With the build over, let’s get painting! This time brown, grey and a lot of sprays and washes should help convey the muddy, war-torn hellscape of endless trench fighting. First, the pieces were sprayed with Citadel Colour Mechanicus Standard Grey. Then a lighter spray at about a 60% angle was applied using The Army Painter Colour Primer Ash Grey. This looks suitably ghostly and helps add some highlights and low lights on these pieces.

Once the spray-paint had dried, it was time to paint the details. As this is a smaller project most of the paint that will be used is old and at the end of its life. I hate to waste paint and often save 1/4 full paint pots for scenery projects just like this one. Vallejo Game Colour Leather Brown, Citadel Karak Stone, Vallejo Game Colour Charred Brown, Citadel Tau Light Ochre and a splash of Game Colour Bone White, which have all been floating around the shop for a few years, should work nicely.

A good reminder at this point is that acrylic paint can be reinvigorated by adding a few drops of water, turning these ‘sludgy’, old paints into totally usable ones. If some end up being a bit ‘clumpy’, that is fine, we are leaning into the ‘muddy and destroyed’ look here, best to be bold.

With the buildings blocked out, the remaining details are wood, sandbags, graves and skulls. All elements were painted in a single heavy colour, with the exception of the skulls, which were drybrushed. The colours chosen are slightly brighter than what I want, but washes come next, which will significantly darken the pieces overall.

On a single figure or even a couple of terrain pieces, Warpaints Fanatic Soft Tone Wash would be used. There is just enough scenery on this project that a bigger, and in the end; easier, solution is needed. Weaponize the wash in a spray bottle by adding washes and paint to an extender, which will give you more usable colour without breaking the surface tension (thus ‘making splotchy’ the finish). Lots of technical terms today but stick with me for the recipe.

In a large spray bottle mix; two bottles of Warpaints Fanatic Soft Tone, two bottles of Warpaints Fanatic Strong Tone and two bottles of Vallejo Matt Base. Once emptied, the bottles get a ‘swish’ with warm water, which is also added to the mix. 2/3 of a pot of Game colour Wash Sepia Shade provides the correct amount of reddish brown. Next, add approximately the same quantity of Quick Shine (available at Canadian Tire), mix vigorously.

The pieces were sprayed with this mixture and the corners were wiped to make sure no wash had pooled on the lower sides of the brickwork. They were left overnight on an old towel, to absorb any excess mix. Honestly, these buildings look great and the project could be called ‘finished’ at this point…still, that barbwire is a bit shiny and the wall look a bit uniform…

In the end, all the broken stonework received a sponging of Charred Brown, the wire had a bit of rust pigment added and the whole set got another good spraying with the shade mixture. Once again the pieces were wiped to avoid pooling wash and then sealed with a spray. Lots of simple techniques and a bit of time was all that was required.

Special thanks to the Sentry Box Team! Liam has supplemented the set with some Monster Fight Club Verdant Forest ruined trees, and Spooky Andrew was kind enough to lend his figures for pictures. Looks like it’s time for the Trench Crusade league to begin!

-Uncle Mike