the humungus
New member
I am painting a V.C. army and I'm putting snow on the bases. I'm looking for some tips or pics about the best way to get a cool snow effect. I have some of the citadel snow and I'm experimenting. Talk to me people. Thanks.
Snow on Bases.
- Thread starter the humungus
- Start date
You can use baking soda+glass powder+diluted wood glue. Then add some more glass powder to make it shine a bit.
And it gives this:http://www.fullrepent.fr/spip.php?article65
And it gives this:http://www.fullrepent.fr/spip.php?article65
nels0nmac
Member
I use tile grout ( white of course) to build up the area that I want to be snow. The relatively thick nature of the grout means you can get nice curves and folds around the edges of the snow. Then PVA whatever snow powder you have on top of that.
Here's an example :-http://www.coolminiornot.com/185978
Here's an example :-http://www.coolminiornot.com/185978
the humungus
New member
Thanks man.
Torn blue sky
New member
Does anyone recount something about adding watered PVA glue to the Citadel snow? I've seen some great effects done with this, I actually really like the citadel snow since it's so very VERY fine. I'm not 100% on this but i'm sure it had something to do with watering PVA and adding it to the snow, it gives a solid packed feel to the texture.
Where would you find glass powder, Cheelfy? I'm pondering painting up some Space Wolf termies and I wanna go the snow route. The pics base looks great!
Where would you find glass powder, Cheelfy? I'm pondering painting up some Space Wolf termies and I wanna go the snow route. The pics base looks great!
TheDrescher
New member
I've used that combination on some bases before and it has come out nicely. I mixed PVA glue with the citadel snow until I got a mixture about the consistency of toothpaste. I basically globbed it on to the base in patches and it smoothes itself down and dries looking like a decent powdery buildup. I'll see if I can locate a pic for you
cleen X
New member
I have used PVA glue and white paint mixed together about 50:50, this will make it very thick so you can have something that looks like a small pile of snow, then put baking soda (or natron) over it, it is much saver and healthier than the glass powder and very cheap and easy to archive! If you check out http://www.massivevoodoo.blogspot.com they have some great tutorials on snow and a couple of tricks on how to add snow to the mini itself!
Firestryke31
New member
From what I've heard, baking powder yellows, but baking soda doesn't. This is probably because baking powder is baking soda plus some extra stuff, whereas baking soda is simply sodium bicarbonate.
Einion
New member
I haven't done this with the GW stuff but I have with baking soda and it's great because you can make a thick paste and sort of sculpt it into position on the groundwork. On top of that you can make little balls of the stuff when it has stiffened up and wet them, put them into position with the tip of a brush on the snow surface or on the figure and they'll stick pretty well.Torn blue sky said:
I mixed the two basic ingredients together on the palette and added as much water as needed to make the paste workable - it gets way too thick very easily without any water. And more water can be mixed in later on if it gets too stiff again.
The pics don't show it very clearly but the snow on this entry in my gallery was done this way.
Glass powder (or 'powder', some of it is tiny glass balls) is available under a few names but you can usually get it anywhere they sell casting supplies as it's a filler/bulking agent for casting resin; Microballoons is one of the common names for it. Resin powders are also available which are less of an inhalation hazard.
What Firestryke31 said. In fact his post is nearly exactly what I was going to type!locutus said:
I have some groundwork with baking soda snow that's around 20 years old now, still white as it was day one - this was done using the sprinkle method, so the baking soda is fully exposed to air.
Einion
the humungus
New member
It does. My Nurgle Deamon look like the went pee on the snow.
TheDrescher
New member
Regardless of your method I'd make sure the work area and materials are clean as well. I've seen people have discoloring come from weird palettes or from the water used to thin down their mixture. Agreed on the Baking soda, it works well without giving the grassy look the GW stuff can do if not mixed properly
Glass powder is prohibited to selling (in France, don't know if it's the same in other countries) but I has some from a friend about 2 years ago. My friend doesn't have any left so he's trying to get some from an optician but it's not sure he'll get it. I've also read you could make some yourself by crushing a bulb but I'm not 100% sure about that. This is a dangerous product so wear a mask when you're using it and make sure you don't spill some everywhere while dusting.
Einion
New member
That was likely your glue/adhesive then. Or something bled through from beneath.the humungus said:
That shouldn't be an obstacle if you order it from overseas, eBay would probably be a good place to start but suppliers of casting materials should be able to post to any part of Europe without a problem.cheelfy said:
Yep, you can do this; I tried it recently. You'd want to use a porcelain (or glass) pestle and mortar for best results I think.cheelfy said:
Einion
airhead
Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
microballoons are not glass powder - that is they are not simply ground up glass.
Microballoons are hollow glass spheres near microscopic in size. Breathing them in quantity would not be good (but neither would anything else other than air.) but small amounts are inert to the body.
Microballoons give a very white snow look.
Try model airplane stores or marine (boat) supply stores or fiberglass suppliers.
Ground glass is very hard on everything it gets near. It is an irritant to the body.
I would not use it in my minis.
Alum is a spice used in canning and pickling. Sprinkled on top of fresh baking soda/pva or microballoon/pva will give that glittery crusted over snow look.
Microballoons are hollow glass spheres near microscopic in size. Breathing them in quantity would not be good (but neither would anything else other than air.) but small amounts are inert to the body.
Microballoons give a very white snow look.
Try model airplane stores or marine (boat) supply stores or fiberglass suppliers.
Ground glass is very hard on everything it gets near. It is an irritant to the body.
I would not use it in my minis.
Alum is a spice used in canning and pickling. Sprinkled on top of fresh baking soda/pva or microballoon/pva will give that glittery crusted over snow look.
Joona
New member
I've favored the Galeforce 9 snow flock. It's white, stays white and it actually looks a bit like overgrown snowflakes (compared to the models of course). I usually mix it with some white glue and occasionally add a really small amount of white paint if I want an even more frosty look. After you've applied the mix on your base, sprinkle a bit more flock for a powder snow look. Or make it look like melting slush by "painting" some clean water over the paste.
Shellshock
New member
Had good results in the past with microballoons mixed up with pva glue and a drop of white or pale blue paint depending on the result I was after.
I also use the Citadel stuff, mixed with glue and a bit of water. When you hit the "happy spot" in the mixing, it looks very dry and disgusting, but when applied with a wet brush to the base it's perfect. It settles a bit and smooths out without losing its shape entirely. Great for adding lumpy/trodden snow to the bases, instead of having marshmallow patches on the ground miraculously unstepped on by human feet 
