1:35 Trench WW I base

The Trench WW I base 1:35, a Black Dog trench scene

A base for a diorama on the theme of a trench from the First World War period. Among scenes of this kind, subjects from later conflicts predominate, so a ground devoted directly to trench warfare fills a gap that builders of 1:35 figures run into regularly.

Briefly on the subject

Trench warfare on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918 gave the whole conflict the form we first picture today: a system of dug lines, timber shoring against the walls collapsing and a muddy floor. In modeling terms it is a setting built on a single dominant material, soil, and that is exactly what makes it good training. Anyone who can paint earth convincingly in several states of wetness will then manage any terrain at all.

How to achieve convincing soil

Do not stay with one brown tone; soil can easily have five shades in one scene. Draw the dry places out light and dry, the wet ones dark and with a sheen, and make the transition between them soft. Add a highlight to the trodden areas and a cooler tone to the shaded corners instead. Use grass or small growth sparingly; sparse tufts look more believable than a continuous carpet.

Who it suits

• collectors and builders of First World War figures
• modelers who want to practice painting soil
• makers of scenes with pronounced depth and levels
• a display case that is missing a subject from an older era

You choose the figures and the paints yourself; the scene saves you the work of modeling terrain.