Modeling Snow

[RRManiac]

What do you guys use to model snow? I think that operating my line in the winter would definately be best because there isn't a whole lot of green, and there arent a whole bunch of spaces where I can't hardly see.

It also sets an already unique railroad out even more from the croud!

[Sumpter250]

Woodland Scenics "snow".

That said, Modeling snow is only a bit less difficult than modeling water.......and getting it "believable".
The best plan of attack, would be to study photos of deep snow, and model the shape much the same as you would bare ground.( so you don't have to use excessive amounts of W.S. snow, which would be "the finishing touch, after everything else is done and in place. )
Then, I would use clear lacquer spray, and sift the W.S. snow over it while the clear was still wet.
As for the "water comment"?, you will have to figure out a way to create drifts, and wind blown snow formations......and.... all the branches on all those leafless deciduous trees. Conifers are easy, shoot clear, sift snow.
Personally, I'd rather cut and apply 7500 individual shingles !
Oh, you will have to be extremely careful of your track ( which should be in place before it "snows" ) especially around your turnouts. ( if you want them to function )
It can be done, and it would be unique. May fortune favor your efforts.

[jim currie]

Dave Frary's book on scenery has a page or two on modeling snow and also the model railroad craftsman of dec 1981 has a artical on it.
jim

[nachoman]

The only time I have modeled snow was for a Christmas display layout, and for that it was best to make it look "fakey". I used gloss white latex paint and sprinkled on clear white glitter while it was still wet. It actually looked good for that "greeting card" look.

I think how you model it depends on what "kind" of snow you are modeling. Are you modeling:
Deep snowpack in the spring?
Freshly fallen snow?
Mountains?
Pancake-flat Midwest?

My experience is that in most places, snow is only "pretty" for a day or two. After that, it gets rather dirty with plenty of bare spots. In the mountains around here, south facing slopes are usually snow-free within a few days of a snowfall, the snow has fallen from the trees, and the snow plowed from the roads leaving big dirty piles. Model Railroader had a Rand Hood article in the mid-1990s about modeling patchy springtime snow that I thought was very convincing - and may be worth tracking down.

[P5se Camelback]

Right On! re: only being pretty for the first day or so!

Having lived here in Florida now for about 19 years, my recollections of snow are of the dirty, piled up, wet, slushy, ruin a good pair of shoes variety ... and the angering memory of setting the alarm for two hours early, as it was snowing to beat the band at bedtime, getting up at what seemed like 00:dark-thirty, breaking my back shoveling out the driveway, only to have the G.D. County Plow come down the street as I was walking back to the house from the driveway's end and leaving me a three foot high, four foot wide hard packed pile of the dirty white stuff across the end of my driveway! hock: It was enough to make a grown man cry!!! :cry: :cry:

Boy ... I don't miss that at all!

But really ... best of luck in modeling the snow scene! It would be unique, for sure!

[MasonJar]

You might also look up Rand Hood's techniques for snow and ice. He was featured a while back in MR.

Andrew

[RRManiac]

I'm modeling where the snow has fallen, and then most of it has melted away, leaving a few patches here and there and between the rails.

[nachoman]

I'm modeling where the snow has fallen, and then most of it has melted away, leaving a few patches here and there and between the rails.

I would seriously see if you can track down that Model Railroader article by Rand Hood:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=wZpt6ldjXasC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=rand+hood+snow&source=bl&ots=ZjBx13g1NG&sig=yg0yabRLp7sv7mXmOLbdQJo9DxE&hl=en&ei=sDYyTN-xOpHgnAesptS3Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=rand%20hood%20snow&f=false">http://books.google.com/books?id=wZpt6l ... ow&f=false</a><!-- m -->

[Ralph]

See also if you can get a copy of Model Railroader's 2010 Great Model Railroads special issue. It was on news stands the end of last year through January of this year. Maybe some hobby shops carry back issues. It has a shelf layout by Mike Confalone set in late Winter/early Spring. He used compressed white floral styrofoam to represent patches of melting snow piles. He painted them with brown and gray washes to make them look dirty. Seemed very effective!

Ralph

[P5se Camelback]

Copies of Model Railroader's Great Model Railroads special issues, including the 2010 issue can be ordered HERE

[Ralph]

There ya go! Thank you biL!
Ralph

[Saltwater Cowboy]

I'm modeling where the snow has fallen, and then most of it has melted away, leaving a few patches here and there and between the rails.

....you will need to have lots of sloppy, muddy ground; puddles and dirty water in ditches; matted down yellowed grasses; tire ruts, foot prints etc. I've seen this type of scenery modeled believable ultra realistic only once before. Kudos to you for even contemplating it! I would build a diorama of sorts if I were you, where you can practice various techniques and get lots of feedback on how it looks before plunging into it on your layout.

I am curious though; seeing as we are both from Pennsylvania, and the memories of last winters blizzards and 12 foot snow drifts still fresh in our memories.....Are you out of your mind?!?!?!

Matt

[RRManiac]

Thank you Saltwater Cowboy.

Last winter. I hated it. But we didn't get any 12-foot snowdrifts. It did get pretty high though. I think the most snow we got was a foot and a half. Scary stuff though.

[Russ Bellinis]

Look for powdered marble in craft stores. You can make the bulk of your snow with white plaster, but if you sprinkle marble dust on top, itwill give you a more realistic reflective surface like the real thing. ( like I would know, we don't get snow in Los Angeles & I seldom go up into the mountains in winter!)

[doctorwayne]

Don't forget that if you're modelling snow, chances are it's winter, meaning pretty-well all of the trees will be leafless. While I've seen this done well, it would seem to me much more work to model convincingly. Also, in most populated areas, snow doesn't remain "white as snow" for long. While it's also possible to model this effectively, the normal dust that can collect on any layout isn't a good way of duplicating this appearance and may make your layout harder to keep looking presentable. On green foam, it isn't as noticeable, at least initially. I have seen some layouts, though, that have gone beyond that point. :o

Wayne