British trench

G-man69 · February 20, 2026, 5:31pm

Hi all,

Not done any modelling for 7-8 months, but the constant wet weather here in ol’ Blighty has driven me to put knife to balsa.

The idea is to create a British trench scene with an A4 footprint and, if the first one works, expand it with additional A4 elements.

These last few weeks I’ve created a number of rough jigs to enable me to replicate various repetitive elements.

Two types of duckboards:

Two types of A-frame to support said duckboards:

Corrugated Iron:

And one to make a frame to support wire mesh:

Below is an image of the different elements together:

Cheers,,

G

G-man69 · February 20, 2026, 5:39pm

I also had a go at the first element, a trench with a fire step and a splinter-proof shelter under the parapet.

However, for various reasons I’ve scrapped it and started over again, .

Cheers,,

G

G-man69 · February 20, 2026, 5:59pm

Second attempt, hopefully this’ll be more successful,.

And a few close-up pics if the splinter-proof shelter:

I’ve also found a material that looks more like chicken wire to act as an anti-slip cover for the duckboards:

Cheers,,

G

SdAufKla · February 20, 2026, 7:10pm

Very nice! Look forward to seeing more! Thanks for sharing!

Johnnych01 · February 20, 2026, 10:38pm

Mate …. I cant believe you binned that one ….. It looked superb !! … ( I was lucky enough to see it a few days ago and it was great to see them up close)

The second version looks pretty cool though …. great work as always !!

Tank_1812 · February 20, 2026, 11:52pm

Both looked great G.

Dioramartin · February 21, 2026, 2:09am

Great to see you back G – and in 1:35 this time (as per the tag under the thread title) ?

I’m sure there were muffled cries of “You did whaaat??” around the world on reading that you scrapped that first element - you might have heard mine from there. Not even any salvage? Or shell damage on whatever imperfection(s)? Helluva way of re-setting the bar at even higher altitude, but then that’s what you always do. Looking forward to this one

Cheyenne · February 21, 2026, 12:08pm

Nice construction G , looks great !!!

G-man69 · February 24, 2026, 3:40pm

Thanks to everyone who took time to check out this build, and thank you to Michael, John, Ryan, Tim and Glenn for taking the time to leave positive feedback, it’s much appreciated chaps,.

G,

G-man69 · February 24, 2026, 4:55pm

Hi all, a bit more progress, it’s probably not wholly realistic , but I’m trying to show different methods used to revet the sides of the trench.

I’ve given a light dusting of grey primer in an attempt to unify the different materials being used as I think it looks better when photographed .

Cheers..

G

G-man69 · February 24, 2026, 5:17pm

And below with duckboard temporarily fitted, plus a time traveller from WW2 to give a sense of scale,.

Cheers,,

G

Johnnych01 · February 24, 2026, 5:25pm

Mate this really is so good and so damn realistic !!

dmiles · February 25, 2026, 9:38am

sensational work

G-man69 · March 2, 2026, 3:29pm

Thanks to John and dmiles for their kind words,.

G,

mech · March 2, 2026, 8:38pm

Beautiful work on the trench

strongarden · March 17, 2026, 1:30pm

Just saw this, wow excellent work all around! Really looking frwd to your progress.

Cheers

Dave

G-man69 · March 26, 2026, 5:32pm

Firstly, apologies to Ralph and Strongarden for not thanking them sooner for their kind words, but I’ve been on hols for the last 4 weeks,.

You’re positive feedback is appreciated,.

G,

Hohenstaufen · March 26, 2026, 5:40pm

Great work. The “time traveller from WW2” isn’t that out of context, the BEF started WW2 making exactly the same trenches on the Belgian border during the “Phoney War”. The Allies were preparing to re-fight WW1, while the Germans had an entirely different agenda….

G-man69 · March 26, 2026, 5:55pm

Hi all,

As previously mentioned I’ve been away, so have only just started back on this build…bet some of you that know me better probably thought I’d given up already,, oh yee of little faith,.

Today I’ve started to add some colour to the timberwork that forms the recessed splinter-proof shelter. I’ve also added some puddled water, though this’ll probably be hidden once the duckboards are added,.