The Best Snow Effect Ever

Safety First

I have gloves on. I have a respirator on. I’m doing this voiceover after the fact because this crushed glass is no joke. You don’t want to inhale it. You don’t want it on your skin.

I’m working in a metal tray that I can dump out. I’m using an old Chessex dice case as a wet palette and a very old dirty busted brush. I’m going to throw all this stuff out when I’m done. I’ve made the mistake of getting this in my skin before and it is absolutely miserable.

The Materials

• Crushed glass from Secret Weapon (many brands make it now)
• Realistic Water (or gloss medium, or Woodland Scenics water)
• Fishing line for icicles

Don’t shake the realistic water—it just introduces air bubbles.

Creating Icicles

I’m gluing fishing line at different spots down the roof to make icicles—or really, a slurry mix of snow melting off the roof.

Narratively, this was an abandoned shed that they’ve turned into the Love Shack. So that ice is melting off because the heat is turning on.

I’m picking where the snow would be running off the most—out of the rivets and the slats between wood panels.

If you wanted actual icicles, you can use fishing line and drip realistic water very carefully down through the line. Some will fall off, so collect it, but you can slowly build up real icicles that way.

The Snow Slurry

A couple drops of realistic water in with the crushed glass. The more water you add, the more of a melted slurry ice look you get. This doesn’t really change when it dries—what you see when you put it on is what you’ll get.

I’m working this down those icicles and into the cracks, following mentally where I think the snow would go. I’m not being scientific—just doing what looks nice and makes the most dynamic model.

I’m building up where it overhangs, tracking a little down the side of the building, and putting some where it catches on the ridges of the metal plates toward the ground.

The Narrative Details

It’s going to melt around the metal first. I’m imagining the heat is getting turned on, so this boiler is starting to heat up and the snow is starting to melt. The side facing the heat has more melting, while the other side is still catching up.

I did an extra soupy area and tried to make footprints going into the door. Piled it up around the edges.

The Result

Here’s the finished piece. It turned out so good! This stuff looks like real powdery snow. The way the glass catches the light and glints—on this roof, it actually looks like there’s wet water dripping off.

Why Crushed Glass Wins

I’ve tried a bunch of different snow products—baking soda, paint effects—and nothing is ever as good as crushed glass. It’s kind of a pain to work with, but once you get it down, there’s really nothing that compares.

Transcript

Today we’re going to finish up the Love Shack with some snow effects. Uh so just real quick, I have gloves on. I have a respirator on. I’m doing this voice over after the fact because this crushed glass that we’re about to be using is no joke. Uh you don’t want to inhale it.

You don’t want it on your skin. Uh I have I’m working in a metal tray. And you can see I got realistic water, a little bit of fishing line, and that crushed glass. And I have this paper taped down so I can see and make sure I’m in frame. Uh cuz I’m learning on how to make YouTube videos finally almost 90 days in.

But uh this is in a a metal tray that I can dump out. I’m I’m just using this old uh Chessix dice case that I’m going to use as kind of a wet palette and a very old dirty busted brush. I’m just going to throw all this stuff out when I’m done with it. Uh, I’ve made the mistake of getting this in my skin before and it is absolutely miserable. What I’m doing here is I’m gluing in the fishing line uh at different spots down the roof to kind of make like icicles or really what I decided to do is make like a slurry mix of the snow melting coming off the roof because in my head narratively now this was an abandoned shed and now uh they’ve they’ve hit the heat they’ve turned the heat on and they’ve turned it into the love shack.

So that ice is melting off is is how I’m treating it. And what you can’t see here is I’m just gluing it into a few different spots. And you’ll see I’m picking where I think at least the snow would be running off the most. So out of these rivets and the slats in between the wood panels. So [snorts] now I think I have I’m liking where my icicles are going to be.

And you could, if you wanted to just have like actual icicles, you can use this fishing line and then just drape that realistic water very carefully drip it down through the line. And some of it’s going to fall off, so you have to collect it. But you can slowly build up real icicles that way. And uh I was just gluing this last one. Hopefully this is the last one on in the corner here.

