Ground cover

I have used real dirt on my layout. I am a former high school baseball coach and the dirt that washed off the field on the nearby pavement was extremely fine. I collected a fair amount of it and then sprinkled it in areas that I wanted a dirt look. I glued it down using a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water with a couple of drops of Dawn dish detergent added to make my "wet water". You may want to do that in addition to your drying paint to secure it. If you do not have a source of fine soil, you may want to sift what you have to get as fine as possible.

Rick

I've done it both ways.  Both ways seemed to work fine.  Nothing like real dirt to look like real dirt!

Well, and here I was not wanting to sound dumb! Thanks for your input. Now Ill take another oppurtunity to ask what could be a dumb question. What about quick Crete painted black for streets?

the issue that I have had, and still can't figure out how to overcome, is that when I apply the glue/water mixture to the dirt it darkens and STAYS darkened even after drying.

 

I have tried applying it directly over glue and also over wet paint.  In both instances it wasn't secured in place well enough for my liking so I sprayed the mixture over it - that's when it darkened.

 

How do you guys overcome this?

 

- walt

Hi Walt,

 

What type of glue were you using? I have used Elmers white glue, Woodland Scenics scenic cement, and matte medium with no issues. I have used it extensively on the baseball field dirt. Curious to hear what others have to say. Always enjoy your Christmas layouts.

 

Bob

I too have used the "wet water" and white glue method on real dirt with no apparent darkening (remembering that real dirt is quite dark). I prefer to paint the underlying surface a dark grey opposed to brown; it appears more realistic to me. To get a good perspective on the color of the real world take an empty paper towel tube and use it like a telescope with one eye closed to view the landscape outside. Here in the northeast grey seems to be most dominant. As to dirt, my local sand and gravel company sells 80 pound bags of washed sand for about $5 in varying colors/degrees of fineness. I've used something a little darker and coarser than sandbox sand for several model railroads i've worked on.

 

jackson

CEO, the Not-So-Great-Eastern R.R.

Division of the Southern Adirondack Railway Cartel

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...&feature=channel

Dave Frary, who is a scenery guru does just that.  Paints then layers on real dirt.  While not prominent in the O scene, he is well known in the HO and N worlds.

Kalmbach has done a couple of "how to" books by Dave Frary.  Great resourse.
Model Railroad Scenery  I have the 2nd edition, shown is the 3rd edition.  Click on the underlined phrase to link.

 

Rick that just what I did and it worked great.  

 

 

And Dave Frary is great info just like TexasSP and Mike CT says

Walt,

 

Rub it with your finger or hit it with sand paper and it will lighten back up.

 

Dave

Here is a picture of a drive-in where I tried using real dirt. 

 

I painted and applied the dirt while it was still wet - the dirt didn't hold well enough IMHO.

 

2nd try: I tried a section by applying full strength glue (Elmer's) to the base followed by sprinkling on the dirt.  I tamped it down lightly.  Better but too much on top was not secure.

 

3rd: I repeated "2nd try" following by a coating of wet water with some glue in it.  The picture is the result of this method.  You can see the difference in the colors where I sprayed and where I didn't.

 

I will take the tips suggested by others to heart and try them the next time.  So thanks for offering them!!!

 

 

 

- walt