Hey everyone!!
well its been a while since ived had time to work on some models but i have finally got around to it. Anyways thought i start out with a boom and build a ww2 diorama of a german panzer. But i need help making dirt for the base. I cant seem to create real looking dirt. Any pics, instrucctions, tips, techniques would help!


thanks guys

Well, you can use real dirt. Just be sure to microwave it to kill those nasty germs.

1) Sift it on a base that is coated with white glue. Or....

2) Mix the sifted dirt with white glue and water. Slop it over the base or wherever you want it to be.

3) You need to "weather" the soil so that it would look real.

Angela

Gday Jeremiah
In addition to Angela's tips you could use ground coffee spread over white glue... then add granulated joe for variety. Looks good but smells better
Cheers
Brad

How a nice tip Angela, thanks.

If you "Dig" a little deeper you may have found this! :-) :-)

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/60948&page=1

thabnks guys ill have to give these ideas a try and see which one works best for me
thanks

There's also a product called celluclay, an instant paper mache. It's cheap, super easy to work with, and looks great as soil, dirt, mud. I'd highly recommend checking it out.

Another vote for Celuclay.
Straight white glue and anything on a base just isn't realistic unless you're depicting tarmac, paved road (after yesterday's drive along I-95 in Connecticut, I'm not so sure of that!) or the salt flats. The world just ain't flat. There are light undulations everywhere and C-clay allows you to represent that. Furhter, by adding railroad ballast you can creat a bit more texture. Put in a few drops of earth tone acrylic paint and you reduce the need to paint hte uneven surface. Then add some white glue to the mixture and it will adhere better, especially if you drill a few holes into the base to increase the bite.

Consider woodland senics Soil (T41) mixed with Earth (T42) over a celluclay base.

Bradley's coffee suggestion's a good one, Jeremiah. You can vary the colours of the ground coffee by mixing in other kitchen items like curry powder or other ground spices. Just remember to seal everything well afterwards with something like hair spray, or you'll have your dio crawling with ants!

I use Durhams Plumbers putty. Mixes just like plaster... dries like rock.

I rough in my basic shapes, pouring straight from my mixing bowl, Next I sprinkle dry Durhams from a shaker - I use an old 35mm flim container with a few holes punched into the lid.

The HEIGHT from which you sprinkle and
the AMOUNT you sprinkle on the wet Plumbers Putty will impact the texture.

Once it dries, I blow (Air compressoer minus the aribrush) and bush off the excess. It ready to paint

Work nice and eliminates the dirt falling off later or during painting.

Neill

.

Way that's my forum post