I use real earth to model earth. Locally I have dirt that fits my needs. proper composition, texture, etc. But its the incorrect shade. You can pretty much adjust the color of dirt you have too the color you want.
I've been doing this since the '90s.
As one would imagine, first you process the dirt. Gather the dirt from outside in a bucket. Add water and mush it into heavy paste. Then pour the paste on to a giant glass dish or metal baking sheet. Ignore the stange looks family members will give you and bake it in the oven for 1 hour at 450 degrees. That should kill the bacteria and any living creatures lurking inside. It also should be dry when you are done. If not just let it dry.
Crush it down into small chunks enough to absorb the next step. Take a large bowl, mix up various colors of cheap acrylic paint with water. By itself, the dirt I have is too dark and too gray. Sooooo to tone it I use a bunch of orange, yellow and white. How much added will vary depending on how much you want to alter the color. I used a lot in this heavy wash. I dump the dirt and wash into a big rubber maid container and blend it around well. Keep mixing it. Every day I give it mixing to keep it airated. Eventually after a few days it will be completely dry and be nice and altered.
Crush it down with a blunt object. Fist, hammer, mallet, brick, whatever. Keep smashing it till you get what you want. I sift mein into various grades. To make it safe for use on a train layout, so you don't get metal bits into the locomotive motors. So we must put the dirts in large zip lock bags with several strong magnets. Shake it round, jostle it and whatnot and eventually metal particles cling to the magnets. Taken them out clean them off. Keep shaking them up in the bag til no metal particals are collected. There you go.
Here is some in use with kitty litter on a WWII North African diorama.
"Being misunderstood is the fate of all true geniuses"
EXPERIMENTATION TO BRING INNOVATION
http://community.webshots.com/album/288541251nntnEK?start=588
I too have been using real sifted dirt for decades on my modules and dioramas. I started using Woodland Scenics materials for ground cover, but it sparkled too much in my closeup photos. I used a trick I found somewhere to get some dirt without a lot of processing - at a local ball diamond. Dirt around home plate gets pulverized in use, and is (for me anyway) practically ready to use. I sifted it into several levels of fineness, the finest being almost dust. That's about all that I did, works for me!
Here's a shot showing some in use on one of my scratchbuilt dioramas:
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
I also use sifted dirt for ground cover. The house smells like baked dirt for a few days, and I have to come up with a good answer for people who wouldn't understand... "Yeah, uh, my shoes got muddy so I put them in the oven to dry them off?"
Recently I've started using leaves ground up in a blender. The thing with these is that you can't bake them. As soon as I gather mine, I wash them in the basement sink to get rid of most germs. Then I keep mine in the basement all winter before using them, so the same cold that keeps me from much progress in the cold season, also kills off most of the remaining bacteria. And since I gather the leaves soon after they fall, with no rain or a lot of time spent on the ground, they're pretty clean to begin with.
Ground leaves on top of sifted dirt works really great for the ground of New England in fall!
I've been using real dirt for a while, too.
The best decision I made about doing this was to buy a used toaster oven from the Salvation Army store for under $10.00 and use it to bake the dirt out in the garage.
Even after a good sifting, nearly every type of dirt I've collected gives off some kind of odor as it bakes. I've found that it makes the rest of the household happier if I bake the dirt somewhere other than in the kitchen.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
fmilhaupt The best decision I made about doing this was to buy a used toaster oven from the Salvation Army store for under $10.00 and use it to bake the dirt out in the garage.
DUH!!! Why didn't I think of that!? Thanks, you have just solved a real problem with the CEO!!!!
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
Like Bob and some of the other posters, I've employed real dirt on my layouts for decades. One point I might add for the creation of a realistic HO scene when using real dirt is that, in most instances, it should be finely sifted if one intends to represent most common soil conditions. I've found that one of your wife or girl friend's old stockings works perfectly as a sifter to produce the fine texture of dirt that's desirable.
The OP was modeling rocky North African desert but most U.S. locations would not have such a high level of rock content. While some small rocks definitely should be present along with the fine dirt to provide some highly important texture to the scene, unless you are modeling a mountainous, or perhaps riverside site, you really don't want that much large material present. By example illustrating a suitable mix, below is a typical scene from my layout, which represents a location in the northeastern U.S. which generally has a mainly fine texture, with just some small rocks add in.
CNJ831
fmilhaupt I've been using real dirt for a while, too. The best decision I made about doing this was to buy a used toaster oven from the Salvation Army store for under $10.00 and use it to bake the dirt out in the garage. Even after a good sifting, nearly every type of dirt I've collected gives off some kind of odor as it bakes. I've found that it makes the rest of the household happier if I bake the dirt somewhere other than in the kitchen.
Do you color your dirt like "Aggrojones"?
