Making ice crystals

[L.R.]

Hello to everybody, and nice to meet you! I'm completely new to this forum and I thought I could start with posting a request for help before introducing myself. I always prefer to have something to say first!

Long story short: I should begin building a winter-themed diorama and I wanted to know how I could make ice crystals to place here and there. They should be big enough to be an obstacle to aiming with fire weapons (the dio is supposed to be a WH40K one). The best solution I've found so far was to buy a transparent plastic sheet to cut in small pieces that would be glued together.

I've also thought of casting transparent resin, but I've got no clue on what to proceed. I've never done anything like that and I'm afraid to make a mess.

Do you have any suggestion for me? :embarrassed:

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[QuietiManes]

I'd probably do the easier option and just carve them out of styrofoam then paint them white with a touch of blue ala Superman's fortress of solitude or whatever that was. You can find images of lots of these things if you do a search.

It may be a real chore figuring out how to get clear plastic to look right because leaving it clear will look like angular glass tubes. "Frosted" ice could be as easy as some sanding but it might not look right. Maybe fine or coarse sandpaper, maybe inside or outside of the sheet, maybe scraping with a knife, heating with a torch...something will work, I just can't think of what.

If you're doing icicles, you can make them with water effects, clear drying wood or PVA glue, clear 2 part epoxy glue, etc. Mix in a very small fraction of a drop of paint if you'd like to tint the icicle. Make a line on some wax paper with your product of choice, let it dry then add layer after layer to build up the tapering icicle. You can use fishing line as well...thin wires or paperclips too, just paint them something like a light blue or white if they're going to be clear icicles. Of course you can just heat up a sprue then play around, pull and bend it a bit if you want to paint the icicles.

 

[freakinacage]

"Frosted" ice could be as easy as some sanding but it might not look right. Maybe fine or coarse sandpaper, maybe inside or outside of the sheet,

i reckon fine sandpaper on the outside would be ok. that said, it's a fiddly way to do it
i reckon the best,although not cheapest way is quartz crystals. you can usually buy a handful for a couple of euros. stick them on to your sow base et voila!