Winter Scenery Techniques

Everyone has their favorites.  I used a variety of products and in combination with one another.  Including the ones you mentioned.

For my club's Christmas setups, I have a winter scene on my module.  I used Woodland Scenics "snow" glued to the foam base (base was painted white first), and then I sprinkled on a light amount of "Diamond Dust" colorless glitter to achieve a glistening effect for the snow that looks pretty good in low light.  Here is the best shot from my archives that shows the "glistening" if you look closely:

Andy

Very cool, gonna start scenicing my christmas layout right after I finish my halloween layout

best john

I'm looking forward to this thread progressing. I have tried and tried for good snow effects but have never been happy with the results. The Woodland Scenics was the best but even with this I was disappointed. Do you just place the colorless glitter or do you use some glue? Inquiring minds....... you know.     I have tried several buffalo snow products as a ground cover over the years. Okay again.

Thank you,

Jim K

@Bogart posted:

I'm looking forward to this thread progressing. I have tried and tried for good snow effects but have never been happy with the results. The Woodland Scenics was the best but even with this I was disappointed. Do you just place the colorless glitter or do you use some glue? Inquiring minds....... you know.     I have tried several buffalo snow products as a ground cover over the years. Okay again.

Thank you,

Jim K

I second your interest in this thread!im  Planning a winter layout and hope to start in q1 2022.

On past layouts I have used various types of snow and glitter. I used diluted white glue and a drop of dishwasher soap in a spray bottle to fix it. Colorless and works very well.

Carved foam, coated with Structolite plaster and flat white paint. Then, loose snow such as Woodland Scenic sprinkled on diluted white glue with a touch of the diamond dust glitter mentioned by others.

Some loose snow sprinkled on scenes just for photos. Anything loose is removed before running trains.

Pond is sanded plexiglas with Christmas lights below. Waterfall is clear silicone caulk with Christmas lights behind each cascade.

Jim

@Jim Policastro posted:

Carved foam, coated with Structolite plaster and flat white paint. Then, loose snow such as Woodland Scenic sprinkled on diluted white glue with a touch of the diamond dust glitter mentioned by others.

Some loose snow sprinkled on scenes just for photos. Anything loose is removed before running trains.

Pond is sanded plexiglas with Christmas lights below. Waterfall is clear silicone caulk with Christmas lights behind each cascade.

Jim

Very, very nice, Jim. Thanks for sharing your techniques and beautiful photos.

@Bogart posted:

Do you just place the colorless glitter or do you use some glue?

I just sprinkled a little on after applying the snow while the glue was still wet.  A bottle of that glitter goes a long way, so if it isn't glittering enough, and the glue is dry, , I just add more after a light spray of bright white paint to hold it in place.

Andy

Great pictures and effects, everyone.

I also used Woodland Scenics snow flakes as well as Dept. 56 Plastic Snow flakes, basically the same thing (I think). I don't recall which product I used in this scene...everything gets mixed up in my basement.

@Andy Hummell posted:

I just sprinkled a little on after applying the snow while the glue was still wet.  A bottle of that glitter goes a long way, so if it isn't glittering enough, and the glue is dry, , I just add more after a light spray of bright white paint to hold it in place.

Andy

Thank you.

Jim K

pond is awesome, gonna steal that idea

Woodland Scenics put a video on YouTube that I found helpful ...

I like to use a combination of Buffalo snow and Woodland Scenics powdered snow on a sheet of polyester quilting batting. I think it turns out fairly well!



I can go into more detail on other parts of my winter layout (semi-frozen river, hills, etc) if you would like.

Bryce

A fabled Swiss Crocodile capably guides it's train of holiday travelers on a beautiful moonlit night somewhere in the Alps. Far off in the distance you can hear strands of  “Stille Nacht” from a country church.

Snow courtesy of Woodland Scenics.

@Jim Policastro posted:

Carved foam, coated with Structolite plaster and flat white paint. Then, loose snow such as Woodland Scenic sprinkled on diluted white glue with a touch of the diamond dust glitter mentioned by others.

Some loose snow sprinkled on scenes just for photos. Anything loose is removed before running trains.

Pond is sanded plexiglas with Christmas lights below. Waterfall is clear silicone caulk with Christmas lights behind each cascade.

Jim

How big is the layout? I like the frosted glass pond, the layout is cool.

Csxcellent,

The first photo shows the entire layout. It used O36 Fastrack so it must have been about 40"x 55" or so.

Jim

@Gandalf97 posted:

I'm getting started even earlier this year on my "Christmas" layout.  The example I'm starting with uses cotton batting for the "snow" but pretty much rebuilds the entire layout from the base up every year.  I'm having enough trouble getting it built the first time and want to minimize having to replace a ton of material each year.  I'm even considering something that I can run year round.

What are the techniques you use for winter layouts?  Do you use cotton batting?  Do you sift "snow" over everything?  Do you add "sparkle"?  What do you do to make it look like a winter day?

On all of mine I paint the base with semi gloss white paint and while wet I shake "disco" glitter Hobby Lobby.  on it.  It reflects the light and in just the Christmas lights, looks like fresh sparking snow.  On buildings I used flocking so that it won't fall off and for deeper snow effect I get bags of snow from Hobby Lobby and shake it all over the lay out as if it had just snowed.  I build a different Christmas layout each for the last 10 years.  Here are a few of mine.

@Jim Policastro posted:

Csxcellent,

The first photo shows the entire layout. It used O36 Fastrack so it must have been about 40"x 55" or so.

Jim

Thanks I might move part of my under the tree layout onto a raised sheet of plywood. It will likely be about that size.