Stop, Collaborate and Listen: Modelling Snow and Ice

A Song of Mice and Mire

Having made a reasonable amount of snowy terrain over the last four years, it's time to share what I've learned!

Snow

There are tons of different ways to make snow effects for bases and terrain. You can buy some pretty amazing products, for example, and I've tried out quite a few of them at various points. Being a poverty-stricken wretch, my emphasis is on cheap and readily available, however. Much as I'd like to point you towards everything that these guys make, for example, you can find perfectly acceptable solutions without splashing out so much!

Whatever you use as your snow, I would paint the ground underneath dark brown, dark grey or black. Any bits that show through will give good contrast and help sell the idea that it's a layer of snow.

Sodium Bicarb

The first bits of terrain I did were with good old fashioned sodium bicarbonate. Mix it with PVA glue until you've got a thick paste, slather it on with whatever kind of miniature trowel you favour (I use old lolly sticks) and let it dry. If you aren't going for full coverage, rounded, organic blobs work well, and don't try to be precise.

You even get a bit of texture from it if you slather it on good and thick.

It's good - a pleasant light, crusty surface, it's pretty tough and it's very easy and cheap! Over time, though, it goes a bit yellowish as it absorbs water from the air around it. It also gets brittle, I've found some of the clumps on my oldest scenery can easily be knocked loose. Easy to repair, mind.

You can see, it works well overall. But on close examination, you can see it's too smooth and paint-like to be convincing.

There's something about the final texture that's a bit off, too, although that depends on exactly how much PVA you put in. The more glue there is, the wetter and meltier the snow looks, which might be what you're after or it might not. I've never been terribly scientific about my blends, I'm afraid, so I can't advise on precise mixes, but I'd err on the side of glue. It's very brittle otherwise.

PRO - Cheap and cheerful
CON - Doesn't last well over time

Snow Flock

If you use this like normal flock, i.e. sprinkle it over glue and let dry, it looks pretty lame. Totally wrong texture, for one. Furry snow? No thanks. It's okay from a distance, I suppose. It helps if you paint the ground underneath white first. There's an impression of depth, then, that's otherwise lacking.

Here it is stuck on over white paint. It's okay, just, but it wouldn't be my go-to these days. Also, these patches are too small and round - streaks or larger patches look better.

It's better if you mix it in with a more standard flock to get a frosty look. And better still if you mix it heavily into PVA, again getting a toothpaste consistency. If you plonk blobs on top of a wall or branch, then pull the edges downwards with your trowel, it forms strands that dry quite well and look pleasingly drippy.

It's fairly cheap, at least, and a little will go a long way. I have a tray of GW stuff that's still going strong after four years, but that's because it's really not my favourite stuff.

PRO - Cheap, useful ingredient for other mixes
CON - Doesn't look good by itself

Valhallan Blizzard

This is a GW specialist texture paint. Very easy to use, as you just smear it on and leave it to dry. The final texture is maybe a bit over-lumpy for snow, something to do with the scale of the crystals, but personally I like it, it's a simple solution that's very effective. 

See? It's fine! The little clumps are a decent effect that sort of happen whether you want them or not, but they're all to the good.

Apply it directly over whatever sand or dirt you've put on and painted up first, then smear your finger over the top to pack it into the crevices for an 'old snow' look, or stick another layer over a dry one for deep and crisp and even. 

So it's expensive, coming in small pots that cover something like 40-50 25mm bases before running out. And it's actually a pain to apply, especially as it gets dry and crumbly inside the pot once you've used about half of it. But as a quick fix, I'd recommend it. 

PRO - Pre-mixed and a good finished result

CON - Expensive, not the easiest to put on

White Pigment Powder

When I got a runner-up prize in a story-writing competition at Secret Weapon Miniatures, I picked up a couple of things for terrain. One was a white weathering powder, basically white paint pigment.

This is the effect when it's brushed into stonework. 

