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Precision Ice and Snow Review of The New Amazing Snow Effect
robvulcan posted a topic in Other Tools
Hi all I have been asked by the people at Precision Ice and Snow to review their new product for creating the ultimate in realistic Ice and Snow effects. I must admit when I was first approached I was sceptical about how realistic this snow effect would be as it has long been a hard task for a modeller to create a believable snow effect. But no more I must say I am truly shocked at how good and versatile this stuff is and how easy and fun it is to use. The first photo is of some 1/35 scale bricks on a piece of plasticard kindly given to me to try out for the review. I sprayed this grey but more on that later.. I have only had a brief play with Precision Ice and Snow. These are my first attempts with a skaledale bridge and a Hornby MGR wagon. I cant believe how good it looks it is very easy and fun to use. So much so I have decided I am going to build a micro layout/diorama to just for the purpose of testing this snow out and creating a snowy railway scene. The wood arrived today for the baseboards along with the C&L Finescale track. Here are some shots of my first efforts. Notice how it aerodynamically settles on the bricks bringing out the detail just like real snow ! The above shots are created by simply spraying on some hairspray and then shaking on the Precision Ice and Snow with the provided sieve. Then removing and re-coating. These photos are after many applications It is so fine you can build it up in very fine layers so creating a frost is very possible. This can be washed off as it was applied with hairspray different types of hairspray give different effects. The Precision Snow is a harmless fine powder that is the same white colour as snow. when I say fine It is "Extremely fine" It can also be scaled and has scale reflective qualities and glints at you like real snow or frost but in scale. I shall have to do some more photos with the right light on it to capture. But I can assure you it glints in scale and when you hold your model up to the light and give it a good eyeball over, you will chuckle with satisfaction about how "right" it looks. It really makes things look cold even in the summer sun. Here is one of the brick fields. Plastic square rod is cut to simulate bricks and placed as if in a debris pattern on plastic sheet Precision Ice and Snow kindly provided these for me to try. I sprayed mine with humbrol 67 tank grey from their excellent rattle cans just to give a dark base to contrast the snow. I then sprayed this one with 3M spray mount to give a more permanent hold. Then I sieved some snow effect on waited a few mins removed the excess and re-coated I did not try hard I could have been blindfolded I wanted to see what the product could do for me and I assure you it works for you. you can be creative with it but it just looks real whatever you do. The 5 pence shows you how incredibly fine this power is. Plenty of Jokes are derived from its fine white qualities ! This is the before and after with the brick field painted Humbrol 67 It can be as temporary or as permanent as you like. You can just have it loose but really there are 2 main options to you as it builds in layers. one temporary method is to use hairspray and spray the item in the direction you want the snow to form then you dust the snow effect on leave it a few seconds then blow it and brush it off. This will leave a fine layer of frost. If your happy leave it at that but you can spray on more hairspray and then more snow and build it in layers It also has the same transparent effect of snow and ice and the underneath will show through and decrease as it builds in layers though even after many coats you can still see the paint through the snow subtly and realistic. using harispray will hold it very well but it is removable with water. This is an advantage as you can wash it off if your not happy. but best of all because it builds in fine layers you can gradually build up your work so you don't have to worry about over doing anything. If you want a permanent effect and for the snow to build in an even more impressive way you really should use 3M Spray Mount Photo Adhesive. It builds with a slightly different effect. At the moment I have only experimented with 3M sprays Spray mount is best but you can use photo mount and others all will give different effects. I have thought of experimenting with Johnsons Klear through the Airbrush to give more control though that really is not seeming to be needed. The precision ice and snow acutally mimics the way snow forms aerodynamicaly too as can be seen on this car Precision Ice and Snow sent me for the review. this car has been sprayed at from the front and a mask on the windscreen to simulate were it has been wiped off. the car looks like it has been driven in snow and then parked and the windows frosted over. This was achieved by spraying a mixture of 3M and hairspray in layers from the front and then sieved snow dropping towards the grill of the car. as you can see it settled very impressively. It depends what direction