I received my diorama Desert Sand stuff today. Not sure how to apply it, watched a few YouTube videos. Some apply it with a painters trowel, some just applied it with a brush. I need help with this part of the diorama. I have to find some rocks, fine ballast. I also got some AK Dry Tufts 6mm, fow some plants around. Am i doing this diorama correct so far. I haven’t applied anything yet.
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It sounds like you’re on the right path!
I’ve used some of AK’s basing materials before, and I think the best thing to do is experiment on some scrap pieces until you get comfortable with the effect you’re after. There are many ways to apply it, as you’ve seen. It can be thinned with water, right? Again, experimenting before diving right in to the “main” project is the way to go.
Sometimes the packaged “ballast” and gravelly stuff is too uniform in grain size to look right in scale. A classic source for a realistic in-scale mix of pebbles and sand, by the way, is the grit found in corners of your street’s curb, especially where water has washed away the ultra-fine dust, leaving a wonderful in-scale mix of sizes. I can’t remember where I read this but it has proved true for me!
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It’s really down to how much texture and variation that you have in the board that you’re applying it to. I’ve been using the AK Terrain’s MuddyGGround on my vignettes, but I’ve been able to use it quite sparingly because I am generally already developing the formation using plaster or air drying clay. This probably underutilizes the product, because I’m then only getting the colour and texture out of the AK product.
Off a fairly flat and undeveloped base, that’s where you might want to dump it on thicker so that you can use it to develop surface variation - applying it more sparingly where you want wheel ruts but applying thicker either side and centrally. From there, you can use a brush or other sculpting tool to generate other patterns in the sand undisturbed by the path of vehicle travel such as the ripple effect that might be left on a dune in the wind
If you plan to have your vehicles permanently fixed to the base, this is a great opportunity to really put your models in contact with the ground since you can apply the product in a way that makes tyres, tracks or boots appear slightly sunken into the soft surface
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Thank you for the excellent information. I guess that i will just have to experiment in a area to see how it will work.
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