Maybe I need to make some edits and cut this part out. All right. So, here I This is that crushed glass from Secret Weapon. I don’t think they’re in business anymore, but uh everybody a ton of different brands make crushed glass uh that you can get nowadays. Mine’s I’ve had for many years.

It lasts a long time. And same thing with that realistic water. Uh it’s also your weapon cuz it came in a pack together. Uh, but you can use gloss medium or like wooden scenics wa water. Anybody who makes water and also don’t shake it.

You don’t have to shake that stuff. It just introduces air bubbles and you definitely don’t want those. So, you’ll be surprised at how little of this I think it’s form of resin that you’ll actually need. So, a couple of drops in. The more that you of the the water that you add in, the more of like melted slurry ice it’s going to look.

And this doesn’t really change when it dries. This still looks the same uh after it dries. What I’m trying to say, there’s a little bit like it might get a little less glossy, but for the most part, what you see when you put this on the model is what you’re going to get when it’s dry. All right. My wife called me uh in the middle of that and I did not I took it on my AirPods and didn’t think about it.

So, I just probably lost this whole video of uh of making this really cool snow guy. So, that’s awesome. I’m sorry. Uh but this is what it looks like. So, I’m going to let it dry and see what I can salvage uh and go tell my wife that I love her and I appreciate all that she does for me.

Then that’s what I’m going to do. See? And uh just in case I got to explain my reasoning, it’s going to melt around the metal first. And I’m imagining in my the narrative that this was an abandoned shack that is recently being repurposed. So, the heat wasn’t turned on.

And maybe like the heat is getting turned on now. So, this boiler is starting to heat up and it’s starting to melt. And I’m just putting like this down the side like [clears throat] if it’s does that the follow it’s gonna go right down, you know, and this will just be shiny and white. And then maybe this side hasn’t quite started yet. So this is still uh a little bit like this is starting to drip.

Feel me? [snorts] So I don’t want to I don’t want to mess with it too much more. And I took the gas mask or I took the respirator off which I definitely uh want to put back on. So uh here’s where we’re at. I’m I’m a I I I did an extra soupy right here and try to make like footprints going into the door.

Uh and piled it up around the edges. Maybe just a little bit more here. Oh, yeah. There we go. All right.

I’m going to leave it alone. Um I think it looks pretty awesome how it is. So, gonna clean all this up, move this somewhere to dry safely, and I’ll I’ll check back in. Hopefully, I got a little bit of footage of me doing it. I put in the second layer on, and this time, uh, I’m just making sure it’s recording, so you can actually see how this stuff works.

So, I have a pretty good slurry here, and this stuff I want to look like it’s melted. So, it’s going to go on top of this this other pretty opaque white snow that I made earlier. And I’m just working this down those icicles more and kind of into the cracks. And I’m just following like mentally where I think the snow would go. And like I’m not I’m not a scientist.

I’m not being too scientific about it. I’m kind of just doing what I think looks nice and is going to make the most dynamic model. And I’m also I’m building up where it overhangs. And as I’m doing this, I’m like tracking a little bit down the side of the building, putting some so it catches on the ridges of the metal plates on the bottom towards the ground. And uh just really kind of I have I have some reference photos up in front of me so I can like watch and see like how melting snow actually looks in real life.

And I’m just doing my best to kind of recreate that. And here you’ll see on these icicles, I’m just very carefully trying to drag it down and cover up the remaining like actual fishing line. And of course, I got to add some more of actual melting snow to the top. So, there we go. Here is the finished piece.

So awesome. It turned out so good. I’m so happy with how it turned out. I need to get next time I paint it. By the time I finish a model, I will have a spinning rotating thing so I can actually show off what I made.

Okay, one last thing before I call it a night. And I’m trying to capture like this stuff. It looks like real powdery snow on this model. Like the way the glass catches the light and like glints and like on this roof, it actually looks like there’s wet water dripping off the roof. Like it’s pretty pretty amazing how good of a snow look you get.

And I’ve tried a bunch of different snow products and like baking soda or like paint effects and nothing is ever as good as crushed glasses, but again, it’s just kind of a pain to work with. Uh, but once you get it down, it I think there’s really nothing that compares to the