I actually glue the mini to the base, then the sand. This way the feet sort of look to have settled into the gravel. Like the mini has physical weight.
My total process:
glue the mini together with superglue of sorts
glue the mini to the base with superglue of sorts
glue sand/gravel to the base around the minis feet with elmers/school glue
prime the mini with spray primer
paint the mini's base color
wash the mini for shading
re-apply base colors to raised areas on the mini for highlights
(any light drybrushing I may want to do - sometimes I don't)
paint the base's gravel/sand and border
seal the mini with testor's dulcote
apply a few school glue drops and drop static grass on them
How does school glue work for you? I have had nothing but bad experiences with Elmer's school glue, I find it too water soluble after drying. I tend to use their wood or standard varieties because they seem to be water resistant when they cure.
I'm also a big proponent of gluing the sand/gravel on before primer. That extra hold from the primer is great.
From time to time, I'll get a loose rock or two, but I haven't had too much of a problem. Maybe the primer has helped keep the sand applied to the base during applications of paint? i dunno, but if there ever are any missing gravel spots...that's a great candidate for a tuft of static grass...
I understand wood, but what is 'standard' varieties?
I just meant their basic product, which I think they call GlueAll or something like that. It's a little bit different formula than their "School" glue. It comes in the same shape bottle with a similar label and the actual glue looks very similar. My theory is that "School" glue is meant to be washable after drying as it gets sprayed all over the place for school projects, where their "GlueAll" is expected to be used by responsible monocle-wearing adults doing super serious adult things so is less water sensitive.
I can't watch anything new (movie, show, sports, whatnot). It's too distracting. I tend to just put on an old favorite movie or tv show or just listen to a game on the radio.
Lately it's Deep Space 9...I'm about halfway through it. I did have Coming to America on while painting the other day. Sometimes I'm on a conference call for work.