Hey guys I have found a new source of gravel, rock and dust for dioramas. I thought about this at work(I work at a NAPA Auto Parts store). We sell bags of oil absorbent that is made of diatomatious earth. It comes in 25lb bags and costs less than six bucks. You could ask your local store to try and order it for you, the part number is 8822. If you have any problems, please feel free to contact me. My email address is [email protected].

25 lbs?! I don't know if that will last me long enough!!

Kidding aside, thanks for the tip. A local club could buy a bag and share it amongst themselves while costing nearly nothing.

I've pulverized some bricks I had laying around. Certain typs of Kitty Litter (diatomatious earth) Depending on the color, Run through the Food Processor makes a nice Rocky Desert type Ground work as well

I took a small piece of dry wall and gave it a good wack with a hammer once

kitty litter has tons of other uses as well so get a bag. We in the boy scouts use it in our shoes . Put some in old sock and when you go to bed stick the sock in your shoe to absorb moisture. Also keeps little critters out. I'm in scorpion country and they like to crawl into empty shoes

When i was in the police and attened my fist civil disturbance i put kitty litter in my underpants. :-)

Yep, it's kitty litter. Diatomaceous earth is really the remains of prehistoric shellfish. That's what makes up the buslk of sink and toilets, under the porcelin. It's "Adsorbent" rather than "absorbent" meaning that liquid will adhere to the surface, but it doesn't really soak it up.
Want other cool debris? Use air drying clay to make partial replicas of any buiilding detail from columns to roofs, etc. Let it dry and hammer it. It gives more detail to your debris.

Sealhead (Kansas Sunflower)