A sand dune and the AK Gravel and Sand Fixer

[Peithetairos]

Hi all,

I bought some AK Interactive Gravel and Sand Fixer lately and did experiment a bit with this product.

You'll find a detailed review with lots of pictures on my blog.

My conclusion:

The AK Interactive Gravel and Sand Fixer is a good product that is not a must buy, but comes in very handy when a matt, natural finish is important and a convenient product, that does not require premixing, is required. The ability to topcoat pieces with an airbrush is an added bonus.

The main advantage lies in the properties of the fixer, that is being absorbed quickly in the sand and fixing it in its current shape.  While this is possible with PVA, it is more tedious and requires much more time.

I would thus recommend the fixer to people who work a lot with dry pigments, soils and sand, where preserving the colour and texture is important. At 14.99 NZ Dollars the product is cheap enough to give it a go and I think you won’t regret it.

Here a picture of the dune I made using the fixer:



I am not entirely happy with the shape of the lines, but will experiment more and hopefully achieve a look that resembles more the archetypical dunes I have in mind.

I went for a Barchan dune to keep it simple for starters.




Some Numidian elephants pass a water hole:

[Poiter50]

Love that rippled effect you have achieved. I'm not aware of the product you bought, hardware store?

[OSHIROmodels]

You say that's not a must buy but I think you're wrong 

cheers

James

[Elk101]

That is THE best model dune I've seen. I'm not aware of the product either. How good could that be for making a beach!

[FramFramson]

Woooowwww super-cool.

Looks to me like a thinner object was used for the grooves. I think you could improve the realism slightly more with a little bit wider and rounder implement. Then again some stylization is necessary in order to keep things clear at that scale.

[Eric the Shed]

brilliant

[Capt. E.W. Brimmage]

I'm not aware of the product you bought, hardware store?

AK Interactive is a miniatures paints company, I know of them through their range of airbrush paints.

Peithetairos: Bloody good work, looks great.

[matthais-mouse]

Now I can't get the image of a FULL board of dunes, that would look great I think, a skeleton or two of various animals, a small 'oasis' and away you go haha.

I may try the product if available in the UK...

[Peithetairos]

Thank you gentlemen,

I am glad you liek the dune and I'd say I'll make at least two more for good mesure.

yes, any good model shop should have AK products, but you should be able to order direct, too.

@Fram Framson: I applied first a layer of Polyfiller and then inscribed the lines, covered that with sand, used a ball tip tool to deepen the lines again and finally fixed the sand in place. What might be an idea is to use indeed a slightly broader tool or maybe make a texture stamp.

@Matthais-mouse: Yes, more dunes, an oasis, an almsot dry river bed and finally some desert hills will follow. With the dry lake that should give me a very nice desert gaming set up.

[matthais-mouse]

@Matthais-mouse: Yes, more dunes, an oasis, an almsot dry river bed and finally some desert hills will follow. With the dry lake that should give me a very nice desert gaming set up.

I look forward to seeing this progress it will be well done too from the looks of this

[orm1]

Excellent!!! love the ripple effect

[AndrewBeasley]

One UK supplier is http://www.snmstuff.co.uk/ak-interactive-gravel-and-sand-fixer/

Interested to compare this to Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement as I find the WS glue dries matt but can wash the sand around - maybe its the way I apply it (i.e. too heavy).

At first I thought you had built the dune up using this but am I correct in thinking you only covered a former?

Forgive the use of 'only' by the way - the result is ace!

[warburton]

It certainly looks the part

[Peithetairos]

Hi,

yes, I only covered a basis made of cardboard. Piling the sand up would be truely insane .

I have no experience with the scenic cement. Might depend how fast and easy it is absorbed in the sand. It does move some sand corns around, but movement is minimal if applied carefully (without droplets falling on the sand).