Hey all!

For both Seeing Red and Ardennes Campaing I want to make snowy dio's.
I heard and read some different techniques about making snow, mostly for ground cover, from salt or flower and even from plaster or white coloured sand...
Also there are 'snow-products' from Noch or Berka or Woodland Scenics.

What's your opinion? What did you use and how did it turn out? What's a good technique and what's absolutely not recommended??

I also very interested in snowy pine trees, like the ones on the picture below. I've made a big pinetree using a balsa roundwood and some pine foliage and it looks OK, But how do I add the snow on the trees to give it this look?

Thanks in advance for tips, hints and other comments.

Paul

I used baby powder (talkpoeder) for my snow on this diorama:



Very easy to use, no glue needed. You can just add it to your diorama

(dutch : strooien)

and it will stay on it's place, if it stay out of the wind etc

(dutch: dus niet op de tocht zetten ofzo, t blijft wel liggen zolang je er maar niet op gaat blazen ofzo, bij mij staat ie zonder problemen in mijn kast!)

I've got some in spare...I can send it to you if you like, you can also buy it in shops like Kruidvat, Etos, Trekpleister, etc.

Hope this is helpfull

Martin

I have never made a snow diorama, but I have read in military modelling magazines that one good method is using the false snow spray cans you can find round the shops at Christmas time. Hoping I have somewhat helped you,
Cheers and good modelling!
Prato

for light snow i use bicarbonate of soda-dust it on then spray with hairspray to fix it.

for deeper snow you can mix it with PVA glue and pour carefully onto surfaces, when it dries it looks like snow drifts etc

if you want a good covering of dry snow just build up layers of the bicarbonate of soda.

you can get big pots of it from food shops for a lot less than you will pay for the specific modelling products

regards

joe

I use a light spray of "Spray Adhesive" then a dusting of Sweet N' Low. I litterally spray then set the tree or "item" in a box and sprinkle the Sweet N'Low from 18 to 24 inches above the item. Let Dry and re apply depending on the thickness I want.

SWEET N' LOW is an artifical sweetener, not realy sugar. After using it for 25+ years it never yellows and does not attract bugs, ants or other critters.

Neill

I got this idea from Tony Greenland...Alum powder. A jsr was less than $4.00 at the drug store. Brush on diluted white glue and sprinkle from a small strainer and there you have it.

Chief

Thanks for the good ideas so far.
I think I have to trie some to see the results myself.
Perhaps I write a review about it!

Prato, I had very bad experiences on an earlier dio with the "Cristmass Snow" for it became very sticky after a while and it can effect your paint on the model. And the "flocks" are too big. So please, do not try that yourself if you'd planned that...

Martin, that baby powder (talkpoeder in dutch or "talking powder" in 'english-dutch' :-) ) is indeed an idea and looks OK. But I have to fix it with some glue, because it must stay transportable. It smells good too!
And I guess baby powder don't yellow after time or will attrack bugs...
Same for Chief's Alum powder idea.

Joe, bicarbonate of soda, is that baking soda?
The PVA tip is good, will try that as well for the thicker layers.

Neill, sweetener. I looked in the shop but the ones they had were a bit yellowish (was also not the brand you named). The guy in the shop looked very disturbed when I asked him if I could see how white the sweetener was. He thinks I had one too many coffee!
But that search will also continue...

If there are more tips out there, please tell me!!

Thanks again!

Paul

I use Bicarbonate of Soda. For the trees, spray hairspray or spray adhesive (like 3M) from ABOVE the tree, then sprinkle Bicarb from ABOVE down on the tree. This prevents the 'snow' from sticking underneath the branches.
I would not use 'christmas snow' from a can, it's to rough and is very difficult to apply in small, measured amounts.



Cheers
Henk

hey paul, i get good results using baking soda and white glue. depending on "heavyness of the snow, you can adjust your dilution ratio fro the white glue(water+white glue mixture) and for a buck the white glue and a buck for the soda, its realy worth the try

when its drying, i liek to use an airbrush to simulate winds, therefor i can get cavitys in the snow(makes a mess lol, so do that outside!)

Frank

Hi,
I used the Woodland Scenic snow....maybe used less than 1/4 of the container for the full diorama (14" diameter) Layered it on to create depth with a mist of water/whiteglue mixture between layers.

White glue/water mix; baking soda; oversprayed with hair spray (the pix are old, hence the color).

Art

Im with charles on this one, the woodland product is fairly cheap, and behaves more like real snow (wet snow) than the other products.