What a great thread. I am not happy with woodland scenics dirt. It just looks too fake, and plaster of paris mixed with dryed tempra paint when scratched still reveals the white plaster. Real dirt looks like the answer for me.
Is there really that much metal in dirt to worry about???
Hello I was surprised to see how much metal bits came out of the dirt. I used a old magnet from a CB antenna base. I use the dirt the color it is it lighted up when I cooked it but when I put the 50/50 mix on it it got a little darker witch is OK for where it was going. Here are some place's it went.
Have a nice day Frank
If you're not into "real dirt" than a good substitute is a stuff called "ground goop". The formula is as follows: 1 part vermiculite that you get at the garden center at Lowe's or Home Depot, 1 part celluclay from Hobby Lobby, 1 part earth toned flat laytex paint. (I use a color called "earthy ochre" mixed at Lowe's paint department) 2 capfuls of Lysol Concentrated Disinfectant Cleaner (this keeps the mixture from souring if you have any left over and want to save it in an air tight plastic bowl) and 3/4 part white glue.
Ground Goop spreads as easily as icing a cake and has a great dirt looking texture to it. You can also sprinkle ground foam into it while its wet and when it dries everything stays in place....chuck
Add me to the list of those who sift and use garden soil or roadside soil on their layouts. I also go further for my own security...or lack thereof...by adding some Plaster of Paris to it. The PoP helps to keep the soil firmly in one place. Like CNJ, I used panty-hose which did an okay job. I am thinking that Aggro's method might yield finer and somewhat more realistic results. Depends on the beholder's eye, I suppose.
I use dirt, but I see no reason to soak it in water or bake it. I have never had any problems with critters or plants growing in it. The way some of the posters do dirt for soil seems awfully complicated. I use a window screen to sift it. Rubbing my hand over it to push the soil threw, and then discard any rocks and plant material left on the screen. I do this as many times as as needed until I have the amount I want. Then use as is for course soil and then a coffee bean grinder to make it into a fine mix and some into a very fine mix. Takes about 30 minutes to do around 4 or 5 cups of mix. This covers a lot area. Then spread it on the layout, soak it with a water rubbing alcohol mix, then the water glue mix. Some vertical surfaces need the alcohol mix then glue mix done first then the soil put on so it stays in place. Once dry I can touch up any area that needs more. Ken Price
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
steamageI model Los Angeles area, but I had tried using dirt from there and found it had too much mica in it causing it to sparkle and it was too light in color on the layout. Looking at a real scene in LA the dirt just looked tanner than it did on my layout. I use my local dirt that is a fine Quartz Oxide taken from a freeway cut and looks good for photographs.
That's the look I need. After seeing all this with real dirt it made me realize I could model my LP dealer with a dirt lot. I know it will be prototypical, I had a 1 day long summer job at a propane dealer that had a dirt lot. I think the propane fumes made me slow, I know that's why I got fired. Yea, I'd like to see them check, and clean, 250 5 and 10 pound tanks in an 8 hour shift under 97 degree sun. Jerks.
I am a little lost though and sort of agree with other posters. A lot of steps were taken to steralize, if you will, the dirt. I see this as pointless, I mean once it's on the layout any 'germs' that get on the layout would germify the dirt too. I can see doing some things to make sure no critters are in it though. Would kind of suck to do all this then one day go and find a 100 foot long worm crawling over my tracks. I do N scale though so the sifting portion I think would be the most concerning part of the process. A small park is on the other side of the street from our apartment complex. It has a smalld diamond.
How is the dirt kept on the layout? I know one fellow mentioned he mixes his dirt with plasture 'o Parees, but would treating the dirt like ground foam work? Just spray it on with a diluted glue mix like balast? I also plan on having something use a gravel drive way which I figured I would use Z scale fine talus for.
I mixed a good dose of PVA glue plus some plaster with mine. Like others I never bothered to bake it, and I've never had a problem.
Mike
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
I've been using real dirt for years. When I started I went the baking route, but over the last ten years I just shift it on just as it comes right from the baseball diamond where I collect it. I sprinkle it over wet ground colored latex paint. I then apply 70% alcohol followed by diluted white glue or matt medium, whatever I have on hand. When still wet I can sprinkle on assorted ground foams. Once everything dries, it's as hard as ballast. I have never had any problems with mold, critters, bugs, etc. If I'm making a dirt road, I will use plaster to form the base and then sprinkle on shifted dirt before the plaster hardens. Once hard, I can paint the plaster/dirt to give it a used hard surface appearance.
I do bake my ground up leaves and sift them onto the layout. Both the real dirt and the leaves are the cheapest most effective method of landscaping. It's a wonder that more people don't try it.
