Snow bases

[Gabbi]

I'm thinking on finish assembling and painting my December crew.

I did some early test with white glue and bicarbonate, but while results looked great at the time, now (a couple yrs later) the snow is visibly more yellow. So I would ask suggestions. What do you use? Any specific product or technique to suggest?

 

 

[zFiend]

Just don't eat the yellow snow and it's okay.

[MasterDisaster]

My friends have had fairly good success with PVA glue and snow flock. They mix the flock in and effectively paint the mixture on. They were using GW's Flock but I suppose it could work with any old stuff really. 

[tmod]

Microbaloons. A cheap and awesome solution. Messy though! Google it...

Edit: you matte medium or water effect to apply to base, not white glue, as pva tends to yellow over time...

[Bengt]

For snow bases I've used spackling paste, I made quite uneven as it was for an army and I envisioned it be trampled. I also painted it since there will be a lot of shadows in uneven snow.

[Gabbi]

Thanks everyone for suggestions, I'll check microbaloons. I'll also try using water effect in place of PVA glue.

[Guslado]

On my cult of december stuff I use some fun ice basing that is a lot easier to do that it looks. I wrote up a tutorial on it here.

For snow, I use baking soda mixed with gloss medium (GW 'Ardcoat) that I mix into a paste and then apply to the base. I usually apply some straight gloss varnish onto the places I put the paste after it has setup some and then sprinkle baking soda directly onto it, brushing off the excess after a couple hours. This is one of the best methods I've found to keep the glittering, crystalline look of snow. 

[Gabbi]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing this.

[dgraz]

Add some white paint to the pva/bicarb mix to prevent yellowing.

[Gabbi]

If I recall correctly, I did. Maybe not enough...

[Guslado]

Add some white paint to the pva/bicarb mix to prevent yellowing.

I've never had the problem of yellowing with using gloss varnish instead of pva glue. Adding white paint to it ends up messing up the shimmering effect you get when you use baking soda. For my money you can't get a more realistic snow effect than baking soda and gloss varnish other than using crushed glass and gloss varnish, but I am not a fan of using crushed glass due to it's inherent dangers. Also, a box of baking soda costs significantly less than crushed glass, is more readily available, and one box will give you enough snow to base an army of polar bears mounting an attack on the penguins of Antarctica (yes, I know polar bears are from the north, that's why they are attacking Antarctica!)

[Bengt]

 you can't get a more realistic snow effect than baking soda and gloss varnish 

In my opinion that looks more like cotton candy than actual snow. It takes very little disturbance for there to be sharp shadows in snow, at which point it will look like a collection of greys, blues, and white with clear contrasts.

[Guslado]

In my opinion that looks more like cotton candy than actual snow. It takes very little disturbance for there to be sharp shadows in snow, at which point it will look like a collection of greys, blues, and white with clear contrasts.

 

I'm still working on getting it to photograph well, but in person the snow mentioned ends up looking a lot like the real thing. It's hard to capture the glittering, semi-transparent look of the snow in a photo. Most of what I end up doing is admittedly meant to be fresher snowfall surrounding ice crystals, but I tested out a dozen different methods before finding that baking soda and gloss makes the most true to life snow.

 

For snow bases I've used spackling paste, I made quite uneven as it was for an army and I envisioned it be trampled. I also painted it since there will be a lot of shadows in uneven snow.

 

I've always found that snow made from spackling paste always ends up looking like spackling paste 

[Bengt]

I'm still working on getting it to photograph well, but in person the snow mentioned ends up looking a lot like the real thing. It's hard to capture the glittering, semi-transparent look of the snow in a photo. Most of what I end up doing is admittedly meant to be fresher snowfall surrounding ice crystals, but I tested out a dozen different methods before finding that baking soda and gloss makes the most true to life snow.

 

 

I've always found that snow made from spackling paste always ends up looking like spackling paste 

That's the thing, in my experience snow is not semi transparent and generally not glittering. In fact snow is very opaque since it scatters light so well. Sure, it can glitter but only in specific light and temperature conditions. I can understand if people like the stylistic effects this gives, but I strongly disagree that it looks like real snow.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you think all painted plastic models just look like plastic?

[Ferossa]

Boys, boys, the types, colours, and textures of snow vary by geography. I'm sure everyone is equally right. 

 

You can tone down a yellow tint on baking soda by giving it a gentle wash in a VERY watered-down blue ink. The blue cancels the yellow, brings out the highlights, and brightens the "snow". Make sure you use a VERY light touch on the ink.

 

Alternatively, you can achieve the same thing with dollar store makeup and brushes. Pick up a blue set (dark, medium, pastel) and gently re-paint the snow using your dry, mineral-based paint.

[Guslado]

That's the thing, in my experience snow is not semi transparent and generally not glittering. In fact snow is very opaque since it scatters light so well. Sure, it can glitter but only in specific light and temperature conditions. I can understand if people like the stylistic effects this gives, but I strongly disagree that it looks like real snow.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you think all painted plastic models just look like plastic?

No no, that spackle comment was meant to be a joke that in hindside just sounds dickish, so sorry about that.

As to the qualities of snow, because snow is made up of billions of tiny crystals in the sunlight it not only has a sparkle to it, but the granular nature of it means that it actually has a lot of empty space in between those crystals allowing the light to penetrate to deeper levels. I suppose if you only get a few inches of snow a year you don't get to see that quality of snow, but where I am originally from we would have 2-3 feet of snow stay on the ground for the better portion of the winter.

[tmod]

No no, that spackle comment was meant to be a joke that in hindside just sounds dickish, so sorry about that.

As to the qualities of snow, because snow is made up of billions of tiny crystals in the sunlight it not only has a sparkle to it, but the granular nature of it means that it actually has a lot of empty space in between those crystals allowing the light to penetrate to deeper levels. I suppose if you only get a few inches of snow a year you don't get to see that quality of snow, but where I am originally from we would have 2-3 feet of snow stay on the ground for the better portion of the winter.

I'm guessing this is more decided by how fresh the snow is. Don't know where you're from Guslado, but here in the Nordic countries (guessing by username that Bengt is a Swede, could of course be wrong) where we're used to several meters of snow (6' or more. Sometimes WAY more!) the snow tends to stay put for weeks, sometimes months at the time.

Fresh snow, especially in extreme cold, glitter and sparkles like crystals of glass. However, it quickly becomes opaque white, especially in less extreme cold temperatures.

Thus both styles could be realistic representations of snow. More glittery crystals better represent fresh snow, more opaque coatings better represent old snow...

[Gabbi]

Today I searched for nail acrylic to try the linked ice effect, but found none. That would be good for Rasputina's pillars, too (and Dragyri ice walls).