10mm Trenches

If you have read my previous postings you may have noticed that I am keen on the RJW

A common feature of the RJW is the trench ranging from the covered concrete constructions found around Port Arthur to the shallow ditches used by both sides from the Yalu to Mukden.

I had certain criteria to be met. I wanted ...

• trenches that looked as though they had just been dug ie no time to fit planking or sandbags
  
• the trenches to be narrow - my bases are 15mm deep so anything up to 20mm would be ok
  
• variation ie straight sections, curved sections, t-juction
  

Using Google I spent a couple of weeks looking at the various trenches on offer.

Down at the Berkeley Vale club KiwiDave has a load of trenches from Ironclad Miniatures. They are meant to be 15mm but work well with his 10mm WW2 kit. They have loads of variation but were too neat and too wide (30mm) for me. I would recommend them for WW1 and later conflicts

I came across a link to Daft Casting who do a really lovely set of 10mm trenches. I especially liked the large footprint as this allowed for the ground to rise up to the trench naturally. The straight section has a couple of zigzags to give it variation. Although the sides of the trenches had been planked I was tempted to go with this range.

Another of the club members is Shaun. He runs Dreamholme which produces some very nice resin scenery. He had just painted some RJW Russians for me and I mentioned that I was looking for some trenches. A few weeks later he turns up with a set of trenches that ticks all of the boxes for me. So he managed to sneak some planks along the floor of the trench.

There are 4 types of trench - straight, curved, T and end section

The figures are all 10mm Pendraken RJW Japanese, They are based on 30mm x 15mm MDF stands which are 2mm high

The trench is very basic as I wanted it to represent hastily dug trenches

The trench is wide enough to fit 20mm bases.

The curved section is not quite 45 degrees but it allows the trench to zig-zag

Troops fit into it which is useful

The T junction works as a trench exit and as a link to a communications trench

Finally we have the end section

Here is a selection of the pieces put together

A very nice set of trench pieces suitable for a hasty defensive line.

I've just started painting them so will do another post when they are done

Shaun hasn't put these on his web-site yet and I'm not sure of the price so if you are interested then drop him an email at dreamholme at aol dot com for more information.