Citadel modelling sand.

Hello

So i have a little question about the sand.
I start by cutting some foam in shape of a hill. I add normal white glue and pour some sand on top.
So my question is: Is there a some kind of spray or glue i can put on top of the sand so it wont fall off when it gets touched by fingers or models. After the glue dries and i pour the excess sand off, it stays to be nice, but when i start to lift the hill up, i still get sand on my fingers and the sand doesent stick very well. If there would be a glue spray thing i could put on top to keep the sand in tact, would be nice. Dont get me wrong, the glue is great and it does stick well. but some times when the hill collides to something, small sand pebbles still fall to the floor and its a pain to clean up. Perhaps some pebbles are only glued by a small portion and some pebbles are completely under the glue.. If there was a way to spray something on top of it to keep the sand even better in tact. Any ideas what i can do to keep the sand glued to the hill EVEN BETTER?

Well i was thinking about buying 15 bottles of super glue and dripping drops everywhere so the sand sticks, but its a big waste of money.

Hair spray?

Regular hair spray? hmm interesting. What chemicals makes the hairspray make the sand pebbles stick to eachother?
Can anyone confirm this?

~~CaNNiBaLLZ

Some advice given by local Games Workshop staff...

1) Wait for the first coat of PVA glue and sand to dry completely. (24hrs is a good bet for large applications)
2) Heavily water down some PVA glue and liberally apply it to the sand. It fits between the cracks and holds the sand on much better, as well as providing a protective cover.

I've personally seen them use and encourage this method. I rubbed my finger on some dried sand using this method and from what I can remember, none came off.

Thank you Scotty! Your help is appreciated!
Don't forget to check out my gnoblog. I will add pictures off the terrain piece soon.
I believe tomorrow the glue will dry down and ill test out your method.

~~CaNNiBaLLZ

I just use foam safe super glue for things like this.

Some advice given by local Games Workshop staff...

1) Wait for the first coat of PVA glue and sand to dry completely. (24hrs is a good bet for large applications)
2) Heavily water down some PVA glue and liberally apply it to the sand. It fits between the cracks and holds the sand on much better, as well as providing a protective cover.

I did that too on my Dark Elf and works wonders.

Some advice given by local Games Workshop staff...

1) Wait for the first coat of PVA glue and sand to dry completely. (24hrs is a good bet for large applications)
2) Heavily water down some PVA glue and liberally apply it to the sand. It fits between the cracks and holds the sand on much better, as well as providing a protective cover.

This.

Done it myself lots of times, it completely seals the sand to the point where you can rub your hand across it harshly and no sand will come off, you'll just end up with a sore hand.

I'd just paint the sand with some acrylics, and seal it with varnish... Looks a lot better than bare sand, and is a lot more durable than the PVA method, which would be ruined, should somebody spill water on the piece.

I'd just paint the sand with some acrylics, and seal it with varnish... Looks a lot better than bare sand, and is a lot more durable than the PVA method, which would be ruined, should somebody spill water on the piece.

You can also fix a compromise and first: paint the piece with glue, pour sand on top, put glue on spots which are left sandless, pour the water PVA glue mix on top of the sand, paint the sand, varnish it. Makes the sand realistic, durable and nice. Ill test this method and post pictures to my gnoblog after i'm ready.


EDIT:

Whats the mixture ratio in the PVA glue and water mix? 50:50 or 30% glue and 70% water? whats the mixture?

~~CaNNiBaLLZ

no real mixture rates. Just add water till it's about liquid.

The PVA method is how I do all my basing- it's extremely resistant to damage, but comes off if soaked in water, so I can always rebase if needed.