This looks great dusted lightly over whatever your ground base is, especially if you paint that a good dark brown (Rhinox Hide, for example). Just tap a bit on from the pot, then use some damp kitchen paper to wipe lightly over the top. It gives a good 'hard frozen' appearance, not exactly snowy, but it looks cold!

The powder also works as ash, as you can see on this fireplace

It's very messy stuff. It will get everywhere given the slightest chance, and it stays mobile until you fix it with pigment fixer or spray varnish. The former is good if you want to really wash it into the recesses of stonework or armour, by the way. The latter is much quicker to dry, but can need a couple of coats, especially if you've gone thick with the powder.

PRO - Very quick to apply, gives good results
CON - Messy, looks like frost rather than snow

Ground Glass

The other Secret Weapon in my arsenal is a pot of this stuff. Mixed with PVA, it dries with an amazing crystal finish that catches light (camera flashes, for example) really well. It's also great mixed with water effect gel (I used to use Vallejo) in about a 50/50 mix. You can also put a tiny amount scattered over the top of whatever else you're using as a finishing touch. Just a little before your PVA dries, for example.

It works best as melting snow or slush, I'd say, unless you go very thick with it.

The downside here is firstly that it's dangerous stuff! You mustn't get it in your eyes or mouth, or you can risk nasty tissue damage. And hand in hand with downside number two, which is that it is also messy, it's not easy stuff to use. The grains escape and roll everywhere, and they aren't easy to wipe up. Wet cloth helps, but wiping it up will often scratch whatever is underneath. Use lots of protective newspaper or other padding, and hoover up round your desk afterwards!

It's also not easy or cheap to come by. Secret Weapon do it, as I mentioned, but I haven't seen it elsewhere.

PRO - Looks amazing, great for slush
CON - Hazardous material! Costly, hard to apply

Polyfilla

All of these listed so far are useless for sculpting, they're too liquid. So if you want to make drifts against walls or deeper snow on bases, you can use polyfilla or an equivalent to make the base of your effect.

I haven't actually used this myself! But from what I read, this is a good cheap solution. Smear it into the appropriate shape, leave it to dry and then top it with your snow effect of choice. Check out model train websites, too, they sell special snow pastes for bulk coverage that could be what you're looking for. 

PRO - Looks as good as your topping, can be sculpted
CON - I have no idea if it works or not, I haven't done it!

Kraken Paste

Over time, I settled on this as my final mix. It's basically a little of all the above - PVA, snow flock and white pigment powder, sometimes with a bit of ground glass over the top to finish. Again, I'm not being super precise with the mix, I just blend it by eye each time. It's something like 50-50 PVA-flock as the base, though, with two scoops of pigment measured in with the end of a GW modelling spatula.

Thickly applied, you can drag it down the edges of walls and branches, as mentioned above. It dries tough, the glue is pretty resilient stuff. And you can even peel it off with a bit of effort if you decide you hate it afterwards, although it will sometimes take the paint beneath away too.

It's more labour-intensive than some of the others above. And it also relies on a number of ingredients, so it's not the cheapest either. My terrain is all intended to look like thawing snow, so it's a bit drippy perhaps? And you can't really model with it, it's hopeless for drifts or snowmen. I invented it, though, so I would recommend it highly!

PRO - Secret recipe may confer hidden health benefits, marks you as a connoisseur
CON - Not exactly cheap, can't build with it

Ice

There's only one or two things I can offer here.

• My standard technique for ice is to use sheets of clear plastic cut from whatever packing material is to hand. Stick them on to a flat surface painted black, cover the edges with dirt or sand or snow effect to taste. 
• Triangles cut from the lid of an old GW tufts box make cheap and acceptable icicles if glued under arches or doorways
• Use a craft knife to cut triangular bits out of the sheet before you glue it, and you can put them back in as broken chunks. 
• Use superglue on the underside of the plastic, and you get a nice frosting effect. If you dab this about carefully, it can also give the impression of bubbles frozen in the ice
• Get this stuff instead if you can afford it

Hope this is all useful and informative! And happy modelling!