Hello, I live in Australia and have never seen snow, so some advice from those who have would be great. I am doing a panzer 4 in Russia with whitewash but I would rather not spoil the tracks with lots of mud snow slush etc. Would this assumption be correct. Winter comes, ground goes hard, snow falls. Could a panzer move through this terrain without leaving deep track marks in the ground and without collecting loads of mud around the tracks and wheels. If the snow was light would it always collect in the tracks and suspension. In short how clean could I keep my tank in early winter.
Kind regards,
Paul

Hi,

yes you could keep a clean tank. There are various types of snow. Let's assume the snow is the "dry powder" it would not stick to anyhing. It would only gather on horizontal surfaces after it has been thrown up by the tracks such as the tops of fenders (and where the wind does not move it )

cheers,

Mat

snow does come in many forms. if you are looking for what conditions would make for a clean tank situation you would likely see this during the heart of winter.

early winter means the ground may not be frozen completely and snow fall is usually wet and makes a mess.

mid-winter the snow can be very fine and dry like a dusting. the ground would not change much with one pass of a vehicle but roads with lots of travel will show signs of heavy wear.

take a look at snowmobile images to see how snow can accumulate in wheel rims and tracks as well look at tractors in winter to see how snow can build up on the rear of vehicles.

one special note, even though snow will fall on horizontal surfaces any snow that is on a warm surface will melt right away. so don't pile snow on mufflers, exhaust vents, over engines compartments, etc...

here's a pic of an old diorama i made using woodlands soft flakes mixed with water and white glue:




it dries slowly so you have time to shape it and do boot/vehicle imprints. look forward to seeing your project come together.

cheers, bd

Looking at these photos I would have to say that this is truly a brilliant piece of work, really inspiring. Can I just ask if the Woodland Scenic snow goes yellow over time, or does it remain this fresh looking ? Also, is this your preferred snow product ?

You could have a frosty day at the start/end of winter where the ground is so hard the snow does not fille the tracks? It would account for your whitewash effect and allow you to make snow in surrounding areas to whatever level you want.

thanks for the kind words and to answer your questions, no the woodlands does not yellow over time (this dio is over a year and a half old) and it is better than using baking soda in my opinion as it is easy to shape for both fluffy and slushy snow depending on how much water/glue you add to make it wetter.

hope this helps. cheers, bd

Praggio, having spent my fair share of time in the snow... all kinds of snow... I do think it would be safe to say you can pretty much model the affect to your own taste and be right on the money for a given day! I dug up these pictures of solid ground and driven snow (at least that's what I hope they look like!)


The effect was created with spackling plaster and then a top coat of paint to give it some shine.

I would just search for snow scapes on the web, study the pictures, and go from there!

I hope this helps some!

My favorite medium for snow is a product called microballoons. I've used other various including hudson and allen, baking soda and woodland scenics and have found that the microballoons is the best. Having lived in Northern Michigan for 20 years I've seen winters with total snow fall of over 300". There are many ways to apply these, white glue, hairspray, matte artists gel...Microballoons are commonly used by model aircraft modelers to fill in gaps in their balsa airframes.

If you don't want to "mire" your tank treads, you could do a scene from deep winter as previously suggested where the ground would have been frozen completely solid. Even still, you'll probably end up with some accumulation of snow in the treads. Remember, fallen snow tends to be smooth, and piles in drifts. don't forget to add track marks and boot prints!

Good luck!