WW1 Timecast Trench Painting Tutorial

Here's how I paint up the trenches.....



1.  "wet" brush with Vallejo Green Ochre....

Use the paint neat out the bottle after a good shake

Dip an old "dry brush" into the paint and then lightly dab off the paint from the brush on some kitchen roll. don't remove too much.

Apply the paint firstly by a light dab, you want to deposit like this below, you will know if you overdo it, it won't look right. Then as the paint gets taken up begin to apply more pressure until you are spreading it over as a dry brush. Don't be afraid to apply more pressure as this will create a subtle effect.

2. Flat Earth "wet" coat...

Use the same technique here as above but just dab this on wet and undiluted again straight from the paint tub.

3. Back to the Green Ochre....

Repeat step one again but less is more with this coat, you just want to blend this in with the still wet flat earth.

 It should end up looking like this...

4. Ink wash your trench walls and floors.....

Use Winsor & Newton nut brown ink for this wash. Use the ink neat and coat the trench walls and floor areas.

5. Ink wash the shell holes the same.....

6. Coat D Arms Russian Green coat....

You'll be dabbing on this colour using a no 1 or 2 brush. You now want to be applying the layers in smaller areas.

Apply neat from the tub and for a darker green just apply one hit. If you blend the green will mix nicely with the ochre colour below to create some contrast.

7. Highlight that green....

Vallejo Deep Yellow here

a 60 /40 ratio of yellow to Russian green is about right.

You want to be looking at this sort of shade...

You want to remove a lot more of this highlight colour from your brush before applying, it's a dramatic shade and only needs a subtle application. Again if it;s too light blend it in with the Russian green you are painting over.

 8. Final highlights....

Use Vallejo Buff to dry brush your final highlights over the green ochre areas only. Try to avoid getting this on to your green areas too much. A little is okay as it brightens the look up.

You can see the areas picked out here

9. Final Ink Washing....

Back to your ink and you want to apply a second hit on your trenches. The earlier ink will of nearly dried so a second coat will add depth. After you have done this it's just time to carefully ink in the debris such as dead trees and scuff marks which are all nicely defined and easy to pick out. Don't overload your brush with ink for this, you only need to literally paint it on. If you overdo it the ink will run into areas that you don't want.

Finished articles....

There you go, two done in no time. Once these are dry (leave overnight) I will apply a matt varnish spray to kill the shine left by the ink and give a nice even finish plus a protective coat.

I think you will agree that these are acceptable for use on table and easy to knock up.