I’m trying to create a gravel path using sand. The photo below shows the problem I’m having. The part on the left has been attached with the usual white glue/water mix (about 50/50). The sand on the right is much lighter (the color I’m looking for) but has not been glued. Will matte medium prevent this? Do I need to try alcohol/glue mix? Are there any other adhesives that will work?
Any and all information, guidance, or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Seems to me that, since the glue is watery-thin, the capillary action of the sand is causing the glue mixture to completely soak into it.
I admit I’ve never tried this myself, but:
Since this isn’t ballast, maybe you could find a thicker/denser variant of Elmers - Aileen’s Tacky Glue from Michaels Craft stores comes to mind. Place a very thin layer of that on the surface you wish to cover, then gently sprinkle the sand on top of it. Let the glue dry then vacuum off the excess.
What your doing is washing the fine dust coating off the sand with the glue wash. Ballast always dries darker for this reason. About the only thing you can do is “dust it” with some fine sand dust or chalks after it has dried. (same thing happened to me with sand)
First, thanks to all for your responses and ideas.
I’ve been conducting some experiments with the ideas presented. I spread some full strength white glue and put the sand on top of it, using a popsicle stick (borrowed from SpaceMouse[;)]) to tamp the sand and level the path. Then I put some tan powder over the area to the left that was too dark. I left a small area that was too dark to provide some comparison. On the far right of the picture is a pile of unglued sand, also for comparison. It looks like the undiluted white glue will do the trick and the tan powder will cure any problems that appear.
