The Christmas Truce 1914 WWI
1/32nd scale kit from Tommy's War
Assembled and painted in 2025
Some sculptors manage to evoke feelings in the viewer of what they’ve sculpted, and I think this is one such piece.
The strangeness of what happened at Christmas in 1914 between forces that had been killing each other pretty mercilessly only days before, to call a halt to hostilities temporarily and – as recorded – actually have combatants from opposing sides exit their trenches and walk into no-mans-land to shake hands, exchange Christmas cheer and even engage in a friendly game of football.
To me it seems surreal, incomprehensible even, that men would put aside completely the feelings of animosity to meet and speak for such a short period of time and then return to bombing, shelling and shooting each other in as many ways as they could think of in order to end life.
But it happened, it’s been recorded, and I remain amazed.
The model.
Depicting a German and a British soldier meeting to shake hands, the Tommy’s War kit is a lovely little resin offering that so simply, yet effectively encapsulates a miniature moment in time.
The box art, shown in photo #1 is typical of the Tommy’s War range, with no picture of the figures in a finished state, but with the recognisable livery for the range and within are two figures split logically into separate parts and a small certificate of authenticity from Darren Parker-Mead – the owner of Tommy’s War.
Photo #2 shows both sets of resin parts for the models laid out, all of which are very well cast, with minimal need for cleaning, just a couple of restrained mould part lines on the lower legs, and these being very simple to deal with.
There are a few mould plugs to remove, again easy enough to accomplish, and I’ll start off with the German figure for the painting.
Photo #3 shows the head having it’s initial coats of paint, beginning with a flesh coloured acrylic mixed with a lot of Isopropyl Alcohol as a primer for all the parts on both figures, followed by more of the acrylic flesh colour for the face, and some Olive Green from the MP range for the hat and scarf.
The acrylic colours were followed by oil colours, using my usual mix of Mars Brown and Titanium White for the face, and a mix of Chrome Green, Mars Black and a little Mars Yellow for the hat and scarf. Buff Titanium was blended in to create highlights, and more Mars Black added to the initial mix to create shadows.
I used the same colours for the clothing – photos #4 and #5 – returning once the oils had dried to add some darker green to the shadows.
Photo #6, the face had looked a little “flat” with the initial colours added, so once dry, I returned with some Mars Brown oils thinned just a little bit and added a few more details around the eyes and around the border of the face with the scarf.
Photo #7 shows the uniform looking a lot more colourful, the red piping having been added with a couple of undercoats of the flesh coloured acrylic followed by a couple of coats of MP’s Scarlet.
I’ve also added leather colours – Mars Brown, Venetian Red and Mars Yellow to the ammunition pouches in this shot.
Photo #8 Oh I cannot tell you how happy I am with that little number 7 on each of the epaulettes. It’s a very small space to work in, and getting four coats of paint to look right and cover each other exactly was done with held breath and a lot of concentration.
Photos #9, #10 and #11 with the head in place, the red band added to the cap and the boots painted, the figure is very close to being finished.
The bread bag, canteen end entrenching tool etc have all been painted with various browns and creams, the buttons added in Darkstar Bronze acrylic and the hand is being left undercoated for now.
Just a few additions of very dark green oils to mark in the breaks between clothing and a few deeper shadow areas, and then it was on to the British soldier.
Photo #12 and like the German figure, the head of the British Officer looks a little pale and a little bland in this shot. I would later add more Mars Brown to the deeper recesses of the face, although I did want to keep the paleness evident because of the winter conditions.
Photo #13 shows the hat and scarf painted. The hat colour is a mix of Mars Brown and Mars yellow to make a greenish Khaki with Buff Titanium added to build highlights.
The scarf is a mix of Vandyke Brown and Yellow Ochre, with some Buff Titanium for highlights.
Photo #14 and I’ve begun working on the main casting of the British figure. The puttees have been painted with the same khaki mix as the cap, with Buff titanium added in a downward motion with and old brush to try and get a slightly lined texture to the area.
The coat is a similar mix to the scarf, using Mars Brown as a starting place, but adding quite a lot of Mars Yellow, Buff Titanium and Titanium White to make the sculpted details stand out.
