Textured paint.

Until recently I have been using Tamiya textured paint for military bases but my one and only jar recently ran out.


Now this stuff is £9.00 plus shipping, making a total of around £12.00 for 100ml.

So I paid a visit to Homebase and picked up several 75ml emulsion paint 'tester' pots at £1.29 each.



I also purchased a bag of ordinary builders sand for £2.09.

I decanted the paint into a larger container,



 dried and sifted some of the sand and added some to the paint a little at a time until I had a stiffish but still runny and 'paintable' consistency.




Result..... I wound up with 200ml of textured paint for just £1.30. (The extra penny is for the sand. LOL)

So double the quantity for 1/9th the price.

As per the Tamiya paint, it takes two coats to cover the polystyrene I use for my simple military bases, leaving each to dry for 24 hours. 








Result.

Very cool Al...I can see a good use for that in a auto scrapyard diorama project...

Great looking surface, Al. Nice job.

good idea ....

Have used it no end on diorama bases .... and if i can add some extra ingredients that may (or may not) improve this technique ... giving a more varied texture size that looks all the more realistic on scale model bases etc.

The builders/childrens play sand is a consistent particle size and the only variable in this type of mix is when it clumps together a bit..

alternatives that have a more varied composition are

Reptile sand ... more expensive but a bit more varied in size (i can post a bit out if a few people are seriously interested in trying it in the UK)

bird grit ... very varied in size

sieved cat litter (clumping sort) ... loads of options for texture size.

i even use herbs and spices ... ground pepper, rock salt, coriander, bicarb etc etc etc

hope you dont mind me adding to this Al, hopefully it's given you more options.

Plus i absolutely hate it when a company "designs" something bespoke and charges the earth for it ... when all it comprises of is a few common ingredients.

Thanks for sharing Al. 

Great tips Colin. 

try kiln dried sand....the stuff used for filling in when doing block paving

very consistant sized grains, no contaminants and of course bone dry

Good Tip.

I like the look of this stuff Al, going have to make up some of this Stuff up.

An excellent way to DIY textured paint. In my time I've used all sorts of stuff to add texture (similar to Colin's list, including dried herbs) but basic sand always seems to be the preferred choice. Thanks for the how-to

Excellent idea for textured surface Al. Simple and quick.