Dale Latham Piedmont Southern Railroad GMR 2009
There are many types of bacteria in natural dirt . It's best to bake it .... in a interior environment they willl thrive ! Nothing better for realism ... and it's cheap ... LOL . I use real rocks too ... if I see some nice ones I pick them up and take them home .... some people probably think I'm nuts ... but they look darn good on a layout .
Wouldn't the alcohol,water mix kill bacteria? After all Lysol is pretty much just alcohol.
Yes it should .... but the one fellow wrote he did'nt use any killing agents . and there are micro critters and eggs in it . Of course only clorox/chlorine kills everything including viruses .... alcohol does'nt kill everything but it helps . i water/clorox mix clean all the rocks I use or keep indoors . Plus the neighbor's dog may have used the area for his bathroom ... LOL .
Thanks! I'll have to try that. The dirt here is the right consistency, but it's close to the color of red Georgia clay. (think chirt)
It’s not a problem after you’ve drowned it in alcohol and encased it in 3:1 glue but in the steps that get you there. It doesn’t matter where you get your dirt – there are little critters in there that can get you. Like when you are screening your dirt into different sizes or sifting into place (breathing dust) and, if you are like me, seem to always have little nicks and cuts on your hands (staff infections).
Just my humble thoughts…….
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
MILW-RODRsteamageI model Los Angeles area, but I had tried using dirt from there and found it had too much mica in it causing it to sparkle and it was too light in color on the layout. Looking at a real scene in LA the dirt just looked tanner than it did on my layout. I use my local dirt that is a fine Quartz Oxide taken from a freeway cut and looks good for photographs. That's the look I need. After seeing all this with real dirt it made me realize I could model my LP dealer with a dirt lot. I know it will be prototypical, I had a 1 day long summer job at a propane dealer that had a dirt lot. I think the propane fumes made me slow, I know that's why I got fired. Yea, I'd like to see them check, and clean, 250 5 and 10 pound tanks in an 8 hour shift under 97 degree sun. Jerks. I am a little lost though and sort of agree with other posters. A lot of steps were taken to steralize, if you will, the dirt. I see this as pointless, I mean once it's on the layout any 'germs' that get on the layout would germify the dirt too. I can see doing some things to make sure no critters are in it though. Would kind of suck to do all this then one day go and find a 100 foot long worm crawling over my tracks. I do N scale though so the sifting portion I think would be the most concerning part of the process. A small park is on the other side of the street from our apartment complex. It has a smalld diamond. How is the dirt kept on the layout? I know one fellow mentioned he mixes his dirt with plasture 'o Parees, but would treating the dirt like ground foam work? Just spray it on with a diluted glue mix like balast? I also plan on having something use a gravel drive way which I figured I would use Z scale fine talus for.
Piedsou I've been using real dirt for years. When I started I went the baking route, but over the last ten years I just shift it on just as it comes right from the baseball diamond where I collect it. I sprinkle it over wet ground colored latex paint. I then apply 70% alcohol followed by diluted white glue or matt medium, whatever I have on hand. When still wet I can sprinkle on assorted ground foams. Once everything dries, it's as hard as ballast. I have never had any problems with mold, critters, bugs, etc. If I'm making a dirt road, I will use plaster to form the base and then sprinkle on shifted dirt before the plaster hardens. Once hard, I can paint the plaster/dirt to give it a used hard surface appearance. I do bake my ground up leaves and sift them onto the layout. Both the real dirt and the leaves are the cheapest most effective method of landscaping. It's a wonder that more people don't try it. Dale Latham Piedmont Southern Railroad GMR 2009
That looks really good. Do you have any other closeup pictures of the dirt? And isn't the baseball diamond dirt a little to "yellow' looking? I'm going to have to try that....
I use the baseball diamond dirt as it's been ground to a very fine dust. The dirt in my area (southern Maryland) looks fine and is not too yellow. I tried to get some red clay from northern Virginia to use but it was much too red when applied to the layout. It didn't look prototypical when viewed under my layout lighting.
Dale Latham, Piedmont Southern Railroad, Great Model Railroads 2009
This subject is really helpful to me. Maybe I can be of some help with this idea: Another source of finely ground dirt is road intersections, well traveled dirt/gravel roads and paved street ditches. After traveling on dirt roads in wet weather as well as winter, I noticed that the water that dripped off my car on the garage floor had lots of fine dirt in it. When it was dry, I could sweep it up and store it in a large jar for use on my future layout.
I've discovered that if you apply diluted white glue over dirt that it tends to darken it.
I sift the dirt over slightly diluted earth colored latex paint. I then spray it with a water-alcohol mix. After letting it dry over 24 hours, I brush away the excess so that it can be reused.
I've also been balasting secondary track, such as industrial sidings, with a combination of ballast and dirt. I use about a 50:50 mixture, depending on how poorly maintained the track is. I use "real rock" ballast, such as Highball and Smith & Son (sold by Scenic Express).
Scott Buckley