SAND - Time to start collecting !

[Dad-1]

Spring, soon be Summer and trips out, I thought it might be a good time to suggest starting a collection of sand
for your scenic work. Sand is far from being a one type material, it comes in almost endless different colours and
grain sizes, many working well together to make up dirt roads, gravel paths, road edges, being an ideal material
to add to the 6 foot and side cess of a ballasted railway.
It may be technically wrong to take, but a small jamjar, or take away Chinese food container will probably give you
a lifetimes supply and for free, what can be better than that !

To me it's like collecting different pigments for painting and although I do have some I've not used yet it's all part
of my modelling collection. Here are many of my containers that also includes some with fine ballast that has grain
sizes not far off some sands and can be mixed into the layer one puts down.



Here are some of my uses
A mixture of fine ballast, sand and larger 'rocks' of cat litter to produce the cuttings edge, sand in the 6 foot and cess



PB is being very slow so I will probably have to come back later to add more pictures - It'll time out I expect !!
I've spent ages and just found some were never loaded into PB so I'll go away and 'fix'that.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

O.K. Back again slightly more organised.

Here we have the use of West Bay sand as track ballast.


Sand used to represent a well used and worn grass gravelly ground and edge road dirt. Mostly Cornish shell sand.


Used in several places, mixtures of Weymouth and Cornish sands


Again we have blends of at least 3 different sands as well as a few commercial fine ballasts
with actual track ballasting with medium grain sizes.


Use of black sand from the I.O.W to mark out vehicle tracks.


Again we have mixed sands including medium ballast for one of the aggregate heaps


My recent work in the council yard operating in an old disused quarry.
Black sand, Cornish sand, aggregate heaps from commercial fine grey ballast.


My demonstration scrap where mixed darker colours lie alongside Cornish sand with
dark vehicle tracks.


I'm reaching the end of my time, more to follow if interested.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

How to lay it.
The usual PVA/water mix, but you can't dropper on without blowing a hole in a finely scattered layer.
Use a paint brush to spread out some of your PVA mix and scatter onto that. It's best to have any
undersurface painted in a suitable colour first, you only want a fine covering so a matching colour
base helps to blend it in.
Weymouth sand is so fine as to float on any depth of glue rather than spread as wanted. Best to add
on a partially dried surface letting the sand just soak up the last remaining moisture. Weymouth sand
is so fine that it tends to loose it's gravel look but works so well in addition to the other mixes that
become a base coat.
Remember sand is HEAVY and that Summer holiday stock is finite, as a result use sparingly. Always lay
your gravel first adding the overlapping grass later.

I hope it gives a few ideas of things to do on holiday !!

Geoff T.

[Lysander]

River sand is useful also - irregular grains in size and shape.

Tony

[carnehan]

Those variations in sand are very effective at creating different tones and textures. I must start gathering some of this type of material up for future projects.

On a side note I'm not sure I was ever aware that that little two board modular diorama was yours. It's one of the first things I remember seeing when I came back in to the hobby and was always very fond of the modelling style and the subject matter. The ancient stone circle was a clever and unusual touch with the car pulled in to the lay by for the tourists to get their snaps. It just reminded me of similar instances in real life but captured in model form. I always hoped there would be more added to either end making it in to a larger scenic piece.

Just thought I'd mention it.

Paul

[luckymucklebackit]

Geoff has just outed himself as a criminal!!!

It is actually illegal to remove sand from a public beach in the UK, there is an ancient law that all beaches are crown property and therefore everything on it belongs to Lizzie, of course I hardly think that anyone is going to report you for a small container, but don't turn up with a JCB and a tipper truck.

I have a small stash of sand from Troon beach.

Jim

[bigbear.uk]

Teignmouth sand is good for N gauge quarry rubble, Exmouth sand is finer and good for rough stone. The most useful sand I've found to date is play sand, the stuff they put into sand pits - my wife's school has been the unwitting donor of this! It makes great gravel paths, and mixed with old enamel paint - of any colour, as you can paint it later - will give a good impression of a 'pebble dash' finish on walls, or with less sand, of rough rustic stucco or render. It's good for adding a little texture to smooth paint too, as when dry-brushed, the paint sticks to the fine grains easily, giving a nice effect. Worthing and Brighton beaches are generally out of scale, though!