I had always heard of baking soda as a product for good effect, but a couple of club members last night told of reading a piece in the 'other' magazine that it can be harmful to bearings, motors, etc.
They pulled the vacuum out and vacuumed up our small Christmas layout rather quickly. Is this a concern and if so, what is a good alternative that will give a sparkle and not cost an arm and a leg?
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I have used diamond dust on white paint.
I used a roll of cotton that I bought at a fabric store for snow and a small bag of sparkles, stapled the cotton to the plywood table top then added the sparkles by sprinkling a little and added hair spray in a trigger style squirt bottle, to keep the sparkles in place.
Just be careful to clean up the cotton that is loose and not get any too close to a track, it won't short out but can jam up gears.
Lee F.
I had always heard of baking soda as a product for good effect, but a couple of club members last night told of reading a piece in the 'other' magazine that it can be harmful to bearings, motors, etc....
Personally I would not use baking soda as it is mildly caustic and may cause oxidation. If it were me I would use a product that is made for this purpose even if it cost more. It is the same idea to me as buying smoke fluid vs making your own. Just my two cents.
Perhaps baby powder, I doubt it is caustic or acidic.....and it smells sweet!
Sugar, but it may get hard.
The commercial stuff is nice.
I personally put down 2 or 3 layers of the 36 x 8' sheets at angles, then use the commercial stuff. Not sure what kind of look you are going for.
Here are two picks of what I use. Greg
Good luck
I use just buffalo snow in roll form, just unroll it and your done.
Tin
As Bill said, Diamond Dust sprinkled onto flat white Latex paint while it is still wet.
What is 'diamond dust' please?
"Diamond Dust" is fine glitter, available at craft stores. I use it sparingly to give a little reflective glitter to my snow scenes.
Last year I used baby powder. It took a few days for the air to clear after putting it down and was a bear to clean up.
Scott Smith
I use cans of snow, and white spray paint sometimes.
Very nice pictures Scott.
As for the baby powder, I suggested it above, but had not thought about the clean up, though I used it one year and can't remember about clean up. (Wait until you get old before you laugh about that one!)
However, if the original poster is planning on using it for a permanent layout, then it could turn out great and just the thing he needs.
And, every once in awhile, when the scenery looks a little drab, he could buy another container of it, and have a snowstorm to brighten things up!
Chris, I sometimes use cans of spray snow on my temporary Christmas layout. I have found that if I hold the can way up in the air, and let it "snow" on the items and fall like real snow, by the time it hits on the surface, it has dried and is fairly easy to get off when packing up. If sprayed directly onto the item....it does not always come off easy, and can even stain.
I assume you have had good experience with it?
Greg
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