Main Index Introduction Layout Operations Models Scenery Tools and Cheap Things
If using dirt remember to run a strong magnet in a plastic bag through the dirt. This checks for metal particles so they do not become loose and glum up engines and wheels.
Donald
If you are looking for dirt, you can sift your own by sifting it through fine screen available at your hardware store. We use this in yards and farm fields and works great. Plus, you can get some nice rocks from the stuff that
doesn't fit through the screen.
We usually sift the dirt (found in front of the clubhouse) through 4 different size sifters, giving us four grades of dirt and rock. This stuff is free, so you can use as much as you want without
hurting your wallet!
Remember to use white glue when gluing it as yellow glue discolors the dirt. White glue dries clear and only appears when you put your nose on the ground... :)
Shane Lambert
One place on my layout has real dirt sprinkled over the usual 10 percent solution of water and white glue. Before I sprinkled it, I baked it in the oven in a bread pan for about an hour at 300
degf. to kill any critters, mold, or bacteria in it. The dirt was free, in my back yard. When I got done, the "dirt" looked kind of good, but rather muddy, even after the glue stuff dried. For my
use, it was good.
For "regular" dry dirt, however, I think I would be forced to paint it because I dont know how to prevent the glue from darkening it. Commercial grass cover on top of the dark dirt
would be good., however.
Dan Mickey
Just for the heck of it, try putting the dirt down over white glue full strength (no water). Usually I have pretty good luck. I think the water may be what's giving you the darker "mud" effect.
Don Dellmann
One thing that we discovered when using found sand for gravel on some club modules is to rinse the stuff thoroughly before using it. We were getting a white residue where we used a certain tub of
sand. It turned out that it had been mixed with salt for traction use on roads in the winter.
Another lesson we learned the hard way. Don't test new stuff on the layout a few days before a show (or anytime). Do a small experiment someplace disposable first.
Kent Ashton
Need a dirt shifter for ground cover? Here is one way to make one: Jerry's Dirt Shifter
Being basically lazy.... I took a shortcut to sifting dirt. The dirt that I use has some clay in it so it tends to clump together. After the dirt was dry, I put a cup or so in a cheap blender that I
bought at Walmart. The blender sifts it in to a very fine powder.
Gary Rush
At the Pomona Valley MRC, we use a commercial clothes drier lint screen for selecting ballast from quarry run. If you start with a bucket, use a 1/4" hardware cloth screen and let the very fine dust
winnow (blow away). Then we sift the rest through the finer screen. The willow would be good soil. Test your source for magetic atraction before filling the bucket.
Jerry
The dirt that I have collected for use on my layout has come from several areas. I collect it in large coffee cans. I don't bring it into the house until I am ready to use it. The first thing I do is
spread it out on an old baking sheet and bake it in the oven for one hour at 450 degrees. Not only does that kill all germs, fungus and eggs; but it also dries the dirt out completely. After that it
is easy to run through strainers.
Bruce
I have used real dirt in my modelwork for over 40 years and have never treated it as something I was going to eat by cooking it in the oven. Don't ever recall being attacked by germs from it either.
Sounds like overkill to me.
Alec
Would it be possible (and faster) to just zap it in the microwave for a couple minutes instead of the oven?
Sure as long as you had stired the dirt with a magnet a few times first. If you did not and there are specks of iron you'll see sparks.
Rick Shoup
I put some sifted and washed dirt into a microwave once to purify it - organic material remaining in the dirt caught fire and just about ended my microwave and my marriage simultaneously. I saved
the layout though...
Art
I would keep the dirt out of the microwave. A microwave heats stuff up only if it is conductive. It would be pretty hard to get the right setting to heat the dirt because who knows how conductive
your dirt might be. The humidity and material would both affect it.
As for material, I have discovered that the little piles of sand that accumulate on a paved parking lot make beautiful ballast. (be sure to run that big magnet through it first) However, the
particles include some that have a very thin layer of tar on them, so after baking them in the oven for a while the whole house takes on the odor of new paving. (Oh what our spouses will put up with
for the privilege of knowing where we are at night.)
Dick :)
An old toaster oven used outside works great also.
You don't do as much dirt in one go but then again you don't have to wait for supper either:-)
Donald
I never liked the idea of using the kitchen oven to 'Bake' scenery dirt. As previously mentioned there can be an offensive or annoying odor. Why permeate the house and cause domestic problems?
I have used the Barbeque. I use and old pan or some aluminum foil shaped to hold the dirt and let the BBQ cook it for an hour or so, depending on how thick the dirt is. Since this is done outside
there is no odor or spillage problem.
Joe
I have never heard this mentioned, but instead of using dirt for soil texture, I have had good luck with ceramic tile grout. About the right texture, and you know there is nothing magnetic or alive
in it, saving a lot of sifting, cooking, sweeping with magnets, etc.
It comes in a variety of colors, and is cheap, about $10 for 25# at Lowes. In a thin layer, 25# goes a long way. I have used mixtures of "sand beige" (medium brown) and "parchment" (light brown),
and "sterling silver" (light grey) has come in handy. After the final plaster layer is applied or painted, just sprinkle a thin layer over the top, directly in the wet paint or plaster.
You can sprinkle it on with a pint glass jar with holes drilled in the lid. I keep several jars with different mixtures of the two shades of brown, and have several lids with different sizes of
holes. Bigger holes for ground foam, smaller for the tiles grout.
It does not have enough adhesive properties to be durable in a thin layer, but spraying with dilute Elmers white glue or matte medium takes care of that.
And incidentially, my local paint store mixed a perfect match for Floquil earth in a good quality flat acrylic paint. $8/quart sure beats $3/oz.
Gordon