Tutorial: Doing snow

[Malebolgia]

Having finished a lot of scenery for Frostgrave this weekend, I thought it might be nice to share my new snow recipe I used. I’m really happy with how it looks and how easy it is to apply. You can also use this method for basing.

So, what do you need?

1.   Vallejo Still Water
2.   Woodland Scenics Snow (Soft Flake)
3.   Bottle of sparkly glitter
4.   Brush to mix the snow and apply it to the scenery

I used Vallejo Still Water because many PVA glues tend to yellow over time and as far as I know VSW does not. In addition, it adds a certain amount of wetness to the snow which is excellent for a thawing city! I added the glitter to give the snow that typical sparkly look. The bottle of glitter was purchased in a toy store, at the girl makeup section. Tip: bring your daughter/niece/neighbor along if possible, it prevents any weird looks . Finally, I went for Woodland Scenics Snow and not baking soda because I really don’t want it to yellow over time. And Baking Soda does, even with white paint added. I have lots of yellowish snow bases in my showcase…:(
Finally, make sure your brush is clean. You don’t want any colour hues in the snow mix.

Step 1

Toss in a good amount of Woodland Scenics Snow in a small plastic container.

Step 2

Squirt a good amount of glitter in the container. You can add quite a lot, depending on the effect you want. And mine even smells of strawberry!

Step 3

Squirt in the Still Water. Make sure you do this in steps, adding more and more to get the right consistency. Too little and the snow becomes too thick and you can’t smear it on the scenery well. Too much and the snow is too liquid and will flow off the scenery. In addition, thin snow mixes won’t be as white as thicker mixes.
Now you can vary the liquidity of the snow mix. A bit on the thicker side and you will have thickly packed snow. A bit on the runny side and you will have melting snow.
(I mixed it with a sculpting tool, but you can use the brush normally)

Step 4

Dip the brush in the snow mix and dab it on the scenery. Now for my scenery piece I wanted to have patches of slightly melting snow. It’ll be for Frostgrave, so that seemed a cool solution.
At this stage check if the mix is too thin or not. You can see if it will slowly run off the scenery. If so, add some WS Snow. If it’s hard to apply because it’s too thick, then add some more Still Water.

Done! Just wait at least 24 hours to let it dry well.

Here’s how it looks after applying all the snow:


And here it is after letting it dry for 24 hours:


A good white snow with some sparkle and a nice texture. Very easy to do and I am very happy with the final look.
I will upload photos of all the scenery pieces later this week.

[OSHIROmodels]

Very useful 

I'll pop this into the 'How to' section if that's ok.

cheers

James

[Malebolgia]

And now with shots of the snow table:




And the table in action during a game of Frostgrave:

[snitcythedog]

Thank you for this.  I tried it with a slight alteration using gloss medium vs the still water and it worked a treat.  Been fretting over snow since I started playing frostgrave.
Snitchy sends.

[Philhelm]

Perfect, since I've never tried applying snow effects, and want to ensure avoiding eventual yellowing.  A couple of questions:

What is the glitter?  Is it nail polish?  It's hard to tell from the picture, but is it a white glitter?  What brand is it?

What's a rough ratio of the mixture components?  How much Woodland Scenics snow did you use in your example?

What happens if you let the snow dry, and decide to apply another layer?  Will the layers be distinguishable from each other, or will it blend well?

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Try adding a touch of acrylic white to the mix - and even a tiny touch of pale blue for the shadows, it gives the snow a more 'solid' look.

Tony

[Peithetairos]

Mmmh, really cool effect (no pun intended). I think what I am missing with my efforts is the glitter. I may have to go to the Dollar store. I am sure they have something similar.

[Malebolgia]

Perfect, since I've never tried applying snow effects, and want to ensure avoiding eventual yellowing.  A couple of questions:

What is the glitter?  Is it nail polish?  It's hard to tell from the picture, but is it a white glitter?  What brand is it?

What's a rough ratio of the mixture components?  How much Woodland Scenics snow did you use in your example?

What happens if you let the snow dry, and decide to apply another layer?  Will the layers be distinguishable from each other, or will it blend well?

Thanks! Let's see...
1. The glitter is a silvery liquid to apply on faces, hands and fingers. It's kid's stuff and even scented. You could also use this:
https://kitkraft.com/products/ultra-fine-silver-glitter
Very fine stuff and it has no liquid added (even more safe against yellowing!)

2. Honestly, I don't know the ratios. I just start by tossing in the Snow scatter in the small tub and then add the Still Water until it has the right consistency. It's a matter of just adding until it feels right. Not too thick so you cannot smear it well and not to thin so it will all run off the scenery.

3. Adding more works well. It will also give a more opaque snow, but you will not see the difference in layers. It will help to use a slightly more liquid mix for the second layer so it will settle on top of the first layer more naturally.

Try adding a touch of acrylic white to the mix - and even a tiny touch of pale blue for the shadows, it gives the snow a more 'solid' look.

Tony

Jup, good tip! But note I was aiming for a more slushy snow. Therefore I didn't add the paint. But for a more firm and thicker layer of snow adding white helps.

[Mad Guru]

Wow, what a great post, thanks so much for putting it up!  I've been planning for a long time to do a "Winterized" terrain project, and this will definitely help.

Just one crazy -- in a good way -- detail of happenstance: Malebolgia, I saw you are in the Netherlands -- but the source you posted for the "Glitter" is my local hobby shop, located about a mile from my front door in Los Angeles, California!

[Malebolgia]

REALLY???

Sometimes I'm still amazed by how these things work out.

[supervike]

Great one Mal!  I have everything I need, except the glittery stuff, which I'll rectify immediately.

[Terrains4games]

Great table, Frostgrave is very inspiring for table design and modelling.

[Reed]

Great tutorial. I've also read that some people use fine marble powder (sold cheap at any fine arts supplier), so I will try that before purchasing a bottle of Snow Effect.

[Poiter50]

Is Vallejo Still Water similar to distilled water?

[snitcythedog]

Is Vallejo Still Water similar to distilled water?

It is a product to replicate water so very different.  It is very similar to gloss medium so you might look there if you cannot find it locally. 
Snitchy sends.