Trench construction

[Ultravanillasmurf]

A bit of a newbie question, but what materials were used in the construction of trenches on the Western Front?

I bought a Sarissa trench set at Warfare, and it has reached the top of the to do pile.

Wood of course, but was corrugated iron used to reinforce trench walls?

It appears to have been used in the construction of bunkers.

[Fitz]

All sorts of materials were incorporated into the construction of trenches. Corrugated iron was one, as were duck-boards, wattle panels, and plank-wood. Just about anything that could shore up and stabilize the faces of trenches was used when it was necessary.

[carlos marighela]

For the British it was mostly wooden shoring, planking and wicker screens for reveting plus heaps and heaps of sandbags. In areas with a high water table it might be mostly sandbags. Duckboards along the bottom of the trench where possible. Later in the war corrugated iron sheeting was used both as cover for dugouts and as reveting for trenches. The later in the war the more elaborate the structures although obviously if new positions were being established it woud be a case of starting over from scratch.

The Germans typically had very elaborate structures and made far more use of concrete pillboxes, although these were not unknown in Allied trench networks.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.
I am going to need some matchsticks from the craft shop (I have plenty of lolly sticks). I probably need some coffee stirrers as well.

There is a nice illustration in one of the Osprey books on WW1 showing very colourful sandbags made from improvised material scavenged from homes.

[carlos marighela]

Yes, you can work various bits of civilian flotsam into your trenches. Scavenged doors being a prime example.

[tin shed gamer]

As mentioned it's pretty much anything you can think of ,to absolutely nothing but the earth cut of the trench itself.
So artistically it's all about your skill level and personal taste in aesthetics.
There are several options to improve aesthetics.when it comes to marrying the modular trenches to a table top. Firstly you can stick with the design edge of the MDF and just texture is with sand.
Or add some additional variations to their height, undulation,and base edge with whatever materials you personally use for making scenery such as hills.( A modular trench sitting proud of the table surface is pretty much a narrow hill with hole in the middle.)
Then texture to taste.
Which is pretty much all most people do.. However it is possible to embrace the difference the fact that the trench section sits proud of the table top and stay reasonably historically accurate.
As not all trenches were dug down into the ground ( normally because the water table was too near the surface or the bedrock was too near and too hard.) These were actually constructed as sandbag revetments or even wooden walls back filled with top soil.and several meters thick.( Eventually they ended up being levelled or looking very similar to your MDF system ,as constant 'repairs ' and artillery reshape their outer faces..
So could acknowledge the leading edges with addition of two or three layers of sand bags ( it doesn't have to be uniform or consistent.) you can do this with either a clay or a sheet of craft foam. Which is a quick solution to doing sandbag walls inside the trench. Just emboss it by drawing on your rows of sandbags.
Corrugated iron - can be just be as simple as corrugated card. Wattle is easy to represent in long lengths .
Thick paper/ thin card,and cocktail sticks.( A series of horizontal cuts into a length of paper(( stop short of cutting into individual strips))then weave the cocktail sticks into the horizontal cuts.).

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

Yes, the hill line with a hole in it is difficult to unsee, but your suggestions make sense.
I had not thought of making them a line of sand bags (sculpted in low relief on to the vertical face.).

I did see some really good modular trenches that are like cubist hills, the board base is the trench floor and you arrange the blocks to make the trench system.

[Silent Invader]

The trench walk-throughs in the movies 1917 and AQOTWF are always worth a watch.

[tin shed gamer]

The first image is technically the reconstru factcted trenches today. But does show quite well how low the definition is on sandbag revetments when built well. But it more over illustrates the need for a degree of sanitising that's require to make a model trench functional for gaming. You need a stable clear zone from the duckboards upwards in order to place figure bases in.So the one tool that I'd recommend to make and use is a figure check. Basically a vertical rectangle box .with a footprint of 30mm x30mm,and is taller than the parapets of your trenches that way a 25mm round base can easily be dropped into the trench without snagging on any
 of your detailing.It sounds a little OTT but it really does help with the ergonomics when you get carried away with adding bits.
The second just to show a different way of edging. Although four layers is a little to high for a gaming lip as you can't balance a figure base across the scenery threshold. One and a half is the most workable ( Even though in reality this could be up to five foot high.)
The gun emplacement is freestanding so four levels was the best level to represent the fact it's free standing.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

The reconstructed trench shows how the sandbags compress - far better than the Tamiya 1/35 scale plastic ones. It is making me consider fill and sculpt rather than building them layer by layer.

I was going to ask if the corrugated iron is orientated with the corrugations running horizontally or vertically, but I thought horizontally as that would retain the surrounding material better. It looks like there is a section of the reconstructed trench has corrugated iron in the background in that orientation.

[OSHIROmodels]

Something a bit different from the norm. I did these early war 'trenches' many years ago but they might prove useful for you. Each edge had a former to keep the edges the same and in general they're quite low so they don't look as sat upon as the normal type of trench.

[Elk101]

They're fantastic. My Great War stuff is early war, so that's just the sort of aesthetic that would work. Lovely work.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

They are excellent, the integration into "existing" scenery is particularly good.

[carlos marighela]

Thanks.

The reconstructed trench shows how the sandbags compress - far better than the Tamiya 1/35 scale plastic ones. It is making me consider fill and sculpt rather than building them layer by layer.

I was going to ask if the corrugated iron is orientated with the corrugations running horizontally or vertically, but I thought horizontally as that would retain the surrounding material better. It looks like there is a section of the reconstructed trench has corrugated iron in the background in that orientation.

I can't imagine that it has changed dramatically since 1918. Corrugated iron sheeting has pretty much always been laid horizontally when used a former or revetment. The exception is when used as a hairpin arch for overhead cover although these are often pre-formed kit items. Typically star pickets are used to hold the sheets in place but during the Great War it would more likely have been wooden posts or stakes.

[Fabien]

Some pictures of the site Hartmannswillerkopf (in French "Le Vieil Armand") in the Vosges Mountains. You can see, for example, corrugated iron plates.

These trench positions were disputed by French and German troops.

If it helps...