Soil

2022: One of my first dioramas: snow - no soil, no vegetation ...
I'd heard horrible things about various "home remedies". So I decided to use Tamiya Texture Colour (snow effect). I was satisfied with the material and the result. I'd used a box (approx. 25 cm x 25 cm) designed in Sweden ... 

The next dio was a Fire Support Base (I called it "Manassas") in the Central Highland of Southern Vietnam. Red earth, tropical Laterite as photos show. The situation: Freshly created by a Caterpillar, there were no plants. Some weeks later the base would have become a fortress built of sandbags.  

Using Vietnam Ground Texture (250 ml) to build the earth ramparts was easy and clean. After 24 hours the material was still glossy like wet earth. It was enough for the project (40 cm x 30 cm) and the colour had to be varied.
I'm no expert, but components for a ground texture may be 1) colour 2) a filler which gives structure and fullness, maybe sand or other mineral material 3) a retarder to slow down the drying process 4) an amount of elastic material to impede cracks 5) an adhesive to stick all together. 

Then a desert diorama follows: an oasis. The first homemade tree and the use of Löss as a dust pigment to simulate an aeolian sediment. Healing clay (Heilerde) from the drugstore is the same stuff, only cleaned and sieved. 

First attempts with ground scatter: bird sand, dried coffee powder, herbal tea powder and parts of a Greek mountain tea. The landscape is still a flat surface.
 

Brown soil for the Chiba tank grounds (ww2):
In our region the most soils are brown. But the soil in my garden is to grayisch (among the humuos part) or I’ve to dig too deep. So I found brown soil from freshly excavated deposit. Now I’ll look if the soil would be suitable to make a modelling ground.
Experiment:
I take an empty marmelade jar and fill it with the soil to a third. Next I fill up with water also a third. The last third I need for shaking. Close the marmelade jar tightly with the lid. Check if anything can leak. Caution: mess!
Then shake and mix water and soil as long as until everything is „solved“. Then put the glass down and do not move it. Wait 24 hours or longer until the water is clear. All parts of the soil will be layered (colours, grain size). If there would be organic materials they will swim on the surface.
To be continued …