how to creat the look of freshly churned up mud

Did you try Future? a few applications might be needed but I would think you could get the wet look. People have used it for pools and water in dios, I can't see why it wouldn't work for you here.

I agree future in several coats makes your mud look nice and wet I have used it in the past in dios and was quite happy with the results ( just let it dry in between coats )

When I build ships I like to have them in the sea, so I use acrylic gel medium (gloss or matt) then after sculpting the waves and painting them the future goes on in about six coats. Don't forgit to let everything dry between coats. You can get acrylic gel with sand (pure silica I'd guess) already mixed in or as usuall I've noticed there's no end to dirt in my yard; sift it, mix it with the gel, pre-color it with acrylic paint if you like, and make a mess. You can do both wet and dried mud.. G.L.

I would not over do the shiney on dirt to get it looking wet. Most soils when they get wet tend to get darker but not very shiney unless they are rolled smooth. Churned up mud would be more like dark balls and very clumpy depending on the soil type you are trying to replicate. They only soil types that I am familiar with theat would get a bit of a shione to them would be a clayey or a silty material. Soil is one are that I can provide alot of refrence to since make my living cooking it. I will have to try to get some pics of different type soils after tracked equipment has run over it to give some ideas of what tracks would do.

I would use a plaster base and then stain it lighter and darker browns to show whats wet and whats dry. Good luck pal...

One thing iI forgot to add is that you should dry brush some lighter color on areas that may have been exposed for even a few hours. The sun and wind tend to create a dry crust on the edges of mud pretty quick.

QUOTE: Originally posted by lizardqing One thing iI forgot to add is that you should dry brush some lighter color on areas that may have been exposed for even a few hours. The sun and wind tend to create a dry crust on the edges of mud pretty quick.

A very good point, Chris. This is pretty much the same as my obervations on the heavy equipment we use at the jobsite.

Looking at my poorly drained backyard, I agree with Chris, I'd use semi-gloss, and sparingly. One place that does get the wet mud is the low areas; water obviously goes to the low points in track marks, and these areas can have quite a sheen.

Finally, something good has come out getting my work van badly bogged in my yard.....