag open near cats. You have been warned…….

Builder's sand from your local DIY shop or Builder's Merchant. About 20kg for less than two quid!

Polenta. Dried.

It's less abrasive, absorbs the paint wonderfully. Glue down with watered down PVA and paint to desired colour with watered down acrylic.

Granules may be too large for some tastes (no pun intended) but works fine for me even at 6mm.

For variation on large bases scatter little clumps of cous-cous, brakes up the regular sized granules.

The absorbancy allows you to get dried cracked earth effect:

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Childrens playpit sand, as it has been washed cleaned and boiled.

if using builders sand, you need to wash it and sieve it as it will have crud and more importantly may have salt content.

New Zealand's West Coast beaches' black sand is the finest, surely.

Apologies Sparker, but I couldn't resist that one.

Also used coffee grounds after they dry out work as well. Although it looks more like a rich soil than it does sand, if that is the look you are going for.

There are less expensive options than GW or Gale Force 9.

I would imagine that it would be cheaper to build a particle accelerator and assemble sand, atom-by-atom, rather than buy it from GW… :)

John T

Hi guys, thanks for your thoughts and insights, i remember using tea bag grounds before and i never thought of baking sand to kill germs. I have other sand and stuff but i have a project that i would like to complete with matching base finishes, hence i am specifically looking for a match to the GW product.

IMHO, I think Todosi is talking about killing worms and small bugs, not really germs. Germs are everywhere and even after you bake the sand, you'll breathe on it and it will acquire germs that way. FWIW, I use acquarium sand available at pet shops.

Using food products such as polenta looks good, but after a while will grow mold on your carefully landscaped bases.

Beware of foodstuffs in general: we were making a desert oasis for a WWII game and ran out of ballast so my wife said try garlic salt…….yes Virginia, the results looked superb and highly realistic, but we never could get rid of that 'pizza' smell! (My cover story at the club was the Oasis had been used by French foreign legion and Italian troops before the British arrived!)

I am waiting for the GW 'finesand' to be released. It is made from granulated uber-quality resin specially formulated
for GW-hobby miniatures or their many imitators.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Bill the Cat, ironically, your comment describes why I don't use GW sand. About 12 years ago when I was visiting a FLAGS (out of business now), I saw the bag of sand hanging from the rack with a price tag on it and thought "that bag seems to be snickering while waiting for some sucker to buy it."

So, I went to the beach (on the Great Lakes) and got a disposable sandwich container full. Later I discovered the 5LB of sand from Toys R Us. (P.S. this size is a must if you are adding texture to a blue foam terrain board.

When I want to add texture to make the ground more rocky or to use it for larger scales, I throw in a little tallus or bird gravel.

The beauty of using the sandwich containers is that you can store different "recipes." To flock your figure base, you either paint it or use PVA glue, put the figure in the container, spin it shake off the excess and set aside to dry.

I am now experimenting with textured craft paints from the companies that make grandma craft paints with very positive results. You can sand your bases in brown and just dry brush them later.