Photo #15 shows the back of the figure at this stage, and I was looking at the fall of the straps here, these being the next thing I would be painting and thought that the haversack doesn’t have a corresponding strap crossing diagonally on the front of the body.
Photo #16, so I added one on with a small amount of Magic Sculpt as seen in this shot and painted to match the canvas colouration that the haversack and straps would likely have.
I know it’s blurred in this shot, but very cleverly, the sculptor has made both the British right hand and the German’s right hand clasped as one part with the British soldier’s right arm.
Photos #17 and #18 and perhaps it’s seen better in this picture.
I left both left arms off the figures – should have mentioned this before really, so that I could paint the various bits of equipment, painting the clothing on the arms while they were separate and only joining them on when the equipment had been completed.
Final additions were the metallic areas of each figure, mainly using the Darkstar Bronze acrylic to paint in buttons, belt buckles etc.
The cap badges on both figures were also done at this point, with the German one being a red dot, within a white dot, within a black spot that is so small it’s almost invisible without magnification.
Setting the scene
Photo #19 shows the beginning of building the groundwork.
I selected a suitably sized plinth from the stock I’ve built uo from Oakwood Studios, and here I’ve added a layer of Birch seed pods, fastened in place with superglue, over which I’ve added some wooden coffee stirrers that have been cut to size to perform as “duck boards” that were used as paths over the wet mud of the battlefield.
I hit the superglue with an accelerator spray, because it didn’t seem to be holding the birch seed pods in place and it very helpfully ( not ) frothed and cured with a bubbly white finish.
OK, no problem, I can sort this.
Photo #20 and I really thought I’d taken a shot of the British soldier in position on his own….. Must not have done, so this picture of both figures in position will have to do.
The duckboards aren’t completely flat and there’s gaps all over, especially under the figure’s feet, but worry not, I’ll fix this.
Photos #21 and #22 Yes, those gaps are definitely there, but as I say, I’ll come around to fixing those soon enough, it’s all going to plan…. Honest.
Photos #23 through to #27 and I’ve added a mix of dried tea leaves, some crushed herbs and some dark brown sand tilting the base where necessary to get it to build up steeply at the edges of the plinth, and using an old brush to sweep small amounts under the feet and where there are voids under the duckboards.
I’ve allowed some to fall onto the raw edge of the base to blend that into the rest of the scene.
Once the superglue had cured, I drybrushed Mars Yellow oils over the groundwork to catch the raised texture and then added smaller areas of Titanium White.
Most of this might be hidden, but it needed doing in case it remained visible.
I painted on a woodgrain effect onto the parts of the duckboards that were still exposed, and used some thinned Vandyke Brown to place shadows around the edges of the boards and into some of the deeper holes in the groundwork.
I’d made some very small, very sharp barbed wire from some very fine wire that I’d stripped of it’s insulation, and found some thicker wire to make the stanchions that would hold it. These were set into holes that I drilled into the base, painted to look like steel and then the barbed wire coiled and threaded through them.
I added a heavily thinned coat of Venetian Red oils to act as rust, and added some of the same colour around the bases of the stanchions to look like the rust had run into the soil.
It’s winter, so let’s have a little snow.
I didn’t want to overdo the snow, hinting at a light dusting, with some frost perhaps, and used a product that I’d got from MDP which is an excellent representation of snowflakes. I sprinkled this on very sparingly with a small spoon, and then gave the whole model a light blast with Mr Models Matt Varnish.
Some of the “snow” disappeared, either due to the blast of spray, or because of the matt varnish, and I thought I’d add a little bit more, again fastening it in place with the Matt Varnish.
I printed out a small nameplate and fastened it to the front of the plinth as a finishing touch.
Final thoughts.
Brilliant little vignette, well sculpted, well posed, and a joy to paint.
It’s easy to create the atmosphere of the scene that the soldiers would inhabit and to add that cold feeling to what must have been pretty horrible conditions.
The fit of parts is very good and I didn’t use any filler whatsoever, and as mentioned earlier the casting is very good with minimal clean-up necessary.
All in all a satisfying project to work on, and one that I’m really pleased with.
