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When basing my models I tend to use fine soil/gravel that you get in the modelling shops that is used for doing railway scenery. Apart from the usual coal dust/fine ballast(usualy grey) there are only 2 different options that I've found. One is red oxide which is great for mars type basing and a sort of whitish stuff that acts strangely when it comes into contact with pva glue. Does anyone know of other types in existence? Note I'm not talking about modelling flock as in my experience this stuff tends to fade with time. I know I can paint up the bases using sand as the primer but I like using the gravel simply because it makes the base look more real.

Well you can get aquarium gravel in all sorts of gaudy colours (from experience I think it is simply non-toxic paint on any old gravel) including bright pink. Do you not paint your bases? My technique is to stick the model to the base, cover it with PVA/waterproof paint mix, dip it in sand with fine grit in it, let it dry, cover it in matt black enamel (I am very old-fashioned, I undercoat with enamel, I find it harder-wearing) but then I overpaint it with acrylic and drybrush a soil-type colour over it before sticking on small bits of clump foliage. You will also see from some of my Blood Axe orks that I like making strange fungal growths from Milliput to decorate the base. So unless you have a problem with painting bases, you can paint it whatever colour you like. For some reason, I did one ganger from the 80's with a pink base. It doesn't look as bad as it sounds, but of course nobody has a pink battlefield for it to go on. I tend to stick to fairly neutral colours, Graveyard grey/brown or a sandy colour. Anything else I would have thought stands a good chance of not matching your playing surface, assuming you do play.

I tend to go much cheaper: I go out to my driveway and find some sandy-dirt. PVA glue the base, stick it in a tubberware filled with the found sand, and swish it around. It looks more natural than hobby terrain material because it isn't so uniform in size. Alternatively, if you don't have a gravel/dirt driveway, look alongside curbs. Fine sand and sediments collect there, and work pretty much the same way.

My second method, for more organic texture, is to pinch potting soil from my wife's plants when she isn't looking. I mix up a bunch of this with PVA glue until it has a paste-like consistency, then I use a trashy old paint brush to smear it onto a base.

After I use one of the above options, I then paint it and flock it.

Coloured sand in all sorts of wacky colours is available from larger craft stores. And as above, pet stores have aquarium gravel in various colours, although often too coarsely textured for modelling use.

Certainly look for any free gravel around where you live - either in the wild or around building sites etc. Take a small sieve with you - generally you won't want anything too big to fit through a sieve's mesh.