Fine Natural Talus

A shade that pushes nowhere

The natural tone is the most neutral of all those offered. It has neither the warmth of sandstone nor the chill of granite; it keeps to the middle, and that is exactly why it suits as a base that you color later according to the landscape you are building. Anyone who is not sure about the geology of their scene starts with this shade and gets to the goal with glazes instead of by buying further bags.

A small grain in the role of a base

The finest grade of the four offered behaves more like coarse sand than like stone. It takes up paint evenly, it holds well on a vertical face and it does not create unwanted bumps under models that stand on the terrain. Under the axles of vehicles or under the boots of figures it looks believable even without further toning.

An overview and advice

• Loose material with a volume of 353 cubic centimeters
• The finest grain of the line of four grades offered
• A neutral natural shade without a warm or a cold cast
• It is easy to paint with a glaze, because it has no pronounced tone of its own

An interesting trick that works on a finished diorama: spread a base of this fine material and only then lay a few coarser fragments into the damp glue. That creates exactly the proportion a real slope has, where hundreds of small stones go with one large one. The reverse order, that is the coarse grain first and the fine one filled in, leaves the large pieces sticking out above the surface and the result looks artificial. The difference shows best in a photograph taken from the height of a figure's eyes, where every unnaturally large stone gives itself away at once.