Gravel for roadside shoulders? Sand for a beach?

[Anonymous]

Greetings,

What is a good product to use for roadside shoulders (gravel for parking lots too) And what is good to use for sand for a beach in HO scale?

I'm thinking that fine ballast is still too big for the gravel and that sand would not be fine enough for, well... sand.

Maybe I could use sand for the shoulder/parking lots but still what about the beach?

Thanks for the suggestions!
-Dale

[eastcoast]

Interesting question.
I'm still scratching my head.
I feel that sand MAY be the ticket to both areas. I have not tried it but....
add the sand to a thinned out gravel colored paint and sse how that looks????
As for the beach, how do you replicate sand???? I say try it. I am going to when
I get to my beach scenery. Hey, If you do, please tell me how it turns out.
ken_ecr

[Jetrock]

Real sand would be a bit large for a sandy beach. One thing you might try would be making the beach from plaster and then "zip-texturing" the plaster (sprinkling dry plaster through a sieve onto the surface) would create the right texture--then paint it the sand color you want, add a little driftwood and scrubgrass and a few sunbathers.

[Anonymous]

Eggshell. Tint/color it, sprinkle it on and you have dirt. It is light weight and when ground very fine it works for most "dirt" or sand applications. I make 3-4 different colors then blend them for a more natural look.

If your cholesterol goes way up trying to eat a dozen eggs to make sand for your railroad don't blame me!! [:)]

[Anonymous]

At Hobby Lobby they sell a fine sand that sand bottle artists use. They have a tan colored that looks good as beach sand. Regular sand looks good as fine gravel. If you look around at building supply / lumber yards you can find it in different colors of tan and gray or paint it after it's applied. You can also get some really fine white sand north of Tampa or in Cosumel. Use it for an excuse to go there this winter. FRED

[eastcoast]

I once lived in Florida. Sand is the same No matter where you go.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eastcoast

I once lived in Florida. Sand is the same No matter where you go.

No it's not. You may of lived in Florida, but you must not of went to the beach. Alantic sand from around the cape is darker and courser than the sand from around Tampa in the Gulf. It has to do with how much ground up sea shells v rock is in it. In Cosumel the sand looks like snow it's so white. People in Cosumel can get snow blindness from being on the beach without sun glases. Here in Missouri the sand is tan/brown cause it's all rock. FRED

[Anonymous]

Not flamin' just explain'

My military career as well as vacations have taken me to several regions of the world. I've been on US Pacific and Altantic beaches, several Caribbean Island beaches, a few of the Mediterian beaches (Greece, Italy, Spain and Egypt) and a couple areas of the Red Sea region. I lived in Cairo, Egypt (Sahara desert) for a year and currently live in the Phoenix (Mohave desert).

Due to the make up of the different geographical regions sand is not just sand. Take the Caribbean Sea. Beaches of the CS are made from ground coral and shell thus the white/pinkish color and is more course than most other sands. The US Pacific coast beaches are a darker brown, due to the clay content, than Atlantic coast beaches which are more of a light brown/grey color due the a higher level of iron. Atlantic coast beach sand is finer than Pacific coast. You wouldn't think of driving or parking on a So. CA beach without 4-wheel drive because it is more course and doesn't pack down as hard. But Daytona Beach, FL is okay to drive and park on with any kind of car of truck. Guam's beaches are a lighter color than US Pacific beaches due the addition of coral from the coral reefs in that area and is more course than US Pacific beach sand.

So much for the lesson in Sandology.

When modeling you should keep in mind the geographic area and what color the dirt and sand is and how course it is. For instance, here in AZ the mountaineous area of Northern and East Central AZ (Flagstaff/Williams and Payson) would be darker and finer dirt, due the the decomposistion of the Pine trees. West Central AZ (Sedona/Prescott) is very red in color. Southern AZ (Phoenix/Tuscon) which is desert, yes 1/3 of AZ is desert, is much lighter and more course.

I live in Phoenix but my layout is modeled after the Santa Fe RR along Route 66 in Northern AZ. So the "dirt" on my layout I make from ground eggshell and tinted/colored to match the various regions along Route 66.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible to liberate the sand that is used in sandpaper? Because if so, there is a ready supply of size-graded material, though coloration would be a concern. Maybe, for small areas (like road shoulders), strips of sandpaper can be used just as-is, or with a coat of paint.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Avondaleguy

Is it possible to liberate the sand that is used in sandpaper? Because if so, there is a ready supply of size-graded material, though coloration would be a concern. Maybe, for small areas (like road shoulders), strips of sandpaper can be used just as-is, or with a coat of paint.

I've tried that. My opinion is the sandpaper stips are too uniform and just don't look right. Also, true sandpaper wrinkles when it gets wet, so white glue causes it to wrinkle. Over time rubber cement looses it's hold and the sheets curl up. Emery or wet/dry papers don't wrinkle but are ususally white or black and need paint. Painting smooths the rough finish and look un-natural. Over time the paper/emery sheets shrink and leave lines where joined showing plywood. I used some wet/dry on my layout several years ago and all but one parking lot that was left black have since been redone. They just never looks right to me and had problems over time. FRED

[Anonymous]

for gravel for roadsides I use beach sand with a slight amounts of different fine & medium ballasts mixed in. looks very real in HO. For my small narrow beach, I used fine yellow ground foam on a brown background. Still a little too light a yellow, but the effect is good. Also, if you are interested in making some realistic concrete use fine n-scale ballast from Highball products heavily glued with a 50/50 glue mix and paint and weather like real concrete roadways, etc. Looks better than any commercial concrete product I've come across. Also gets as strong as concrete, don't get it on your tracks or turn outs! The voice of experience!