Swedish Tunic Conversion

[aldrich]

Thought I would post this here for anyone interested. I recently bought five Swedish surplus tunics for ten bucks each and am planning on converting these into m43 tunics for use as rentals as a summer project. Converted Swedish tunics were used by the makers of Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan and can be seen on the vast majority of the German extras in both film/series. While not perfect, if done right they look pretty good and are perfectly suited for a rental uniform. I plan on doing, more or less, what they did in the series.

Swedish wool tunic:


Tunics used in Band of Brothers:


M42 conversion


Example:


For the conversion the plan is to remove the pockets, leaving the pocket flaps on the tunic. I will then sew four square "patches" to represent the pockets themselves. These will be non functional but will look the part. I will then add the buttons, shoulder boards, insignia, and some odds and ends here and there to give each tunic some "personality". Perhaps I may try dying one or two of them with green dye to get some different tones, but that will depend on the color they come as.

[ssgjoe]

Why not make the pockets functional? While I would highly discourage using this as your pin army tunic for an impression, I could see them for rental kits if done right. Interested to see how this goes

[ssgjoe]

Why not do up the top button?

[aldrich]

I am still considering it. Making the pockets this way saves fabric, and is also simpler to sew and maintain. I won't have to worry about them ripping off as much, for example. If I find that I have enough fabric to make the pockets functional, I will do so. Only time will tell and I'd rather not butcher one of the tunics for fabric. The top button can also be buttoned. If you look closely, you can see the the button hole. Many Germans would leave them unbuttoned for comfort and the folded down look really isn't too far off from the way many tunics were. I have actually been trying to get my tunic to fold down like that for some time to no avail.

Example:


With the price of cheap repros I absolutely agree that these shouldn't be a main impression piece.  But as a rental item that allows people to try out WWII airsoft, I think they will serve their purpose well.  

[ssgjoe]

I know many soldiers would unbutton their too button. Hell, I do it lol it just seems like you can often tell a Swedish conversion tunic from the crease. But about pockets ripping off, that just adds to the look of a beat up tunic

[aldrich]

Ripped pockets may add to the look, but it also adds a maintenance headache for me as well haha I will have to see when I get the tunics. It is all just planning at this point.

[2nd Bat]

I will be interested to see your final result. The last picture of the EPWs shows variation of shades and how subtle the insignia became on uniforms once fielded.

[Dracul]

You'll find that making actual pockets will only take a tad bit more of effort and time than making your patches/pockets. Especially in the case of the M42 and that converted BoB tunic. It doesn't require much effort for simple pockets like that. I'd understand the concern if it was the pleated pockets, because those take more thought and planning to do those right.

Think of it this way, a pocket is a patch in which you leave one side open and you sew a button on. Simple, right?

Also, sets of German Tunic buttons are pretty damn cheap. Hiki sells 12 for about $15 w/ free shipping, and Youchunhe2008 on ebay sells sets of 12 as auctions, usually under 5 bucks w/ free shipping. No one usually bids on them, I haven't had any competition, haha. I completely understand the costs behind this stuff, but with how cheap everything is already, it shouldn't be a reason why not make these (mostly) fully featured.

I, too, would like to see how this turns out! 

[2nd Bat]

I saw a bunch of these Swedish tunics at a huge Surplus store outside Idaho Falls a few months ago and they looked real promising but they were all tiny tiny sizes. If I could find assorted sizes at a decent price I'd jump at the chance.

With a little tweaking they would be perfect for my needs.

[aldrich]

The size I ordered said "medium" from a Brittish company. I am still somewhat anxious that their sizing is truly a medium. *fingers crossed* If I didn't order the five they had in stock I would send you the link. It is surprising how much some people are charging for these tunics.

[volkssturm]

I did a quick look for them. Someone's selling them on eBay for over $60.

[aldrich]

I saw some for $115 even. I was able to get mine for roughly $10 a piece, but it took a bit of browsing.

[aldrich]

I just got home and got to take a look at these tunics. The dealer sent me a completely different pattern tunic than what was advertised. I am shelving this project and returning the tunics for, hopefully, a full refund. Apologies to anyone who was watching this thread.

[ssgjoe]

What kind of tunic did he send?

[insterburger]

I know some of them have completely different pocket configurations. Probably that.

[aldrich]

This is the tunic that was advertised on their site.  No mention of them being any different than these was present anywhere:


This was the style of tunic that I got:


After looking it over converting the tunics I got would be too much work.  However, the wool quality and color is perfect for a German tunic.  Hopefully I can get a full refund for these.  Unfortunately now I have five sets of heer insignia along with buttons and nothing to use them on.

[luftwelle93]

Sorry to hear about your predicament.The one they sent you looks more WWI-like(but I like it ).Hope you get your full refund!

[2nd Bat]

If the sizes are good (legitimate mediums) I will buy them from you along with your emblems!

[aldrich]

The dealer has offered me a decent offer of a partial refund with the ability to keep the items, and if it it goes through, then I am going to go ahead with the project and just work with what I have.

Here is a rough idea of what I am going to do. The pockets are just cutouts of spare cloth I had lying around and are just to give me an idea of how it will look like. I am not planning on using them on the final tunic. The eagle is also on the wrong side for now and is just there to give the general idea.



While still not perfect by any means, for the purpose of a rental stand in I think these may still work. Only time will tell.

[ssgjoe]

You could make some KM coastal artillery tunics

[aldrich]

Almost done with the first tunic. Four pockets sewed on, shortened the collar, shortened the tunic, and sewed on the collar litzen. All I have left to do is to repaint the buttons and sew them on, sew on the shoulderboards, and sew on the breast eagle. Here is what it looks like so far:

[shiftysgarand]

Nice! Did you end up with going with functional pockets?

[volkssturm]

That looks really good.

[luftwelle93]

Exceptional work you've done!It looks just like what its intended to be

[aldrich]

Thanks! On this one the pockets are non functional. After weighing things out I decided to go for durability with heavy abuse in mind. One could have functional pockets if they wanted to.

[2nd Bat]

That is exactly what I was thinking to do although I am not sure I would have done it as well. It came out great and those should work great! with web gear they will look fabulous.

[insterburger]

Gets the job done. Sweet.

[2nd Bat]

How was the size of their "Mediums"? I find that my walk on players for whatever reason always seem to be HUGE guys! One more reason I'm just going for smocks.

[aldrich]

They kind of varied. One was more of a small, two were mediums, and two were a large medium/small large.

[2nd Bat]

Actually that is kind of best case deal given your intent! How hard was it to find matching fabric for the pockets? It really came out nice. very inspiring!