hi
has anyone got any good ways of making sand
thanks andy007

Other than the normal sands that are available at places like Home Depot or Lowes...no.
"Play" sand is pretty good for scale. Another type is the silica sands used for sand-blasting, they come in varying grades or grits.

BTW, welcome aboard!!!

Hi,
Try to find an amount of normal sand elsewhere. Some kinds of sand used especially in engineering and building works ( e. g. when there is need to make a high quality concrete) have grains which are very small in diameter.
I have also seen that kind of sand on some beaches too. It's sometimes close to white or beige in colour.

Good luck,
Peter

Woodland Scenics has available some very fine grained sand...at hobby shops or model railroad shops. Or you can sift your own driveway sand through a screen. Mix it with Elmer's plus water and it's damn near as hard as cement.

Companies like Scorched Earth have different kinds of sand available to purchase. The cost is a little high...did I say a little?

The best and fastest method is to visit your local RR hobby store. They have an incredible source of diorama products available. I am very, very lucky here in Denver to have Caboose Hobbies here in town. They are one of the top five RR hooby stores in the country, and are an absolute wonder to walk thru!
Check your local store out!

Tread.

The best way to model sand is to use.... "SAND"....! It's pretty good looking for almost any scale!

I agree with KFMagee, when I am doing a diorama requiring sand, I use just that - real sand. I use pottery sand sold at any arts and crafts store (I buy mine at Michael's).

Big Jack the Maniac offers a few possibilities:

1. Rob the sand pile of the local kindergarten
2. Bash two stones together, and place into your wifes soup blender

IF the first two don't work.......
3. Most hardware and DIY type shops, offer various types of builders sand. This is pretty nifty. I generally proceed as follows:

A little Pollyfilla, wall spackling compound, wood putty etc, add water til slightly moist, add a squirt of two of earth colour such as Vallejo burnt umber acrylic. Then chuck in a fistfull of sand stir well and spread on your base as if on a sandwich. Do not eat, I repeat do not eat this. This mix is then sprinkled over with more sand that has passed through a strainer. A push in tiny stones, and pre-planned vegetaion in the appropriate locations, and there you have one ground work rearing to go. I'm sure you will get lots of good advice from the crew here. They know their stuff.

Capn' Jack at your service

Hi Andy. You can use Woodland Scenics "fine sand " or "ballast ".
But what I used for my Diorama below was, "kitty litter ". I crushed it
down in a plastic bag, then put it through a strainer. I liked the final results.
Also you can drybrush it like I did, or you can also leave it natural, which also
looks very good.
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/screamingeagle07/vwp?.dir=/Mail+Attachments/Ralph%27s+Gallery&.src=ph&.dnm=1-35+My+Diorama+1.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/screamingeagle07/lst%3f%26.dir=/Mail%2bAttachments/Ralph%2527s%2bGallery%26.src=ph%26.view=t

- ralph

That Caboose hobbies is one heck of a store been their back in the 80s. Is it bigger now?

also might try a river, the river by me is all sand what you need to do is get bucket small one boy that sand is heavy especially when wet. lay it out on newspaper to dry get one of those strainers real fine one and sift it through you will get perfect sand. also do it outside cause of the silica is not good to inhale. With all the great responces you should have her wipped.

at the embankment of the streets one will find very fine sand. but use protective gloves!

try some of the model railroad suppy houses.they have small bags of scale stuff like dirt ,coal and sand

I'm sorry did you say the Avs are gonna win? No, of course not. You meant the RED WINGS are gonna win the series AND THE CUP!
...just like they won game one today...hehe

As for the sand i would just use natural sand, which you can find almost anywhere. I mean, it is the cheapest. :-) But it kinda depends on what you are using it for. Like, I would use finer sand for around cities and such, and thicker sand for a great outdoors scene.

Mark

Hi,

What I do is to take the finest sand that I can find and then sift it thru an old nylon stocking.

HTH
Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
http://www.mortarsinminiature.com