Hi,

I'm about to put some last touches on the groundwork of my diorama....snow.

I tried the classic baking soda technique. I mixed a 50/50 mix of Elmer's glue and water. I poured this mixture over baking soda. I mixed the stuff until it became like a smooth paste and spread it all over a tree in the dio (as a test).

After 24 hours, the baking soda snow looked fantastic but the finish is very very fragile. I could scrape off the baking soda with just a touch of my finger. I tried sealing it with hairspray to crystalize it. It didn't work. It's still very crumbly.

Tonight, I'm planning to do the process...50/50 mix of elmer's glue and water again but this time using baby powder instead of baking soda. It worked when I modeled the crusty muffler of my sdkfz 223.It became tough when it was dry.

Does baby powder make good snow effects? If it does, should I mix it with the Elmer's glue/water mix? Or should I spread Elmer's glue on the surface first...then sprinkle it with baby powder?

Suggestions? Thank you.

Angela

Ola Angela

Well I personally like the snoweffects of babypowder. For DISTRACTION I have tried several techniques of snow and from the housemethods (not buying stuff from the Hobbyshop like Busch Snow or Microballoons) and Babypowder came out as one of the best.
I don`t recommend first adding white glue diluted or not. The babypowder will suck every moisture up and it will look funny. Almost like plaster.
What I recommend to you is simply add the babypowder as normal snow does. From above (Duh FAUST really??) And then spray Hairspray from a certain distance on your dio to seal the snow on to it. The Hairspray will more or less secure it to place though still some care needs to be taken when handling the dio.
Another Alternative you might try is getting the Snow from the Trainmodel company Busch. You add water to this making some sort of plaster wich can be applied with brush onto branches etc. you also can make heaps of snow very easily with this.

I have explained the Babypowder method I used for DISTRACTION in this article
DISTRACTION Greta`s Revenge

Hi Angela,

I'm not much of a snow expert but the dio I did involving snow was done with first applying PVA:water mix first onto the groundwork/base followed by sprinkling the baking powder over the glue via a tea strainer. Wait for an hour or so to dry and blow off (use hair dryer set on slowest speed) the baking powder not stuck down and apply more PVA:glue to the bald areas using a syringe (or anything that can control the droplets) followed by sprinkling more baking powder.

I found mixing the whole lot together and applying it destroys the "delicate" look of fallen snow as it becomes too clumpy.

I've not tried talcum powder but if Faust's dio is anything to go by it should come out great. BTW Faust I really liked your Greta's revenge. For me it was simple but highly effective and as you said inexpensive. Its still one of the best dios I never get bored viewing.

At any rate Angela, whether you use baking powder or talcum powder, its going to tend to be delicate so you might want to minimize contact or too violent movement of the dio after the snow's done.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Now, for another concern. Does baby powder/baking flour/baking soda turn yellow in time when hairspray is used on them?

Angela

There have been a few threads about snow lately, and the general concensus seems that neither Baking soda nor Baby powder turns yellow over time. I have only used Baking Soda myself, with both PVA Glue and /or hairspray, and it has not turned yellow. Make sure that the PVA glue is completly white, and that any paint you are covering is absolutly dry, otherwise the color might bleed through
I use PVA glue if I want a thicker pack of snow, and hairspray for a thin covering.

Here's one I did earlier



If you use a thick (undiluted ) layer of PVA glue you can also add good footprints etc.

Cheers
Henk

I did not read all replys- But what about white chalkboard chalk, ground?, Armor guys use this I think.

my snow technique is just this: lay a coat of elmers white glue down on your surface, sift baking soda onto the glue, then after i form the shapes i want w/ the snow, i spray hairspray on it( dont hold the can to close) and the hairspray seals it perfect!

just my 2 cents

My favorite is still "Sweet N' Low" Has great look, easy to use and never yellows or disolves.





50/50 glue and sprinkle away. Let it dry and blow off he excess. Re-apply as needed.

John

Angela:
Many ways to do this. Mine is white/glue water on base, sift baking soda on (or "clump" as desired), overspray with hairspray from a distance. This dio was about 3 years old when pix were taken-no yellowing (the sepia tone is cause the pix are old). Hope this helps.

Art

Thank you very much for your advice. I used your methods but instead of baking soda, I used baby powder.

Now I need another suggestion from you regarding yet another problem. Boy, these snow problems are perennial.

