How to show sand being kicked up?

hotrodnz · Post by **hotrodnz** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 6:59 pm

Hi all,

I'm thinking about making a diorama showing an action scene with sand being kicked up as the model lands.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can achieve this effect on static model?

Here's a picture of the sort of effect I'm trying to achieve :-
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/20037 ... Image-Bank

Thanks in advance,

Cheers
HotRodNZ

Stu Pidasso · Post by **Stu Pidasso** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:07 pm

My first thought was maybe some really loose-packed cotton, spray painted in tans. As for the airborne stuff, no idea.

starmanmm · Post by **starmanmm** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:20 pm

Or... go with the cotton idea but glue sand to it... like you do with trees.... dip the branches in glue and apply the leaves to it.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:27 pm

Sand is too coarse usually which is why the fine cotton idea is about the best. Use hairspray to help fix it in shape before hitting it with some fine paint or powder.

hotrodnz · Post by **hotrodnz** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:20 pm

Thanks guys for the great hints

I'll have to try them out tonight.

Cheers

publiusr · Post by **publiusr** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 3:13 pm

Maybe teese the cottom into curls to show a mini microburst.

raser13 · Post by **raser13** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:23 am

instead of sand couldn't you use brown sugar over the cotton??? or maybe salt?? should be a finer grit but still give you the crystalline particle effect effect. then just paint to color

Bullfrog · Post by **Bullfrog** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:22 am

i saw a tute some time ago of an M60 tank ripping up mud and grass and it was quite dynamic.
The builder used acrylic cut to the wedge shape between the track and the ground, then spatterened his mud mix on that and worked out a bunch of globs of mud being flung backwards by allowing it to hang and dry updside down to get the flung shape. Also used brush brisltes IIRC to get some of the longer flung out blobs.
you may be able to adapt this idea for dust.

I like the cotton / spun nylon idea as well.

TazMan2000 · Post by **TazMan2000** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:55 pm

You will have a lot of difficulty, if you are expecting on having the effect of sand being suspended in mid air. Cotton will look like painted cotton. You will have better luck if you use the effect of after the action has been completed. i.e. sand being distributed from treads, tires in a sprayed pattern.

TazMan2000

BROCK UPPERCUT · Post by **BROCK UPPERCUT** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:50 pm

try making the shape with thin styrene or the clear plastic , then put silicone from a tube to get a more fluid shape . then glue on really fine sand.

Tankmodeler · Post by **Tankmodeler** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 2:10 pm

raser13 wrote:instead of sand couldn't you use brown sugar over the cotton??? or maybe salt?? should be a finer grit but still give you the crystalline particle effect effect. then just paint to color

The probelm with using anything even vaguely food-like for groundwork is that little critters will come & eat it. Sugar for sand, flour for snow, etc. are all bad ideas for this reason. On top of that, a lot of the food-type items will change colour over time with exposure to UV light, or heat or humidity, unless painted and paint will ruin the look.

Weevils, roaches & mites are not what you want crawling around your dioramas.

Paul

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:19 am

I have spiders living in some of my planes. They'll cover the whole thing in webs overnight. I can't imagine what ants would do if I invited them in with brown sugar.

raser13 · Post by **raser13** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:11 am

wouldn't the glue you use to hold it in place seal it away from the little buggies?? my grandfather has had a brown sugar beach on his train mock up for decades and hasn't mentioned any problems with bugs eating it. but he also sealed it with clear dull-coat to for good measure. and at the scale it looks amazingly like sand.

you might also be able to use the fine grit sand that they have in ash trays.

bluesman · Post by **bluesman** » Sun Oct 10, 2010 12:48 pm

The mass of sand can probably be simulated using the suggestions posted here, but the individual grains may be hard to do.

spykee12 · Post by **spykee12** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 12:17 pm

you could try mixing sand with glue and building it in the right shape

hotrodnz · Post by **hotrodnz** » Mon May 02, 2011 5:23 pm

Hi all

Thanks for all your tips which I put to good use.

Here is a link to some photos of the finished model and diorama which ended up winning 2nd place in the diorama section of the recent SSM "Starfighter 2" contest.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/contest/dio_01.htm

In the end I used some polycotton (the stuff that you put in fish aquarium filters) coated with hairspray and sprinkled with real sand. I kept repeating the hairspray and sand until most of the polycotton fibres were obscured. I also rolled up a 1inch wide strip of clear plastic and inserted it underneath the cotton/sand mixture to give it some volume and lift the front part off the rest of the diorama.

I didn't manage to get the effect of a big volume of sand being kicked up, but overall it turned out well.

Cheers
hotrodnz

scratchy · Post by **scratchy** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 6:53 pm

What about clear resin, with some sand mixed in. As it dries, use a popsicle stick and manipulate it in a shape that would be fitting for your scene. Once dry, add some more sand to the surface to give it that "kicked up" look.

just an idea off the top of my head