How to create snow effects

There are several ways to create snow on a model: a scenic snow kit, snow powder, white flock, and frost and snow effect spray.

A model barn and fir trees covered in snow beside a railway track

Scenic Snow Kit

The Scenic Snow Kit from Deluxe contains all you need for dramatic winter snow effects. The kit contains:

Icy Sparkles, 25g
Snowflakes, 125g shaker pack
Scenic Bond adhesive, 100ml

It will cover up to 0.5m², depending on the depth of coverage. If you need more coverage, a 500ml pot of Snowflakes is available separately, which will give up to 1.5m².

Shaker packs of Snowflakes and Icy Sparkles with a bottle of Scenic Bond

Urban scenes

Apply a thin coat of Scenic Bond, especially to areas where snow normally collects, such as roofs and window ledges. Then sprinkle the Scenic Snowflakes from side to side.

You can create 'slipped' snow by dabbing Scenic Bond on top and applying more Scenic Snowflakes.

Sprinkling snowflakes from a shaker over a model house and trees

Rural scenes

Apply Scenic Bond to the branches of the trees with a brush, and sprinkle Scenic Snowflakes from a height of 300mm to give the snow a natural look. Repeat this step until you have the effect you want.

For grass areas, use the same technique, dropping the snow from 300mm, and repeat the process to build up areas of 'heavy' and 'light' snow. This technique also works well on walls.

For frozen snow effects, sprinkle Icy Sparkles on top of the Scenic Snowflakes.

A diorama dusted with snow, beside the Scenic Bond, Snowflakes and Icy Sparkles

Snow powder

Snow Powder, from the Noch winter range, comes in a 250g box. This glittering white powder is great for creating non-permanent winter scenes. Just sprinkle it onto your scenery with a sieve.

Sieving snow powder over a model mountain with fir trees

White flock

Flock fibres can be used as an effective snow effect. The fibres are approximately 1mm long and are best spread with a sieve from a height.

The best adhesive for snow effects is an oil-based, matt white paint. PVA can be used, but because it 'skins' very quickly it can only be applied to a very small area at a time.

A heap of white flock fibres

A snowy scene, step by step

We created this simple snowy scene for Shrunk Magazine using just a few of our products.

The base was painted with flock adhesive then, while it was wet, sprinkled with mid green flock through a sieve.

Painting flock adhesive onto a round base

Sieving mid green flock onto the wet base

Once it was dry, we knocked off the excess flock and drilled holes for the conifer trees. Using PVA to secure them, we planted a 60mm, an 85mm and a 100mm conifer and left them to dry.

Gluing conifer trees into holes drilled in the flocked base

Next, we masked off the base, sprayed the whole model liberally with Photo Mount, sprinkled it with white flock and left it for a while to settle. The excess was knocked off, then the trees were given another coat of spray glue and more flock was applied.

Sieving white flock over the trees and base

Three conifer trees covered in white flock on a snowy base

The scene was left to dry for an hour or so, then the excess was knocked off. Finally, a Land Rover, with a 25mm conifer on its roof, was glued on with PVA to complete the scene.

The finished snowy scene with a model Land Rover, held in a hand

Frost and snow effect spray

Create realistic wintry effects from a spray can. Frost and Snow Spray can be used on almost any surface, including glass, wood and metal, and is especially useful on costumes and props.

It is fast drying and sticks on contact, but it can be removed from smooth surfaces such as glass. It is more difficult to remove from rough surfaces. To make the snow permanent, apply a fixative or varnish spray between coats.

Frost and snow spray on the inside of a fridge

A close-up of the frost and snow spray texture