Replicating desert sand?

I havent tried it but maybe some kinda spackling compound, which I have used for scenery, then painted sandy and maybe some fine sifted sand mixed in for texture or sprinkled on top. Also check model R&R scenery things. There are tons of ground covers and I bet some ground foam painted and glued down might even work too.

There is quite a variety in desert sand/floor surfaces. Some is just plain rocky. Some is loose and shifting. Other is hardpack and covered with stones or sparse vegetation. The latter variety shows tracks and prints up better. Model Railroad stores have products that will simulate  different surfaces.

You can get stuff at your pet supplies shop called "gecko sand".  As the name suggests, its to put in the bottom of your tank for your lizard to run around on.  Very fine, and comes in a variety of colours.........

stikpusher wrote:

There is quite a variety in desert sand/floor surfaces. Some is just plain rocky. Some is loose and shifting. Other is hardpack and covered with stones or sparse vegetation. The latter variety shows tracks and prints up better. Model Railroad stores have products that will simulate  different surfaces.

        Plus a couple of more considerations. 

 1- What scale are you building your project?  The scale view will make different materials usable.  For instance, at 1/72nd scale, using a creamy surface textured with 400 grit sandpaper, or finer, would be good. 

 2- What area of the world will you be representing?   The sand in Saudi Arabia is so fine, that it cannot be used for construction.  They have to import the  sand they need for concrete.  As a matter of fact, anyone who can develop a commercial use for their sand can collect some BIG BUCKS from the Saudi government.  At least that was the "word" we heard when I was there for several weeks in the early-to-mid 1980s.  Modelling THAT sand would require  a different method than you'd use to represent sand of the Sahara Desert or  Pismo Beach in California.  Let your "scale vision" guide you.

Sheperd Paine wrote in his book, How to Build Diaromas , that he would go out to the street curb in front of his home and scoop-up the sand left there by rain runoff.  It worked for him. 

 

 

 

 

                        

 

As Stikpusher mentioned, you need to be careful in deciding the setting of your diorama. Don't just assume that because it is a desert, then there must be heaps of sand.

Most arid regions around the world comprise poorly vegetated, dusty and rocky terrain. The areas of a desert that comprise sand dunes are relatively small (though the Sahara may be an exception).

That said, there is no substitute to replicate sand, soil and rocks than sand soil and rocks! Obviously, these need to be scaled down to an appropriate size, depending upon the scale of your diorama. For example, a fist-sized rock (10cm diameter) will be about 2mm in 1:48 scale or about 1.4mm in 1:72 scale. Likewise, a 1mm grain of sand will be 0.02mm in 1:48 scale and 0.014mm in 1:72 scale.

These grain sizes can be easily obtained by seiving natural soil or sand. A cheap method for larger sieve sizes is to use insect screen or kitchen sieves, but for the finer fractions, you may need to visit a more specialised supplier (eg. mining supplies) to obtain brass or nylon seives. As a rough guide, refer to the following sieve sizes. Remember that seive sizes are graded by the size of the opening between the mesh. 2mm = No.10 mesh; 1mm = No.18 mesh; 0.5mm = No.35 mesh; 0.25mm = No.60 mesh; 0.1mm = No.155 mesh; 0.05mm = No.300 mesh.

The easiest way to create the required terrain is to use your favourite method (foam, expanded styrene, paper mache, plaster, etc) to create the base, then paint a base colour similar to that of the required sand, dirt, etc. When this is dry, paint on a thinned solution of PVA glue and simply sprinkle on the sieved sand or soil. Wait for the glue to dry then shake or blow off any excess.

Add an occasional rock (larger seived particle), depending upon the terrain and maybe a hint of vegetation to break the monotony... Above all, refer to photos of the actual terrain to get an idea of what it should look like. For example, if it is a sand dune terrain, then there won't be any rocks and probably no vegetation.

If you want to make any tyre tracks, etc, in the base, the best way that I have found is to use a set of wheels on a brass rod axle (or you could just use a diecast model car) and create the wheel tracks when the glue is almost dry, but still soft enough to emboss the tyre tracks onto.

Hope this helps.