Hi all!

Here's a little diorama I made to test Signifer's Artificial Snow for a forthcoming review. I used my "old" Mig-3 as subject and tried to achieve a melting snow effect as if winter was almost over.









Do you think the snow looks realistic? Your comments will be precious for writing my review.

Thanks for reading!

Jean-Luc

Do I think it looks realistic? I have just turned the heating up a notch.. :-) Looks realy good Jean-Luc, the wet slush makes it look realy miserable (weatherwise that is, not your work.. ). The only thing I would try to work on is the snow on top of the barrels, if it's melting I don'tt feel it would hang over the edges like that...

Great stuff, I look forward to the review.

Cheers
Henk

Hi Jean-Luc!

I have to agree with Henk on this one. The melting snow on the ground looks just awsome!!! I had the great pleasure of finally seeing melting snow last week, and you (and Signifier) have really captured that look! However, the snow on the barrels looks a lot colder. If possible, remove some of it (+ add a figure or two?) and you'll have yert antoher splendid diorama!

Great work!!!

Cheers!

Hi Jean-Luc,
I have got to agree that does look fantastic, it achieves the effect of cold and wet snow well.
My only niggle is on the close up shots of the melted snow ( pic 4 ) is that it doesn't sit right and makes it look like a blob of water. Probaly easy to rectify by adding snow or grass round the edge to even it out.
Otherwise a terrific dio and aircraft to accompany it.
Andy (++)

Hi Jean Luc.
Looks very effective to my eye.I especially like the way the footprints have turned out.
As for an experts comments,,I doubt there are many people on here who see as much snow as our very own Polar Bear so I will agree with everything he says
Nige

Hi Jean-Luc
I think your snow dio looks great. Three things really stand out to my eye.
1. The melted puddles
2. Footprints
3. The puffy lumps of snow on the tops of the barrels

If you decide to add any figures, how about putting one of the barrels near the engine of the plane and try to get the effect of a burning barrel of scrap wood? When doing my Yak I found a picture of a couple of mechanics working on a Yak with a fire burning inside of a hollow barrel. Don't know if they were trying to stay warm or maybe it was to aid in keeping the engine warm during the cold weather. It would be interresting to see something like that in a dio if it's possible.
I wish I had a base that nice to display my Yak-1 with skis on. Thanks for sharing it.

Hi Jean-Luc

We don't get many chances to see heavy snow settle in London, so I'll bow to the others' expert comments on the barrel etc., but I think the effect on the ground and the puddles of slush look excellent. I look forward to seeing your review (hopefully with a little "how to" section on using the stuff...

That's a rather tasty MiG 3 too!

All the best

Rowan

Hi all!

Thanks for your comments. They will be very usefull!

I will try to take away some snow off the barrels to make them look more realistic. I just thought snow would have settled there more than on other places but maybe it is exagerated. It's important to have other people's opinions because after a while, when working on a project (of any kind) one is less objective.
The ideas of adding figures are good (thanks guys) I will think about it!




Andy, it was meant to be a blob of water so I take you remark as a compliment! :-)




That's quite right Nigel! :-) By the way Björn, what product did you use to make your snow for the Goose dio? All I can say is that Signifer's Artificial Snow is easy to use, even for an inexperienced "snow" newbie like me!

Thank you again!

Jean-Luc

Hi Rowan!

That was the plan! :-)

Jean-Luc

I thought it might be... :-)

Wow that looks awesome.
And a very nice MiG, I like MiG's in that scheme.

Looks plenty cold for me too. Nice job brotha! I really like the dirty snow.

Good melting snow realism!

I agree with everyone else, the snow on the ground is very good for showing thawing snow, but the snow on the barrels is a little to much for this. If it was a scene after a heavy snow fall than the barrels would look great. Of course the ground would then be covered to a similar depth as well. This "snow" looks as if it has great potential, I'll read your review and "how to" with great interest.
A loverly Mig, but that goes without saying
Mal

Great job Jean-Luc. Your build looks fantastic. Nice paint scheme with great weathering. Your snow turned out very well. The lighting on pic #3 is perfect. The footprints look great. Is this Trumpeters Mig? Great build, way to go, Wingman out.

GEEZ!!! That could pass for my back yard a few weeks ago. The footprints (with dirt inside), water puddles and "foam heads" on the drums (snow around here doesn't always melt evenly) really bring it together. Great job Jean-Luc!

Jean-luc wrote:


I used baking soda mixed with glue and white paint. I then applied it to the base, which I had painted white with a tad of blue. Once applied, I sprayed some glitter (for hair) - from a novelty store - over it.

It was my first try, and I probably didn't do it exactly right. According to a friend at IPMSStockholm that makes increadible winter landscapes, the best way is to mix 2 parts white glue with one part water in a large glass jar (fill it halfway) and then start adding quite a lot of baking soda while stirring. The mix should be quite thick, but workeable. If it gets too thick, add more glue. Once mixed, it should mature for a couple of days... If done correctly, you should have a compound that is easy to work with, that does not shrink and that is autoadhesive. You might want to add future or glitter to the surface, to accomplish wetness or frosty cold.

Perhaps you could try it as an alternate method when doing your review? Looking forward to it!

Cheers!

faboulous skills, no doubt about it.

Still I have a question: How did that plane get there?

It must have arived after the snow came down becasue there is no trace of snow on the plane but there is no trace of the plane being pushed into this position eihter?

Or do I need better glasses ;-)

Hi drabslab!

You need better glasses! :-)

More seriously you are right! I made this base only to test Signifer's snow product prior to reviewing it. I planed to do a La-7 for this purpose but didn't found the time to build it lately for many reasons. Rather than wait any longer, I decided to use my "old" Mig-3 as it is the only Soviet plane in winter sheme I have in my collection.
I wanted to have a melting snow situation for two reasons: not to have to put snow on the model and to test the product in various conditions (with paint, more or less water, on grass, with transparent resin, in thick layers, in fine layers etc...)
My explanation is that the plane was pushed backwards in this position by ground crew. The heat the engine then produced made the snow melt faster below the aircraft and therefore all traces have disapeared... does this sound convincing? :-)
Björn, thanks for the explanation about your snow... but what exactely is Backing Soda? Sorry but you know... I'm French!

Jean-Luc

Baking soda = bicarbonate de sodium (NaHCO3)

Used for cooking, baking (Mmm, pancakes), cleaning, making volcanoes* as well as dioramas!

If you don't find it in the grocery store, it should be available from the pharmacy.

Cheers!

* Making a volcano:
1. Place some baking soda in a container.
2. Pour in some vinegar
3. Run
= Fun for the whole family!

Hi Björn!

Thanks a lot! I will try that volcano one day!

Jean-Luc

well i did the volcano trick once but with a bottle and then put a balloon on the neck of the bottle.

Fabian wrote:


Cool! :-) What happened?

I would like to know too! :-)

Jean-Luc

Looks good Jean-Luc. I look forward to your review of the snow. One thing I have always wanted to do is make a christmas tree train set up with scenery and snow. Do you suppose the product would be good for a very small scale too (I think the n gauge trains are about 1:160)

Leon