Just bear with me, guys, coz this is my first diorama...ever.

Before putting the snow, I have placed parsley leaves to represent fallen leaves. I spread a 50/50 mix of water/Elmer's glue to the groundwork and sprinkled the flakes in it. I did this twice. I let this dry for two days, I think.

When it dried, I airbrushed the parsley leaves with brown (to represent dead leaves that fall on autumn) and drybrushed it with yellow.

When this dried (for another two days), I sprinkled the baby powder snow and sealed the thing with hairspray.

It looked fine but the snow where the concentration of parsley leaves are (under two trees) went a little green. Sort of like mint green. That means the color bled through the powder. I tried to put more powder but the green still comes up (albeit a little fainter).

Now I don't want to put any more snow than I should since I'm doing an early winter dio.

So, how can I fix this bleeding problem? Suggestions? Thanks.

Angela

I've never used baby powder, so I'm not sure, but there may be a slight chance that some ingredient in the powder is reacting with the paint. Try recreating the problem on a scrap base. Set up 3 or 4 sections, paint all the leaves the same as before, but use differant "snow" (baking soda, Sweet-n-Low, etc) on each one and see what happens.

Art

Try seaing the leaves with some brown acryllic paint, and then apply the snow again.

Woodland Scenics make a great "Snow" (thanks HeavyArty!!) and supplies enough to last a lifetime.

Even works for 1/72 scale IMHO.

Hello Guys,

Did anyone ever tried Potato Flour yet ?
I find it even better than baking soda.
Nice finish, very look like and very cheap.

Worth a try,

Cheers
Alain
Brussels

Als in aardappel meel? .
Hmmm.. I'll try anything once, Ill see if I can get some.
As for woodland scenics, can we get this in Brittain, or what's the equivalent. It's mentioned so often, I might try it.

Cheers
Henk

I finally solved the problem late last month...and made a "fortunate" mistake.

I couldn't contain the parsley's bleeding. So, I mixed some mud (sifted soil, water and white glue) and re-applied it over the bleeding area. It's just a small area, so,no problem there.

When the mud dried, I gave it an oil wash of dark brown and later dry brushed it with lighter brown and yellow. I let it dry for two hours but by then, I was beginning to get impatient. I applied baby powder snow.

To my pleasant surprise, it worked! No more bleeding green parsley.

Now, what is this "fortunate" mistake?

Well, the wash didn't dry out completely. Therefore, the dark brown bled through the snow. It has a very beautiful effect, somewhat like "dirty" snow and the ground showing through the snow cover. Maybe that could be considered another good technique.

Thanks for the offered solutions, people.

Angela

so you took baby powder and sprinkled it? No mixes with anything, just baby powder?

That's correct. I followed FAUST's suggestion.

I just sprinkled it like normal snow does. Then I sprayed hairpspray to seal it. I did it gradually...one thin layer of powder, then sealed with hairspray. I repeated the process until I had about three layers.

Angela

I also used Woodland Sceenics and was pleased with the results.

I guess you could spray a matt varnish over the ground work that should seal it

What is woodland secics?
When i make snow i get a 50/50 mix of baking soda and PVA. I then put some drops of water in it. this makes it a fine paste.Get a spatula, apply it. wait overnight, and hey presto, SNOW!!

cheers

Philip

p.s WW2 model maker and the Small shop EU sell sonw effects.

And so you should be Monte, that is a very good looking dio, very natural. Congratulations

Cheers
Henk

how come no one is mentioning baking powder? does that not work?

and for crystallising effect... why not sprinkle a wee bit of sugar or that superfine clear glitter that some people use when making greeting cards? I'm not suggesting using a lot, but in if you have a scene where sun is glinting down onto a patch of snow.. it sparkles a bit.

There`s always white sand ballast from a Railway shop or Micheals craft stores.

After your model is complete take your sand and sprinkle everywhere,let lay naturaly.

Using an eyedropper,white glue /water mix you freeze it where it is.

You can add more if you don`t think there`s enough piled up against roadwheels and tires.

Very easy to use,soaks up the mix quite well,drys rockhard and if it`s not white enough you can paint it whiter. Blues and purples in pastels for shadows.

You may also want to look into a product called SNO-COAT from the Smallshop, which is located in the UK.

I have no finacial affiliation with them, but I know the owner and he is a good guy, and the product looks nice.

http://www.smallshopeu.com