sandy / desert effect base

[RudeDogg1]

Hi guys im planning on making a desert dio type base for a modified Bandai millennium falcon im doing. Was going to sculpt it out of clay but how can I make it look like a desert and still look in scale? the falcon is 1/144 scale

[Frank-Holger]

For small scale groundwork use small scale stuff: birdsand. Spinkle on and use diluted white glue to get in cemented together (waterproof white glue). Do several washes and drybrush in many sandy tones. Here we go.

Frank

[veedubb67]

I was at a show once and this guy had amazing desert landscapes. I asked him what he used and he said "Chinchilla Dust". It's very fine and works well at small scales. You can get it at any Pet Store.

Rob
Iwata Padawan

[kevtk135]

IMHO at 1:144 scale I don't think you would see individual sand grains. Even the smallest pebble you could find would look like a boulder next to a 1/144 figure.
My take is that I would use Celluclay to make the ground work. Then use different colored paints to outline the shades, highlights etc... Then if the scene you're making has other things - equipment , junk, etc... I would use that to bolster the scale.

[Frank-Holger]

Kev is right! I would look a bit at the model railroad stuff N scale, which could fit perfectly.

Frank

[I am a dork]

Try looking into some of the stuff Vallejo has here:

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/w ... /family/21

It's great stuff and works with minimal effort. And the end results are hard to argue with. If you have any questions about how to work with their stuff there is most likely a youtube video for it.

Brian

[Modelmaker]

I m Mars diorama I used red grout to simulate the Martian sand worked great. Karl

[temperflash]

Never tried this but seems to me that drywall joint compound shaped to the desired landscape look then when bone dry scruffed with a coase 3M pad and dyed by thining the desired color of water color paint and misting , using several differing shades to give a rendering effect to dunes and rills.
While still moist tire tracks and footprints could be pressed in.

On objects such as vehicles that look to have been long abandoned in desert part could be submerged and hollows and nooks could be filled with thinned compound. Windblown sand having a near liquid way of flowing and filling in hollows.