Dirt

On my L&SE diorama, I used real sand for my basic ground cover, which looks okay to my eye, but in close up photos appears too coarse, more like gravel than dirt. 

Some time back I saw pictures on one of the model railroad Facebook groups of a scene that used sanded grout to represent dirt. It looked great, so I thought I'd give it a try. This reminds me of a technique called Zip Texturing that was promoted in Model Railroader magazine back in the 70s, along with hardshell scenery. Back then, they used plain white plaster with dry powdered pigments. Pre-colored grout is much easier. The material is sifted on dry, then misted with water to fix it in place.

I bought a bag of Polyblend Sanded Grout, Linen color, at Home Depot, and applied some around the tunnel entrance, with a bit of sand, mostly around the track, representing gravel. It's really gratifying the way a little "dirt" makes the scene come alive. 

I have mixed feelings about the appearance of the track. The powdery grout sticks to the ties so they end up disappearing into the surrounding soil. There are those who will argue that a little industrial line like Frazier Borate wouldn't ballast their track, so having the track all but buried in dirt is realistic, but still.... I'm thinking about going over to the home improvement store and see if I can get a small bag of fine textured decomposed granite, and use that to ballast the track and for rock rubble around the layout.

It will also look better with the addition of some other ground cover materials to add color variation and the suggestion of some vegetation. Makes me eager to do some scenery work.

Now that I've finished the Flagstop, I may take a break from buildings, do the other tunnel portal, then work on scenery on the "south" side of the layout, in the vicinity of the future engine service area.

Linen turned out to be a great color choice, very close to the soil in the Lockwood Valley. Greyish sand adds some variety of color and texture.

This is likely the next area I'll work on. I'll build and install the tunnel portal, then apply Sculptamold, rock castings, and ground cover to the mountainside and cliff to the left and the streambed (Bitter Creek) to the right. I will probably relocate the engine track an inch or two farther away from the cliff behind it to make more room for the engine shed. The mine entrance and 18 inch gauge mine track up on the hillside will make for a fun scene to build.

I had some dark brown grout left over from a home remodelling project, so I'm experimenting with mixing that with the Linen color in various proportions to create some color variation. A mix of 8 parts Linen to one part of the dark brown gives a nice shade that's noticeably darker than straight linen, but not excessively so. Mixing that 50-50 with sand adds some texture without much change in color, though some of the darker sand granules are still visible, which I think will add some variety on the micro level.

Also, the sanded grout only comes in 25 pound bags. That's a lot of ground cover. I may mix up a batch with water -- like, you know, grout -- and try using that instead of Sculptamold over some of my foam scenery base, at least in areas that will be covered with "dirt" anyway.

Update, Jan. 25: I installed the portal at the other end of the tunnel and have been doing some scenery work in that area.

I sifted some sand from my bag of All Purpose Sand. It looked pretty good. Ran a magnet through it and pulled out a frightening amount of iron. I kept running the magnet until I removed most of the iron. Then I used the resulting material to ballast a foot or so of track around the tunnel entrance. I glued it down really well to be safe.

For years I used plain plaster for my basic scenery base. On my shelf build I used Sculptamold. In this case, I had all that tan grout,  so I mixed up some of it and applied it over the foam in the corner.

The next day, I brushed any loose material off the track, then masked it with blue painter"s tape. I also ran a dam of tape along the outside edge of the layout to minimize scenic materials ending up on the floor.

Then I spritzed the area with water and applied a 50-50 mix of Linen sanded grout and grey concrete sand, sifting it over the area liberally. A dispenser made from a parmesan cheese container, with an insert cut from a scrap of window screen, made application easier.

I added a few pinches here and there of the same mixture with just a bit of Sable (dark brown) grout added. In the creek bed, I put some of the larger size rubble I had sifted out of my decomposed granite sand, some sifted decomposed granite, and some grey sand. I also scattered a bit of the same materials here and there around the area. Finally, I spritzed it with water again and dribbled on diluted white glue where I had applied the larger rubble.

Tomorrow, when it's dry, I'll remove the tape and do some touch up. At that point, I can glue the tunnel portal in place, then permanently install the top of the mountain. Then it will be time for Sculptamold and rock castings on the mountain.

Jan. 26: Here it is the next day, with the blue tape removed and a little blending along the edges of the ballast: