Simulated Moon Surface / Moon Dust

I did an Apollo 15 diorama, but rather than dust, I used a small piece of drywall as the base, and 'spackle', or drywall paste to make the craters. While the spackle is soft, I used my fingertips and small balls and bald tennis balls to make the craters. Broken chunks of the drywall I used as moon rocks. Then paint it! It's sturdy, looks quite effective and doesn't blow around!  ;-D

Here 's a pic of two. I can just imagine the difficulty in using dust ... a sneeze here and there and poof!  ;-)

Hope this helps.

Pete

Great suggestion.  That looks pretty sweet.  What color did you use for the paint?  Light gray?

The paint is just primer from a spray can. I've high-lighted some of my bases with 2 or 3 other shades to show where the astronauts have walked.

I've done 4 or 5 different lunar bases using this same method. If you use this method, when making the craters, you'll find that keeping your finger, or whatever you'll use to make the craters, should be kept nice and wet. Don't even worry about little puddles in the 'spackle', it'll all dry out nicely!

And it's fun to make too!

Pete

Looks fantastic.  Thanks again for the tip.

I have a display I made in a similar environment from when I was still in Jr High.  I used flour and charcoal.  I ground up the briquettes into a powder and mixed the two.  I then used just the powder to make all the shadows.  I fixed it all in place with extra hold hair spray.  Again, at that time I had NO budget and this has held up for over 35 years and still looks very realistic.  This was for 1/48 scale.  For a smaller scale model, I used plaster mixed with club soda.  The club soda created small bubbles which turned into craters as the plaster dried.  As it was drying, I also added a little charcoal powder on top and used a small 35mm film case lid in the center which created a dramatic crater that was the center of the display.  Worked very well for a smaller scale and it still looks great almost 40 years later.  Again, on the cheap!

Thread bump!  Sorry to chime in so late, just saw this.  Volcanic dust.  When I was in the Army, we used to go to Yakima training center in Eastern Washington.  The place is covered in volcanic ash from St. Helens.  The stuff is like grey talc, it gets into everything, and is unbelievably fine.

I am not sure if you can get it online, but ash from that mountain might be exactly what you're looking for.

Chris

Use hair spray and then some "Portland Cement", it's the perfect color, fine as any dust, and loves to stick to the hair spray.

At one time, Edmund Scientific had an item in their catalog called Moon Dust, or something similar.  It was formulated to replicate the optical effects of the real thing.  I don't know if they still carry it, but their website is http://scientificsonline.com/

Hi, don't really know if this is relevant for you now considering its been a month or two but I thought this might help.

Its a 'dust bath' for chinchillas. Its very fine and gray, much like what the picture shows. I've never used it for modeling purposes but I imagine it would do quite well. I used to work at a pet store and often thought about purchasing some for my supply stash but never did. A jar that size, roughly 3 pounds, runs about $3-5. All you'd have to do is ensure that it adheres to the base with some white glue or something.

Jon

Ever try this?

http://www.moonplaysand.com/moon_sand_s/1.htm

My sister bought some for my daughters B-day. It got everywhere and was a PITA.  but it was very fine just like what I would expect the lunar dust to be.

Im a big fan of BBQ ash!

I used it on a model rally car recently.

Great idea.  Now I just have to find someone who doesn't yet own a gas grill!

Chris

Very useful thread, as I'm working on the Round 2 Moonbus and might want to put it on a moon-surface base. Thanks!