_GOTOBOTTOM
Tips & Tricks
Ask about and post about tips and tricks you use while modelling.
Sand bags and making of them.
sgtreef
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Member Since: March 01, 2002
entire network: 6,043 Posts
KitMaker Network: 1,603 Posts
Posted: Sunday, April 16, 2017 - 02:26 PM UTC
Well as I am going to be doing a few Nam Dio's I am going to need a bunch of sand bags.
Can I use air dry clay for most and cap with two part epoxy putty ones?
Are there any good places out there on making them?
I have looked but none seem correct.

Thanks


Jeff
ComaBlack
Visit this Community
Ontario, Canada
Member Since: September 19, 2010
entire network: 194 Posts
KitMaker Network: 31 Posts
Posted: Sunday, April 16, 2017 - 06:07 PM UTC
Strips of tissue, wrapped into a tube around a knife handle and one end glued closed. Fill with sand, glue other end closed. Place on model, soak in water/white glue solution. Gently work into place. Takes some practise.
Knuckles
Visit this Community
Oregon, United States
Member Since: March 09, 2017
entire network: 525 Posts
KitMaker Network: 156 Posts
Posted: Monday, April 17, 2017 - 02:55 AM UTC
I have used Sculpey (bake it in the oven) with good results before. My GF also tried to "show me up" and made a batch out of red earth potters clay. They turned out not-too-bad. A little soft on detail, maybe.
retiredyank
Visit this Community
Arkansas, United States
Member Since: June 29, 2009
entire network: 11,610 Posts
KitMaker Network: 3,657 Posts
Posted: Monday, April 17, 2017 - 03:23 AM UTC
[Excepting ComaBlack's technique(of which the use of tissue is inherent)] You should wrap sandbags in a tissue dampened, with glue and water.
sgtreef
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Member Since: March 01, 2002
entire network: 6,043 Posts
KitMaker Network: 1,603 Posts
Posted: Monday, April 17, 2017 - 04:42 AM UTC
All good ideas.

Jeff
Pave-Hawk
Visit this Community
Western Australia, Australia
Member Since: May 05, 2006
entire network: 900 Posts
KitMaker Network: 92 Posts
Posted: Monday, April 17, 2017 - 06:22 AM UTC
If you are going the clay/epoxy route and you want to add fabric texture to the sand bags, organza is excellent. Lightly pressed into an uncured sandbag it's delicate enough to provide a reasonably realistic weave, assuming the type of bag you are replicating had it.
sgtreef
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Member Since: March 01, 2002
entire network: 6,043 Posts
KitMaker Network: 1,603 Posts
Posted: Thursday, April 27, 2017 - 05:06 PM UTC
So in Nam all plastic bags I guess?




Jeff
CaptSpeirs
Visit this Community
California, United States
Member Since: March 28, 2016
entire network: 7 Posts
KitMaker Network: 1 Posts
Posted: Sunday, May 14, 2017 - 06:35 AM UTC
I once saw a modeler take a box of Chiclets and soak the candy off and then place and form them as desired. Then before they hardened, he used a T-shirt to press a cloth pattern in the Chiclets. He also used an X-acto blade to press the stitching pattern in them.

Now the trick was to put the Chiclets in your mouth (don't chew) and soak the candy off and in turn warms them so they can be contoured easier.
sgtreef
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Member Since: March 01, 2002
entire network: 6,043 Posts
KitMaker Network: 1,603 Posts
Posted: Monday, June 05, 2017 - 01:23 AM UTC
Okay anybody have any idea how this guy took this shower curtain and made these bags?

I give up.






Kevlar06
Visit this Community
Washington, United States
Member Since: March 15, 2009
entire network: 3,670 Posts
KitMaker Network: 527 Posts
Posted: Monday, June 05, 2017 - 02:55 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Okay anybody have any idea how this guy took this shower curtain and made these bags?

I give up.



It's a beautiful diorama, but point in fact, the sandbag material used in 'Nam, and later was made from woven nylon strip, in a fine mesh pattern and it was green in color. The mesh pattern would be almost invisible in 1/35 scale, but I have to agree, the artwork of the diorama is fabulous and certainly relays the effect well. I make my sanbages out of Milliput, rolled and formed into a "snake" and flattened on one end, pinched into a narrow opening on the other, if I want texture I press a wet metal screen into it-- which keeps it from sticking. That said, I recently found a pretty good representation from Pegasus models, who makes a bag of 100 ready made resin sandbags for "wargaming" in 1/35 scale-- they look pretty close without the trouble of making them, they use about five different representations, so they don't all look alike, and they have a fine "fabric mesh" texture. You might see if you can find these-- I think Stevens International carries them.
VR, Russ
sgtreef
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Member Since: March 01, 2002
entire network: 6,043 Posts
KitMaker Network: 1,603 Posts
Posted: Monday, June 05, 2017 - 02:58 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Okay anybody have any idea how this guy took this shower curtain and made these bags?

I give up.



It's a beautiful diorama, but point in fact, the sandbag material used in 'Nam, and later was made from woven nylon strip, in a fine mesh pattern and it was green in color. The mesh pattern would be almost invisible in 1/35 scale, but I have to agree, the artwork of the diorama is fabulous and certainly relays the effect well. I make my sanbages out of Milliput, rolled and formed into a "snake" and flattened on one end, pinched into a narrow opening on the other, if I want texture I press a wet metal screen into it-- which keeps it from sticking. That said, I recently found a pretty good representation from Pegasus models, who makes a bag of 100 ready made resin sandbags for "wargaming" in 1/35 scale-- they look pretty close without the trouble of making them, they use about five different representations, so they don't all look alike, and they have a fine "fabric mesh" texture. You might see if you can find these-- I think Stevens International carries them.
VR, Russ



Thanks Russ will look.
But you have to admit they do look pretty close to the Hundreds I filled when I was in. LOL

I have ordered bags from Canada not bad, and from the states that are made in Germany not to good, but small.

Jeff
11Bravo_C2
Visit this Community
Texas, United States
Member Since: May 12, 2015
entire network: 475 Posts
KitMaker Network: 47 Posts
Posted: Wednesday, June 07, 2017 - 12:04 AM UTC
I use milliput as in the "How-To" here in this site.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/116
aaron88
Visit this Community
Alabama, United States
Member Since: August 19, 2017
entire network: 3 Posts
KitMaker Network: 2 Posts
Posted: Friday, August 18, 2017 - 12:26 PM UTC
Good ideas!
tankerken6011
Visit this Community
New Mexico, United States
Member Since: December 04, 2013
entire network: 84 Posts
KitMaker Network: 3 Posts
Posted: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 - 03:19 PM UTC
The plastic weave material for sandbags may have been adopted during Vietnam, but the old stocks of fabric (burlap) were used until exhausted. We were still using the burlap ones in the 1980s.
Ken.
southpier
Visit this Community
Alberta, Canada
Member Since: December 11, 2009
entire network: 546 Posts
KitMaker Network: 146 Posts
Posted: Wednesday, January 15, 2020 - 09:42 PM UTC
age old HO (1/87) model railroaders' trick: get dried out pen refills - remember they used to be brass tubing - and snip at appropriate lengths with diagonal cutters.
 _GOTOTOP