Liquid mud

[Dan Morton]

I'm working on a vignette of the Somme. One of the Tommies in the vignette is up to his waist in mud. What is the best way to make the liquid mud? I'm familiar with several two part acrylic "water" products. How about some home-made concoction of acrylic resin, 2 part putty and paint to provide the proper color?

All the best,
Dan

 

[John Long]

Dan,

I think I'd go with 5 min. epoxy mixed with an appropriate color of acrylic paint.

 

[paulyrichard]

You can mix plaster and Mig pigments in with the acrylic resin, this'll make good lookin' mud, thick or thin. Of course with the Mig Pigments you have a great choice of colours.

Also, a quick way of makin' mud is to jus' mix Mig pigments with Vallejo Thinner. This is OK for fillin' and surface application, but if you need it bolstered, you'll need to add the acrylic resin or plaster.

 

[Dan Morton]

Thanks fellas!

John - Will that give the mud enough "body"? I was originally going to use something like what you suggested, but I was worried that it wouldn't be at all grainy. Shouldn't it have some grain? What epoxy would you use?

Paul - Good idea. I've never used either one, but I'll consider your suggestion seriously.

All the best,
Dan

 

[quang]

Hello Dan,

You can add talcum powder and/or baking soda in various quantities to get the 'graininess' and the 'body' you want to achieve.

From my experience, Humbrol 'Earth' mixed with talcum powder makes a very good mud. But is it gooey enough to your taste?

HTH

Quang

 

[Dan Morton]

Quang - Many thanks! It's not so much my taste that's involved. I'm just trying to simulate the quicksand-like mud of the Somme. I'm also looking for any descriptions of it the Great War nutz might have read, etc. As I recall, the descriptions I've read describe a medium to dark grey color and very sticky clay-like appearance.

All the best,
Dan

 

[quang]

Dan,

From what you describe, I think that the Humbrol/talcum powder solution is the best one, considering that you can build up the mud to the correct colour(s) and amount/thickness.

Another obvious yet so often overlooked advice is to have an example of the real thing, whether a picture or a film, that you can use as a guide.

The battlefield scenes in the French film 'A Very Long Engagement' are VERY realistic and can be helpful for that matter.

HTH

Quang

 

[Dan Morton]

Quang - Thanks for your suggestion and, yes, I would like to have a few pictures of the real thing - Somme mud.

What a wierd request, eh?

All the best,
Dan

 

[Wlas]

Celuclay might work the best. Water, a little Elmer's. Water soluable paint in the shades of your choice.

 

[Dan Morton]

Majnun - Many thanks!

Everybody has been very helpful!

I actually got a copy of the movie also, Quang. Wonder where it was filmed? Anybody know? Marvelous film and story! The French field equipment, uniforms and weapons are perfect and the battle scenes knock my socks off.

Fernand also sent a rugby photo in which the Brussels soil looks the color I would have imagined the Somme to be - medium to dark grey, clay-like, sticky (certainly a lot is sticking to Fernand's son!) and wet.

I'm going to play around and see what I can produce.

All the best,
Dan

 

[quang]

I actually got a copy of the movie also, Quang. Wonder where it was filmed? Anybody know? Marvelous film and story! The French field equipment, uniforms and weapons are perfect and the battle scenes knock my socks off.

Dan,

If you like the film as much as I do, better get the 2-discs DVD edition. The bonus disc contains a 2-hour long (very) detailed documentary about the making of the film.

The trenches were reconstructed in a military maneuver field in Montmorillon in the Loire valley. Of interest is a scale model (1/32 scale?) they made of the trench layout to study the camera action. They tried to get everything as authentic as possible, down to the colour of the mud and the muted tones of the period photographs. Many scenes were based on actual photographs from the front, including the horse cadavre on the tree at the beginning of the film (this same scene is also replicated in Tardi's graphic novel 'C'était La Guerre des Tranchées' (a MUST for Great War fans).

Better still, there's a 100-page 'souvenir album', with many pix of the shooting and the detailed background and true stories on which the film was based along with numerous period artifacts (press cuttings, cartoons, postcards,...).

Who said I'm not interested in the Great War?

Quang