Hi,,,,I will throw in my small effort on the cold stuff



Slaphead

Hi Paul:

I read several of the responders who made suggestions about snow and my idea is different. And I think it has advantages because you don't need to use adhesive, or spray on glue, or a mix of white glue and water first. It isn't a powder of any kind. And once it hardens overnight, the wind will not be able to blow it off your base. You mentioned Woodland Scenics in your note so I'm hoping you can get WS products in The Netherlands. They make a product called Subterrain Foam Putty that come in a 16 ounce container. Sorry, I'm old and metric illiterate! :-( It's a white putty in an airtight plastic container. Most people, and that includes me, use it for ground cover. You can sand it, carve it somewhat (it is somewhat spongy when you feel it after it dries and will give a little to the touch, but not much).

However, it can be mixed with water so that it will spread in thinner layers. It doesn't seem to make any difference how much water I add to it when mixing it in my palette, it still dries to the same firmness as if I only added a small amount of water. To create snow, I mix it w/ water to a thin soup texture. Then I use a #4 artist brush ( I dip the brush in water a lot as I'm working) to apply and spread the foam putty "soup" over the area. You can completely cover the ground or just put it in small areas as if the snow was wind swept. I do that technique w/ a toothpick and come back with the brush if necessary. The water in the brush allows you to put the soupy foam putty on very smooth. If the foam putty stands up a little too much in one area, just dip the brush in more water and smooth that area out. This stuff is just wonderful. . .
Wishing you good luck, Paul

Well, this forum is giving me all the info I wished for and even more!
Thank you all very kindly for the tips, ideas and hints!
I made a list of it an gonna give it a try during more dio's.

I do can get the Woodland stuff here in the Netherlands. I have very good experience with this brand, for my other hobby: model railroading. It's absolutely high standard, but a bit expensive (here in the Netherlands, that is...). But's it's worth giving a try!!

For those interested in my results: STAY TUNED TO THIS FORUM! I will post a few pictures soon of a combination of Martinnn's babypowder idea and the water/pva glue mixing ideas...



For those "Dutch and other Europeans listeners" who followed this forum; Woodlands Scenics is available in the bether modelling shops and there's an import-agent in Belgium click here for link and also in the Netherlands (but I cant remeber who, and they don't seem to have a website?)
If your shop however does not supply Woodlands Scenics products, ask for "NOCH" products and catalog: this big German brand is almost always deliverable in Europe (if not, look for an other shop, because yours is not serious about modelling :-) ).
NOCH has 'adopted' Woodland Scenics products in their own program, only the labels and numbers are different.
This is the link to Noch.
Happy snowing!

PAUL

That looks also great! Please tell, what was the technique you used??

Hi 007

First ....I MUST STATE....this is a product we developed and sell....so please do not click the link if this offends you....

But the technique is simple...I also ONLY use white PVA glues when mixing snow...all the others do not work for me and some just yellow the base material or worse allow the ground work stains and powders to bleed up thru...so I stick to PVA only...

http://smallshopeu.com/SNOW-COAT%20HOWTO%20Page.htm

I include some stage pics below for you


Mix 'The Stuff' with PVA


Paint it on..... If however you need thin dusted or light snow such as a light fall on grass....dust it down onto a wetted area and allow to dry. The best way is to 'spot spray areas with the PVA/Water mix using an airbrush.


Build up deeper areas, dust on a light top coat and allow to dry a little, then 'press' in details such as track impressions


Wet areas with 50/50 PVA and water then dust on dry powder to add fine details etc...


Add ice and ice edges to the snow where it has melted....also 'gloss-up' the edges some more with 50/50 PVA/Water dry adding it like you would a wash by touching the very edge and allowing the PVA to bleed ito the powder a little


Areas of slush and stained snow etc.... can be done with oil washes 'touched' into the center of the stain and allowed to bleed out from the darkest area ....but take care as it is easy to add...harder to remove the colour with out digging out the snow and re-doing that area...so not to bad, but a pain if you go too quick at this stage...





Hope it helps

Alasdair

I have to say I am a soda fan myself, but I add a little variation. This is something I learned from an article written by a Russian guy that is a member of armorama.
After the soda I take a sieve and fill it with powdered sugar and gently spread that over the soda in the same manner that you see people making cakes use.

Hi not knocking the method....but don't bugs end up eating you doirama ?? or do you protect it ? also does it go sticky in the sun....?

As said...just a question on the logevity of such a method

Alasdair,

I have to say; your snow looks great! It has also that bit 'blue-ish' / cold glance over it.
Thanks for the example pictures and who knows I give it a try!
Is it also available in shops or just by mail order only?

Paul

You can get it in the Netherlands....Rob Plaz....part of the Tweenot group....he has a shop over there....or if you come over to Trucks and Track/Euro with all the other Dutch guys....you can get it there also....but some good online guys do it too....this is the link to MSTeam in NL

http://www.modelsupplyteam.nl/

AJ