Pumice vs. Resin Sand, which is better for basing your miniatures? Well, that’s what we’re going to check out today!
GW has had a habit lately of putting out a bunch of themed bases that don’t fully cover the base. So this has left a lot of people wondering how to finish off the bases. Even if you just want to create your own bases from scratch, either can be helpful.
We’ll check out the difference between the two and which one is really better for overall use, but they both do have their uses.
Pumice
Rob uses the Vallejo Pumice (which you can grab with the link above) and one big tub of his lasted for about 5 years. To apply it Rob uses either a beat-up brush or the GW plastic applicator, and the pumice goes on fairly easily and will often dry pretty translucent, but they do have a bunch of colors and even one that does dry fully black (lava).
The problem for some is that it doesn’t lay down fully flat, and it will leave the little layers (or waves) of texture that you put it on with. When it’s all painted up it looks pretty sweet. The other big drawback here is it will shrink up some and not have the effect you thought you were getting- including gap coverage.
So sometimes you’ll lose a little of the overall depth. Still, if you want to create a textured base, this is a good option. It will take some experimenting to get it the way you want, but it’s really not that hard- it just may require multiple applications.
If you want to learn more about how to apply it, check out this tutorial.
Resin Sand
Rob likes to use the Liquitex Resin Sand (which you can grab from the links) because it is very textured with bigger pieces in the sand, but has good coverage through and through. To apply this Rob takes the texture tool from GW or a crappy brush and puts it down in little waves.
This goes on without almost any effort and it will hold the shape you leave it with.
This works perfectly when you already have some bits on the base because it is very moldable and will hold basically exactly where you put it. It dries pretty quickly and flattens out a bit, but holds all the sharp edges. It will perfectly match your bits into the base.
If you want to learn more about how to apply it, check out this tutorial
Pumice Vs. Resin Sand for Basing Miniatures:
Basing Bits With Vallejo Pumice (Top) and Liquitex Resin Sand (Bottom)
Well, the resin sand really comes out as the winner when you’re trying to finish off the GW bases. It works extremely quickly, holds its shape better, and blends into the bits more.
Basing Bits With Vallejo Pumice (left) and Liquitex Resin Sand (right)
While the pumice is still great, the Resin Sand comes out as the clear winner to us. If you’ve been looking to make a purchase, we think Liquitex Resin Sand is the way to go!
What do you like better? Have you tried both?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
