Figure Basing - Sand

By John 'Scarab' Salmond

Materials Needed

White Glue
Sand
Building Rubble
Paint Brush
Paint – Pig Skin
Paint – Iron Oxide
Paint – Sand Stone
Rag
Water
Tooth Pick

This is a fairly simple base that does not take to much effort to accomplish. After I have completed the painting of the figure is when I do my basing. This is true for about 99% of my figs. Very rarely do I make a base and then apply the fig.

First off I apply the white glue. I wanted the sand to be mounded a little on this base so I applied more glue that usual. I use a tooth pick to spread the glue around after I have blobbed it on the base.

The glue is now evenly spread. Any holes in the base I want to make sure I cover. At this time I want the larger objects applied to the base. In nature objects do not rest on top of the soil. They are embedded into the soil. By applying the larger objects first it will give this appearance. The sand will form up and around the larger objects giving the illusion that they are in the soil.

Now it is time to immerse the figure into the sifted sand. Place the fig in your sand box and cover the base with the sand. Let it sit for several hours. I usually do it over night to make sure it is good and dry.

Paint the sand and objects a light sandy color. In this case I used Pigskin which is a Ceramacoat color. Water the paint down just a bit so everything shows through just a bit. This will give it more character.

Use the Iron Oxide next. Make a wash of at least 50/50 water and paint. I am old school so I use tin foil for the surface when I make my wash. Because of the ridges in the foil it allows me to see how thin the wash is. When you apply the wash and it is to thick just simply dip your brush in water and go over the thick area to thin it out.

Once everything is dry use a light sand color to dry brush the highlights on. I used Sand Stone in this case. When applying a light color you want to make sure that you have very little paint on your brush because it doesn't take much to create a light highlight.

Paint the edges black and the spray the fig with Testors Dull Coat to protect your fig. When you are all done you should have a simple base that did not take long.