Lunar landing diorama

Try grey Celluclay,,,  even the color would work nicely

Almost everyone gets it wrong. The Lunar regolith is about as dark as ASPHALT! The Moon is one of the BLACKEST heaven bodies, about 7% in albedo. Do why is it so "silvery"? Because the Sun in so BRIGHT! (The Earth averages 30-35%.)

Celluclay will come out like asphalt or cement, not really... powdery  I would suggest trying to use pastel chalks or even... well... sand, use adhesive spray then airbrush it.

I know this doesnt help much but I know FOR SURE  the answer to your questions is out there somewhere because I remember reading about a guy they did it.

I read so many books, magazines, web sites and forums that I cant always remember where I saw it.

Google is your friend!

Use a flat paint from a rattle-can, and set the can a couple of feet, or more, above the surface when you're painting.  The larger droplets from the can will be sort of set up when they hit the surface, making it look much coarser than it is. You may even want to experiment with setting some embossing powder on the surface first, THEN using the distant-spray technique.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Just read an article today in an older Sci-Fan Modeller!

A guy was using "diatomaceous earth" to simulate dirt.

I know it is a very fine white powder. Its almost like the powder found in laser jet ink cartridges except its white and not as messy. Just paint it black, grey or whatever!

If I remember correctly from my old biology classes its basicly silicon which means it will be inert i.e. won't react with anything, decay, or attract bugs! It comes in different grades but I'm not sure what the difference is. I assume its the grain size or purity.

Reading the article I realized I still have most of a 5 lb bag from back when I kept aquariums. I think I paid $10 for the bag about 8 years ago. I'm definitely gonna find that bag and try it out!

Thanks for the tips

mitsdude

Just read an article today in an older Sci-Fan Modeller!

A guy was using "diatomaceous earth" to simulate dirt.

gonavycv64, you need to separate Space from Sci-Fi. Which do you what?

Diatomaceous earth is something I use to clean my swimmer pool. DE is a soft, siliceous earth that is a fine off-white powder. DE is *NOT* anything like Lunar regolith. (Trust my old, yellowing aerospace engineering degree.) Real moon ground is dark gray — it's likeable poorly-made gunpowder (and it rather smells like it).

Sci-fi movies use fine, light gray powder because the director wants what he "knows" he looks right, not what *is* real. Your choice. Dark gray or light gray.

I'd make it off-white, with a little green and blue flecks to simulate roquefort cheese....

I didn't intend to suggest it be used as white. After you have glued it down paint it any color you want.

You could also break up some hardened plaster into itty bitty pieces to represent larger pieces of regolith. And of course paint them.

I made a new base using drywall for the support and 'spackle' to make the surface. It'll be wet and use a moist sponge to make the texture and a wet finger to make the craters ... then paint with primer. The primer grey is good enuff ... comparing it to photos from the lunar surface.

Here's few pix of different diorama's. 

It's nice, easy and effective.

Pete

I have had a lot of success with dust bath for chinchillas.  It has the prefect texture and color at that scale.  For smaller displays, I have used plaster with seltzer instead of water.  The consistency needs to be a little thick and as the bubbles escape, they leave excellent craters.  Again, this is at a much smaller scale and only as filler to sculpting craters which are larger by hand.

Diatamecious Earth WARNING I used this stuff for insect control. The pool stuff is different DON'T use it for anything other than its intended use. The garden stuff which I used is like ultra fine talcum powder and is pure white. It is a limestone product made up of millions of fossilized sea shells and is VERY abrasive to lung tissue. IF you are using this BE SURE TO WEAR A FACEMASK. Do not get the stuff all over the place as it can be very messy. Also ONCE IT GETS WET it turns into paste and loses alot of the features your looking for. That wetting includes paint and glue.Might want to try a test sample first. If it doesnt work out save the stuff and use it for bug control. Nothing works better

My wife used cement mix.

She sprayed the base with a thick, heavy coat of spray adhesive (the craft stuff in a can), then (wearing a mask) dusted the surface with cement powder. She bought a small repair bag from the hardware store. Knocked the excess off, and voila, perfect lopking lunar surface. You can spray it with a clear sealer and dullcote.

I love how 2 weeks after I first posted this thread, ideas and suggestions keep coming in.  Thanks for the ideas everyone.

I love this stuff, not only because it's as close as you can get, but also because it's color is so unexpected and dramatic. And teaches those who are interested something cool and probably new about the moon. Use it as you would the various model railroad ballasts.

http://www.orbitec.com/store/simulant.html

Jay, thanks for the info.  I just ordered some to try on my dio.

The regolith simulant looks cool for many things, but for 1:48....not so sure. It says the grain size is 1mm and smaller.  In 1:1 "real life" scale, that 1mm would be a rock 2 inches in diameter! (48 x 1mm = 48mm, or 2 inches [50.8mm]).

The pastel chalk and cement dust do a pretty good job, quite dark.

Let us know how it turns out, and post some pix.

LOVE the moon buggy dio!