Day 8:
I mixed up my first batch of Dave Meek's recipe for "snow goop" this morning. It consists of baking soda (maybe half a cup) a couple of tablespoons of Mod Podge, and a good squirt of craft store white paint. He doesn't give exact amounts, but the idea is to mix it stiff enough that you can trowel it on and it will stay in place -- thicker than pancake batter, but not quite so thick as spackle. After application, you sprinkle it with a little white glitter.
I applied it around the canyon, up the hoodoos above, and around that general area; it was much easier to do this with the trestle removed. The stuff is messy to work with but looks pretty nice when it's done. As Dave Meek suggests in his video, I used white paint and a small brush to add snow to some of the smaller ledges.
I added a few dead reeds made from bristles from a cheap paintbrush, and some bits of lichen and Woodland Scenics dark green clump foliage just to add a little color. And I painted some Mod Podge in the creek bed to represent snow melt.
I like the look of the partially-covered canyon floor. It looks like the day after a relatively light snowfall in the high desert, when the show has started to melt.
When it dries and I'm sure I'm satisfied, I'll glue the trestle in place and start spiking some rail.
Day 10:
Here it is a couple of days later, with rail in place. I've added a couple more layers of Mod Podge in the creek bed (the latest is still wet and white in this picture), and added some more snow to be cliffs in the background. Still a lot of snow to apply.
Day 12:
I finished a first pass on snow for the rest of the layout today. Just a little touchup needed tomorrow. I also ballasted a bit, mostly in the tunnel, but I need to let the snow dry before I do the rest.
The problem now is, this makes me want to abandon the Frazier Borate and do a new version in this style, but without the snow.
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