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Modeling Snow and Mud |
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By Frank Amato III, #42035 |
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Snow Every once in a while a modeler gets the notion that a snowy, wintry scene might set the right tone for their latest masterpiece. Unfortunately, snow is not the easiest substance to model and varying attempts have been made to make the white, wet stuff. Most of us have tried the glued down baking soda, or sugar, or plaster of Paris. All of these have varying degrees of success. Recently, I found a product that fulfills all my modeling requirements and yet retains a snowy crystalline appearance. I happened upon a canister of ‘snow’ by Woodland Scenic. The ‘snow’ is a powered plastic material, which retains scale size and sparkle. The instructions state to use Woodland Scenic scenery glue to adhere the snow in a layered fashion. I however, found to just too tedious building snow banks one layer at a time. I solved this by mixing the ‘snow’ with Mod Podge (MP). MP is a glue-like liquid with the ability to seal and attach materials. I prepped the surface to be snowed with straight MP and then sprinkled on the snow. For drifts and banks I mixed the snow with the MP until it was a thick ‘batter’. This allowed me to add it to both vertical and horizontal surfaces. One the MP/snow dries it retains a beautiful sheen of wet snow. It can be applied to vehicles and figures using a disposable brush or plastic applicator. Mud One of the offshoots of my snow discovery was that of making mud. The same snow makes great mud. Using the same Mod Podge and snow mixture I add real sifted dirt. The dirt colors the mix to a muddy brown and when it dries it looks just like fresh, wet mud. A bit of dry-brushing with a lighter ‘mud’ shade can denote the drying effect of the sun. Thinning the mixture a bit, the ‘mud’ could be used as a stopgap camouflage over a military vehicle. This practice was not that uncommon in both North Africa and Russia. One thing to remember that use of Mod Podge in either ‘snow’ or ‘mud’ will permanently affix your model to the base. A way I discovered to prevent this is to apply the ‘mud’ to your base and then BEFORE adding the model cover the wheels of tracks with plastic wrap. The details will still show in the ‘mud’ but you can pop the model off. |
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