Sahara sand

Perhaps actual sand? I'm assuming you mean sand like in a desert. 

exactly, but real sand isn't fine enough to look right.

Sift it into a finer powder. It should be in scale then.

Tile grout !

Vallejo and AK Interactive have what I believe to be a thick paint or almost paste like to model different terrains. Used mostly in military dioramas. They have a dessert sand. Not cheap but if your only covering a small area and you want it to look right.

I agree. Most commercial products would scale out to thick and tend to look more like a gravel road than sand.

@Dave Koehler posted:

Tile grout !

This was going to be my suggestion too.  Unsanded grout is pretty fine stuff.

I have a local hardware store that sells 80 LB. sacks ($4 - $6 each) of washed and screened sand in about 6 different sizes. Sandbox sand might be fine enough. I'm not sure what sort of a selection the big box home centers (which many of you seem to love) might carry.

I brought home some nice light beach sand and guess what? Just like the surface of the moon, it is a neutral grey! I would not recommend real sand of any kind.

About 20 years ago at the Big E (Springfield) Show I was admiring a very realistic O Scale module. Asked what they used for earth. They responded real earth scaled down, ie. sand. I followed their advice and ended up using over 100LBS. of it. I highly recommend using it.

Aquarium sand has a very fine texture.

I have some Scenic Express Caribbean sand. I just checked it out. It’s pretty fine compared to anything you will fin outside. Problem is the color. To white rather than tan. The texture is good though. I bought it for my sand house. Worked well. After it was glued in place a simply painted over it with a tan wash.

Never having seen it. So I can’t comment on it. Dennis Brennan sells fine sand on his site. Used to sprinkle around the rails and ties to simulate engines using their sanders to get moving.

Good suggestions.  I'll look into all of them.  Thanks.