you apply the snow how it forms so it is possible with some creativity and imagination to create the effects of snow in heavy wind. It is also possible to mix this with silicon and create snow slush and ice sheets I have not tried this yet but I will do and the website has much information on this. Here are some shots of my old Dragon Tiger 1 tank this one is a pre made item and I forget the scale now but it is only about the size of small mobile phone. It sadly had a wheel missing so I decided I would snow this after having so much fun with the bricks bridge and wagon. I really do recommend this product as you can imagine it will revolutionise how we model snow or frost and give us many more options be it modelling railways, military Sci-fi War games and other genres. Temperature was something I have not thought much about modelling till now. This will likely spawn new uses for dioramas, fantasy modelling or use in TV/Film studio miniatures. I would love to create a diorama of a woodland hideout with some RAF figures and a snow scheme Harrier GR3 under a temporary hangar with this stuff. Also I remember seeing a railway layout set in the 1930s featuring LNER steam in the snow I have not seen many layouts in the snow and always fancied doing my own. With this it should be a doddle and give far more impressive results that just painting roofs white especially as Precision Ice and Snow is stable and will not yellow. This is what has inspired my new micro layout that will be under construction soon I will do a work in progress here on Britmodeller and over on the other forum I frequent RMweb so you can see how I get on. Hopefully ill have the snow on by Christmas. If you would like to find out more or order some of your own snow effect check out this web site and get yours from here : http://precisioniceandsnow.com/Precisioniceandsnow/Home.html Or look for Precision Ice and Snow on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Precision-Model-Ice-and-Snow/163042673867707?ref=stream Many thanks for reading I hope you all enjoyed this review. Cheers Rob -
Hello Any recommendations for a small-ish high quality "square" to help me cut accurate right angles (e.g. when cutting / scoring small pieces of styrene sheet) - Ideally I would like a "speed square" - something that lines up easily against the site of your cutting board / work surface. - It must have easy to read metric measurement markings. - I need to be accurate to a fraction of a millimeter. Background I need something to help me cut 90 degree angles. I am told a "speed square" is a helpful device as it lets you quickly align with the side of your bench/working surface. It would be helpful if it had measurements on it too. I have one of these but the finish is extremely rough & bumpy absolutely awful. "Swanson NA202 250mm Metric Speed Square" http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Swanson-NA202-250mm-Metric-Speed-Square-with-Instruction-Book-/181712888336? I have tried sanding it down which has improved it but the markings are so large and deep that it makes everything too inaccurate. So far I cant find any model supply websites i.e. What to buy and where to get it? So far (via alternativesite.net) I have tried: (I rather like the look of this thin beam square, except no markings http://www.micromark.com/thin-beam-square,8426.html) http://www.allcomponents.co.uk ==> no result for squares of any sort http://www.ashfordmodel.co.uk ==> No squares of any sort http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk ==> only "Engineers Squares" but they have no measurement markings on them. http://www.craft-products.com ==> no squares... (But this "Mini Mitre Block" looks interesting if I could work out how to use it! http://www.craft-products.com/pb102-mini-mitre-block- is using a saw more accurate than scoring and snapping styrene?) http://www.eileensemporium.com ==> "engineers squares" & "set squares" but they have no measurement markings on them http://www.ema-models.co.uk ==> only "Engineers Squares" but they have no measurement markings on them. http://www.finescale.org.uk/ ==> no result for squares of any sort http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ ==> seems to be kids stuff only http://www.homebase.co.uk ==> limited. No speed squares. http://www.micromark.com ==> USA based not UK. Everything in inches. http://www.modelshop.co.uk ==> no squares with markings http://www.nairnshire-modelling-supplies.co.uk ==> No squares of any sort http://www.scalelink.co.uk ==> no result for squares of any sort http://www.westbourne-model.co.uk ==> no squares, including no speed squares http://www.wizardmodels.co.uk ==> no result for squares of any sort https://www.wonderlandmodels.com ==> Engineers square with no markings. Hard site to search I have been trying to avoid amazon because there is so much of low quality build, and repetition of the exact same stuff designed for other uses... which I dont want! Likewise eBay with the added problem of quality & legal concerns. Any suggestions/tips for precision, small scale working (esp with styrene/ABS sheet)?
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