Fake Rain Drops on Glass

[Sarah888]

Hi,

I wanted to create some fake rain drops on a window for a photograph. I have read the glycerine mixed with water makes the best drops but I was wondering how long they lasted? Is there anything I can use that will set hard so I can shoot over multiple days? I know you can make pretty good droplets with a hot glue gun, but I don't want to mark the glass, or spend that much time covering it.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[wyogirl]

I was just going to say hot glue. It won't hurt the glass and won't leave a residue. Just scrape it off with one of those plastic scrapers and clean with Windex. The hard part is keeping the little glue strings to a minimum.

 

[tirediron]

Try a hobby store; probably find something meant for model railroads or other similar hobbies.

 

[D-B-J]

A quick google search returned "use crystal lacquer."

Jake

 

[Josh66]

What's wrong with water? That's all rain is, after-all...

 

[Sarah888]

It's a fairly large window so I was hoping to avoid applying drops one by one. Thought there might be some form of glue/resin that I could spray/flick onto the window, but seeing as its vertical I am not sure I will find anything that won't run off before it sets.

 

[Josh66]

I wasn't implying that the "rain" be applied one drop at a time.

Seems like it would be very easy with a second person and a garden hose. Much easier than gluing fake rain drops to the glass, anyway. Not to mention that fake rain drops will probably look like fake rain drops.


I'm not really getting why you need the drops to stay there for multiple days.

 

[Propsguy]

A spritzer bottle and regular old water will work just fine... it takes much water than you might realize to make it look like proper rain, and you do want most of it to be running down the window. Just be sure to light the water effect from the side so that it shows up well, as this gives the droplets lots of definition. I've used marine epoxy for wet windows (in a theatrical and video applications) by flicking it on with a hard bristle brush, and this worked quite well as a base layer as the epoxy dries clear (unlike hot glue), but even going to that extent, a spritz with water after lighting and just before shooting lighting brings it to life.

 

[Sarah888]

A spritzer bottle and regular old water will work just fine... it takes much water than you might realize to make it look like proper rain, and you do want most of it to be running down the window. Just be sure to light the water effect from the side so that it shows up well, as this gives the droplets lots of definition. I've used marine epoxy for wet windows (in a theatrical and video applications) by flicking it on with a hard bristle brush, and this worked quite well as a base layer as the epoxy dries clear (unlike hot glue), but even going to that extent, a spritz with water after lighting and just before shooting lighting brings it to life.

Thanks for that, will give it a try

 

[bianni]

Clean the glass, spray with clear gloss lacquer, let dry for a few minutes before spraying with water.