# 'Sealing' sand before painting



## Carna (Mar 13, 2008)

Greetings! I once read somewhere that someone seals the sand on their bases before painting and I was wondering how? I've never done any sort of varnishing or anything like that so I'm not sure how to do it. Thanks in advance!


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## IanC (Sep 3, 2010)

I glue it on with PVA glue, wait for it to try, then seal it by "dripping" on a 50/50 mix of water and PVA glue. When dry it seals the sand nicely.


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## texcuda (Aug 17, 2010)

Should the basing come off easily once dry? I used Elmers white glue, watered down at first, then increasingly stronger but all of my models have issues with the base chipping off. Would "sealing" it cure my problem?


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

I use slightly watered down elmers white glue, and I've never had a problem.


I use an old brush and paint on the mix of glue+water around the model's feet.
Dip the base into a bowl of sand/ballast.
Shake off the extra
Let dry
I use a little sponge sheet from miniature packing and brush it over the sand to remove any loose granules, and tap the base off into the sand bowl to remove them.
Then I paint the base and sand dark angels green
I then wet-drybrush goblin green over the dark angels
Then drybrush sunburst yellow over the gobbo green
Finally paint the rims goblin green to blend in with most grassy gaming mats.

The only time I've ever had any of the basing come off, is if I dropped the model from table height or higher and it happened to hit something hard - once or twice I had sections of the sand come off (over about 15 years).


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

After basing I also paint over the basing material with watered down white glue. Works well.


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## DecrepitDragon (Aug 2, 2011)

An easy method, and quick, is to sand your bases before undercoating your model. When you then spray on your undercoat it forms a good seal over the sand.

I have experience in the past sand and PVA (white glue) that seems to lift off the bases in an almost complete sheet - one whole flexible rubberised sand disc or square. I realised this was because of two things: firstly, I had been handling the base whilst painting and skin oils or dust caused a lack of grip, and secondly, attempting to speed the glue curing process by applying heat (leaving the model on a radiator). The heat tended to shrink dry the glue, making it pull away from the edges and eventually lift off altogether. So these two would be things to avoid.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

Depending on how the model's going to be painted, I at least spray a clear gloss varnish over the base first. Typically, I just apply Elmer's and sand, and it gets sealed when I prime the miniature. There have been occasions when I've known I needed to prime a model by hand (usually only when the color scheme calls for a half and half or quartered color scheme) so I can start some areas from black and some from white-- and in those cases, I spray the piece with gloss varnish first. It all ends up covered so the gloss doesn't matter, but it gives it the best seal.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

i invented putting sand on bases


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## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

I use a water, pva and a drop of dishwashing liquid slurry to lock it down.

The dish liquid is just a surface tension reliever that gets the slurry into all the nooks and crannies and allows it to bond it all together. Without it, the slurry just tends to flow over the top and just lock the top layer down.  

Sets like rock when dry. Feels like a solid piece of sandstone.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

bitsandkits said:


> i invented putting sand on bases


Youngsters of today have no idea how hard the hobby was before we had sand on bases. I still remember the days I spend texturing steel with a toothpick to make bases.....

Faux nostalgia aside, I use a 50/50 water/PVA layer over the sand and base before priming, and have not had the sand peel off.


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## Carna (Mar 13, 2008)

Thanks for all the good tips. I'd just been using PVA glue heavily, putting it in sand, covering it with sand, then leaving it for several hours. I then shake it off and then spray paint it black and didn't know if there were other methods. Cheers everyone!


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Dave T Hobbit said:


> Youngsters of today have no idea how hard the hobby was before we had sand on bases. I still remember the days I spend texturing steel with a toothpick to make bases.....
> 
> Faux nostalgia aside, I use a 50/50 water/PVA layer over the sand and base before priming, and have not had the sand peel off.


I also invented the 50/50 ratio


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

That is because you are ancient.


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

bitsandkits said:


> I also invented the 50/50 ratio


And it was due to this that I was inspired to create the 1:1 ratio, we really are a clever bunch!


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