Luckily, I used a spare piece of wood to make a test shot of baking soda as snow, before I committed it to my diorama, so nothing was ruined, per se.
However, on my test shot, the baking soda did yellow after it dried overnight. My baking soda was mixed with tap water and that’s it. I laid it down on a small piece of bare pine board that I use as a diorama test platform. The wood isn’t sealed or anything. Once it set up nicely after a few hours, but was still damp, I set it next to the heat register in my office to accelerate dry time. I will say when the pour was fresh it did look very realistic.
So, what do you think? Should I have used distilled water? Some other contamination in it? The box of baking soda I used is a few months old and has been open to the air. Would that be a factor?
Afraid i can’t help with your problem. I have used bakeing soda on a dio once with no problems. But one of the guys in here did warn that over time it can do harm to plastic. My only suggestion would be to try something else.
It usually does. For that reason you should never use foodstuffs (i.e: baking soda, sweetener, flour, etc.) for smow. They will all either yellow or be eaten by bugs. The best product I have found is by Woodland Scenics and is callr…oddly enough…Snow. it is made of micro-balloons of styrene, so is just as inert as the rest of your model. They will never yellow or be eaten by bugs, etc. All you do is lay down some glue (either PVA - Elmer’s School Glue, or pump hairspray work well), then sprinkle the snow over it. Repeat until it is the desired depth.
Yeah, I just discovered a 5yr old post by Doogs warning of the hazards of baking soda. A few guys in that thread mention talcum powder or diatomaceous earth, so I might try one of those next. I have both here at the house and I am really trying to avoid buying a purpose made product since I’m broke. I did buy some Woodland Scenics Scene-A-Rama snow in a little packet at Hobby Lobby, but it just doesn’t look right.
Well, I do diorama stuff quite often, and on some theres snow. The mistake should be the water I guess. My method is: Hairspray - baking soda - hairspray… Nothing more, nothing less. Works here in Germany, should work at your home too
It’s possible. I used a small cup to dig out a quantity from an open box my wife kept in the kitchen cupboard. I mixed it with tap water. No sealing of any kind. Maybe a fresh box and using Lucas’ method is in order for the next try.
Thanks for all the comments, guys. Keep it coming if you have anything else. Oh, and where’s Hans? I’d have expected him to chime in by now. shrug
