Let It Snow!

Living in Utah, I should like snow. I hate it actually. Too cold. I would never survive a winter in Khador. But, lots of folks use snow on their Khador bases so I thought I would show a few different methods. There are some really good articles out there on the web if you know where to look. I'm trying to compile the info into one place.

Hudson and Allen Studio - Slush

Hudson and Allen Studios make all sorts of great scale modeling products. They're a bit hard to find, but most stores carrying 1/35 scale models, trains and such will either have it in stock or be able to order it in for you. They have two different varieties of snow: Snow and Slush. misterfinn was kind enough to send be a small baggie of white crystal powder of the Slush variety. The crystals are mixed with powdered glue so all you need to do is add water and apply. On Finn's suggestion I added a bit of white glue to the mix to help with durability. Just mix it up and slop it on your base wherever you want melting snow to be. Since I wanted this to be a spring time base with grass peeking up through snow it was perfect.

Once the glue dries, you're left with nice crystals that look like chunks of melting ice and snow. For a bit of extra protection I brushed a thinned layer of white glue over the snow areas again. Once this dried I spray sealed it all.

Baking Soda

This is a pretty common way to get snow. Baking soda is quite cheap and readily available. The grains are extremely fine however and it can be difficult to get a good top finish with it. To make a nice paste, add some water and lots of white glue to the soda. You can add a drop of blue ink for some color for a nice cold looking snow, but be very cautious. As you can see in my picture, one drop goes a long way. I had to add more soda and glue to get the ink / soda ratio down.

Again just slop it on wherever you want snow. I use a toothpick both to mix and apply the paste. Once you have snow where you want it let it set for several hours. You can speed it up a bit by setting the base under a warm lamp, but if it dries too fast it stinks and can crack. you've been warned. Once the paste is completely dry it won't look like powdery snow at all. To remedy this, you'll need to build up several layers of glue and dry soda. Thin some white glue with water and brush it on over the paste, then sprinkle baking soda over it. Let that dry and repeat as often as you can stand it or until it looks enough like snow for you.

The picture on the right below is after 3 applications of baking soda. Like I said, it has a very fine grain and takes a long time to build up.

I got tired of playing this game so I grabbed my next product (Woodland Scenics Snow) and within 2 layers I had what I was after.

Woodland Scenics - Soft Flake Snow

This only comes in a large shaker bottle for about $9.50, but that bottle will do an army of bases. It's really only good for a light topcoat though. If you want a heavy drift you need to build it up with something else. Luckily I had my tubs of Apoxie Sculpt handy.

I added another layer of Apoxie where I wanted the snow drifts to be. I made sure to get it as smooth as I could by using my fingertip wet with water. Since it's pretty smooth but still has some "tooth" to it when dry, it didn't matter whether it was primed or not. I just painted straight over it once it was set.

Paints used:

• VMC 153 Pale Grey Blue
• VMC 002 Foundation White

Method used:

1. Basecoat with VMC 153
2. Highlight with 1:1:1 VMC 153 : VMC 002 : H2O
3. Highlight with VMC 002
4. Repeat

I stuck to the highlight colors used on the rocks. This helped to unify the two elements. When this was dry, I brushed on a thin layer of white glue and sprinkled the Snow over it. Dry, repeat. After the second layer I brushed on one more thin coat of glue to help secure the powder. After this I applied spray sealer. It's pretty durable, but you still need to handle with care to avoid knocking too much off during play.

Wrap Up

There you have it, 3 different ways to make snow. Now get out there and play some winter games!

Until next time.

--YW7--